Latest developments in Middle East war

Guards claim control of Hormuz

The Revolutionary Guards said Iranian forces had “complete control” of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for world oil and gas supplies, and any vessels seeking to pass risked damage from missiles or stray drones.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the crucial Gulf shipping route.

The Guards said they had also launched more than 40 missiles at US and Israeli targets in a new wave of strikes.

Khamenei funeral set

Iran will hold a three-day-long state funeral starting on Wednesday evening for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state TV said.

Khamenei, the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, was killed in the US-Israeli strikes that sparked the war on Saturday.

After the funeral’s announcement, Israel’s defence minister warned that any successor would be a “target for assassination”.

Gulf stocks tumble

The Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges reopened sharply lower on Wednesday after a two-day trading suspension over Iran’s missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.

The Dubai bourse was down 4.7 percent while Abu Dhabi’s ADX fell 3.5 percent shortly after markets opened.

Seoul shares earlier collapsed more than 12 percent as Asian stock markets were gripped by the worldwide wave of panic selling. Oil rose.

Sirens ring out in Israel

Missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday triggered air raid sirens across large parts of Israel, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The military said it was “operating to intercept the threat”, and the alert was lifted after several minutes with no immediate reports of casualties — though shrapnel caused a fire near Jerusalem, according to Israeli media.

Iranian frigate sinking off Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka said an Iranian navy frigate with 180 crew was sinking just outside the island’s territorial waters.

No information was immediately available on the cause.

Explosions rock Beirut, other towns

AFPTV footage showed an air strike hit Hezbollah’s bastion in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, as Israel and the Iran-backed militant group traded strikes and rocket fire.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on two towns south of Beirut — outside of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds — killed six people and wounded eight.

Lebanese state media later said Israeli strikes had hit a hotel in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh, as well as a four-storey building in the eastern city of Baalbek, where five people were reportedly killed.

US commander says 2,000 targets hit in Iran

Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US military forces in the Middle East, said in a video message that nearly 2,000 targets had been struck so far in Iran.

“We have severely degraded Iran’s air defences and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” he said.

Saudi Arabia intercepts cruise missiles

The Saudi defence ministry said two cruise missiles were intercepted over an area south of the capital Riyadh, and state media reported nine drones targeting the kingdom were intercepted.

A drone was also shot down near the international airport in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a security source said.

Qatar says Iranian spy cells dismantled

Qatar, which hosts a major US military base and has been targeted by multiple Iranian strikes since the outbreak of the war, reported it had dismantled two spy cells linked to the Revolutionary Guards, arresting 10 suspects.

Israel says launching new wave of strikes

Israel’s military said Wednesday it has launched a “broad wave of strikes” on Iran, after the Islamic republic launched three separate missile barrages at Israeli territory.

The army said it had struck “dozens” of targets, including security command centres in the capital Tehran.

Drone attack on Dubai’s US consulate

A drone attack caused a fire by the US consulate in Dubai as Iran ramped up its targeting of American diplomatic missions in the Gulf.

US staff allowed to leave Saudi, Oman

The United States said it had ordered non-emergency staff at its consulates in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi to leave the country over “safety risks”, and granted permission for staff to leave missions in Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Oman.

© 2026 AFP