Sawt Falasteen - Iran claims 'complete control' of strait: Latest developments in Middle East war

Here are the latest developments:

- 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".

- 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 frigate with 180 crew was sinking just outside the island's territorial waters.

No information was immediately available on the cause.

The Sri Lankan foreign minister said the country had sent ships and aircraft to rescue 30 Iranian sailors aboard the frigate, the Iris Dena.

- 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.

- Explosions rock Beirut, other towns -

An explosion was heard by an AFP journalist in the Lebanese capital Beirut shortly after midnight on Wednesday, as Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes and rocket fire.

AFPTV footage showed an air strike hit Hezbollah's bastion in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after an evacuation order from the Israeli army.

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.

- 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.

Ten suspects were arrested who "admitted during the investigation their links to the Revolutionary Guards and having been instructed to conduct espionage and sabotage activities", the nation's official press agency said.

- 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.

Residents told AFP they heard a bang and one said she then saw the blaze.

- US staff allowed to leave Saudi, Oman -

The US State Department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia and Oman permission to leave "due to safety risks", the US embassies in both Gulf states said.

- Charter flights to help evacuate Americans -

The United States said that it had arranged charter flights to help Americans leave the Middle East, including from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

- Stocks dip in global sell-off -

Seoul shares collapsed more than 12 percent as Asian equity markets were hit by a new wave of panic selling, while oil rose.

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H.Darwish--SF-PST