US Iran war news highlights: Hezbollah targets Israel; UAE intercepts missiles, drones from Iran

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had struck a Liberia-flagged vessel, which they claimed was Israeli-owned, as well as a Thai bulk carrier in the Strait of Hormuz after they ignored warnings to stop.

"The Israeli-owned Express Rome ship, flying the Liberian flag, and the container ship Mayuree Naree, were hit by Iranian projectiles and stopped after ignoring the warnings of the IRGC naval forces," the Guards said in a statement carried by Iran's ISNA news agency.

War in Middle East LIVE: A series of loud blasts were heard on Wednesday across the Iranian capital, an AFP journalist said, on the 12th day of war with Israel and the United States.

It was not immediately clear what was targeted but plumes of smoke were seen rising from a location in eastern Tehran.

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's Revolutionary Gurads on Wednesday said that the ships crossing Strait of Hormuz ‘must get permission.’ Hormuz is a narrow passageway used by ships to transport oil.

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's military on Wednesday said that Iran's armed forces "will not allow a single litre of oil to transit" through the strait, adding that the "closure of this strait is the result of conditions imposed by the US and the Zionist regime," referring to Israel.

On February 28, Israel and the US launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggering war which spread across the Middle East.

War in Middle East LIVE: Nearly 20,000 French nationals have been repatriated from the Middle East since the war erupted on February 28, government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said Wednesday.

The evacuation efforts are ongoing as some 400,000 French citizens lived in or were visiting countries in the Gulf and Middle East when the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel broke out.

War in Middle East LIVE: The EU has approved new sanctions on 19 Iranian officials and entities, its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Wednesday, citing "serious human rights violations" in connection to Tehran's deadly crackdown on mass protests.

"As the Iran war continues, the EU will protect its interests and pursue those responsible for domestic repression," Kallas said, announcing the measures agreed by EU member states, AFP reported.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the joint bombing campaign with the US against Iran would go on "as long as necessary", insisting the strikes had inflicted heavy casualties on Tehran's forces.

"This operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decide the outcome of the campaign," he said, adding that the Iranian leadership was fleeing "like mice into tunnels".

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's military on Wednesday said any ships belonging to the United States, Israel or their allies passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz could be targeted.

"Any vessel whose oil cargo or the vessel itself belongs to the United States, the Zionist regime or their hostile allies will be considered legitimate targets," said the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israeli officials in closed discussions have acknowledged there is no certainty the war against Iran will lead to a collapse of its clerical government, a senior Israeli official told Reuters, with no sign of an Iranian uprising amid the bombardment.

However, despite commentary by US President Donald Trump that the war may finish soon, Israel's assessment is that Washington is not close to instructing an end to the conflict, two Israeli officials said.

War in Middle East LIVE: Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security and risk firms said on Wednesday, bringing the number of ships struck in the region since the Iran conflict began to at least 14.

Shipping along the narrow strait has come to a near standstill since the United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to designate Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist organisation", as the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic raged for a 12th day.

"The Iranian regime's recent actions underscore that its aggression constitutes a direct threat not only to Israel, but to regional and international peace and security," Gideon Saar posted on X.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israel pressed its attacks across Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting an apartment building in central Beirut, in the second targeting of the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began.

Lebanese authorities said Wednesday that 780,000 people had been registered as displaced, with more than 120,000 staying in government shelters.

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran on Wednesday accused US,Israel of hitting maritime ambulance in Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the day, Israel's military said that it had begun a new "wide-scale wave of strikes" across Iran and was also hitting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon's capital Beirut.

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said they will continue to fight until ‘Shadow of War’ is lifted over Tehra.

The statement came as the country announced that it had targeted Israel's military intelligence agency, a naval base in the city of Haifa, and an Israeli radar system.

War in Middle East LIVE: Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom is continuing to evacuate staff from Iran because of US-Israeli attacks on the country, but around 450 of its personnel remain at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the head of the company said on Wednesday.

Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said another 150 employees had left Bushehr overnight, crossed the border into neighbouring Armenia and were now en route to Russia.

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran's army said Wednesday it had targeted Israel's military intelligence agency, a naval base in the city of Haifa, and an Israeli radar system.

"Since this morning, the army of the Islamic republic has targeted the Israeli military intelligence directorate known as Aman, as well as Israeli military unit 8200, the Green Pine radar, and the submarine headquarters building at Haifa naval base," the army was quoted as saying.

War in Middle East LIVE: A Thai bulk carrier travelling in the crucial Strait of Hormuz was attacked Wednesday, with 20 crew members rescued so far, the Thai navy said.

Photos shared by the Royal Thai Navy showed heavy black smoke billowing from the hull and superstructure of the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, with life rafts floating in the water.

War in Middle East LIVE: Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday the country will start releasing part of its oil reserves as early as on March 16. This comes amid supply disruptions due to the blockade of oil and gas passage Strait of Hormuz over the West Asia conflict.

The prime minister said Japan plans to release 15 days worth of private-sector oil reserves and one month's worth of state oil reserves, reported Reuters.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israel's military said Wednesday it had begun a new "wide-scale wave of strikes" across Iran and was also hitting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon's capital Beirut.

The fresh strikes targeting what the Israeli army called "Iranian terror regime infrastructure" came on the 12th day of the US-Israeli war with Tehran.

War in Middle East LIVE: Romania is set to approve a US request to temporarily deploy fighter jets at a Black Sea airbase to help with its military operations in the Middle East, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Washington seeks to send a number of aircraft to the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase where broader logistical operations and refueling will take place, they said.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israeli military on Wednesday said that it has begun ‘extensive’ waves of attacks on Beirut and Iran simultaneously as the middle east crisis continues.

Earlier in the day, several Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and parts of south Lebanon after the Israeli army warned residents to evacuate.

War in Middle East LIVE: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that the war raging in much of the Middle East “must be stopped before it engulfs the entire region at increasing cost to the global economy.”

"This war must be stopped before it becomes bigger and completely engulfs the region in flames," he said, warning that if it continued, “there will be more loss of life and property.”

War in Middle East LIVE: Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel.

War in Middle East LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the Gulf countries are giving utmost care to Indians working there, adding, “I am grateful to them for that.”

PM Modi also said that "India of today does not leave its citizens stranded elsewhere, adding that it is working to ensure all help provided to Indians in West Asia.

War in Middle East LIVE: Israel's intelligence assessment is that Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was lightly wounded in the Israeli-US joint air war against Iran and that is why he has not been seen in public, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards forced through the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies.