TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday (Mar 4) they had total control of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy transit, as Israel launched a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.
In Lebanon, the Israeli military told residents south of the Litani River to move north, warning that the army was “compelled to take military action” against Hezbollah in the area.
Governments around the world scrambled to evacuate citizens stranded by the war in the Middle East, with Iran expanding a missile and drone barrage on the fifth day of a war that sent global shares sinking.
The war sparked by a US-Israeli attack that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has seen Iran lash out with missile and drone strikes from Israel across the Gulf, and has also drawn in Tehran’s proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Cities like Dubai and Riyadh, which have long taken pride in their safety from the tumult of the region, have been drawn in, with the growing chaos sparing few countries in Iran’s vicinity.
A ballistic missile launched from Iran, heading towards Turkish airspace through Iraq and Syria, has been destroyed by NATO air defence systems, Turkish officials said on Wednesday.
With energy prices already spiking, President Donald Trump had said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Earlier, the Revolutionary Guards warned ships against entering the strait, and major shipping firms have already suspended transit through the waterway with maritime agencies reporting several ships attacked.