Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim total control of the Strait of Hormuz as Israel strikes Tehran and global powers scramble to evacuate citizens from the escalating Middle East conflict.

TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared total control over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy transit route, on Wednesday as Israel launched a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.

Governments worldwide are scrambling to evacuate citizens stranded by the five-day-old war, which has sent global shares tumbling and drawn in regional powers from Lebanon to the Gulf.

The conflict, sparked by a US-Israeli attack that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has seen Iran lash out with missile and drone strikes across the region, also involving its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the Israeli military told residents south of the Litani River to move north, warning it was “compelled to take military action” against Hezbollah in the area.

Cities like Dubai and Riyadh, long considered safe havens from regional turmoil, have been drawn into the conflict, with the growing chaos sparing few countries in Iran’s vicinity.

A ballistic missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkish airspace was destroyed by NATO air defence systems, according to Turkish officials on Wednesday.

With energy prices already spiking, former US President Donald Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

The Revolutionary Guards had earlier warned ships against entering the strait, prompting major shipping firms to suspend transit through the waterway after maritime agencies reported several ships attacked.

In Lebanon, Israel expanded its air strikes, targeting the area around the presidential palace and Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion and killing 11 people according to Lebanese authorities.

An AFP journalist reported a fresh explosion in northeast Tehran as Iran announced that Khamenei’s funeral had been postponed.

Israel has vowed to assassinate any successor to Khamenei, while Iran has said an appointment would be made “at the earliest opportunity” according to Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, who told state TV “we are close, but the situation is a war situation.”

The Israeli military said it had begun “broad scale strikes” in Tehran on Wednesday, while Trump claimed the US had “knocked out” Iran’s navy, air force and radar systems.

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US forces in the region, said the first day’s barrage was bigger than the “shock and awe” assault on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 2003.

Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have urged Iranians to rise up, though the US leader said regime change was not the goal, weeks after Iranian authorities clamped down on mass protests killing thousands according to rights groups.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two cruise missiles and a drone targeting its huge Ras Tanura refinery, while drones struck near the US consulate in Dubai starting a fire and a missile hit the US military base at Al-Udeid in Qatar.

The UAE and Qatar both said they intercepted drone and missile salvos on Wednesday, with Abu Dhabi saying it was targeted by three ballistic missiles and 129 drones, intercepting all but eight.

Kuwait has also been struck, with the health ministry announcing the death of an 11-year-old girl killed by falling shrapnel.

The Pentagon identified four of six US troops killed in the war so far, saying they were hit by a drone attack in Kuwait.

The United States encouraged all Americans to leave the region if they could find commercial flights, though air travel has been severely disrupted, while governments including Britain and France sent chartered flights to get their citizens out.

An air strike hit a hotel in Hazmieh near Beirut on Wednesday, marking the first reported Israeli attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut’s suburbs, near the presidential palace and several embassies.

Israel then warned all residents south of the Litani River to leave their homes, saying it was “compelled to take military action” in an area covering hundreds of square kilometres.

In Iraq, the country’s top Shiite cleric, Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, denounced the war as “unjust” and called on Muslims worldwide to denounce it and stand in solidarity with the Iranian people.

According to the Iranian Red Crescent, the US and Israeli attacks have killed 787 people in Iran, a toll that could not be independently confirmed by AFP.

Iran’s judiciary warned that those who aid the country’s enemies “will be dealt with decisively and severely” as Tehran repeatedly vowed to inflict a heavy price in retaliation.

In the Iranian capital, normally home to around 10 million people, residents who have not fled remain shut away in their homes fearing the bombardment, with nurse Samireh, 33, observing “there are so few people that you’d think no one ever lived here.”

 The Sun Malaysia