IRAN claimed total control of the key energy transit Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the war’s fifth day, as Israel hit Iran with fresh strikes and advanced into Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Here are the latest developments:
The funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was due to take place on Wednesday evening has been postponed, state television announced, “in anticipation of unprecedented turnout”. A new date will be announced later, it said.
• Iran is “trying” to quickly appoint a successor to Khamenei as supreme leader, despite the ongoing US-Israeli bombardment, state TV reported.
• 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.
• The Israeli army entered the southern Lebanon town of Khiam, Lebanese state media reported on Wednesday, as part of a ground incursion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
• Hezbollah said it had targeted the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries, in central Israel, overnight with a drone attack and had also launched a missile at a drone control base.
• Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone attack targeting its massive Ras Tanura refinery, the defence ministry said, following an earlier hit on the complex this week.
• The UAE’s ministry of defence said its air defences “successfully engaged today (4 March 2025) with three ballistic missiles and detected 129 drones, of which 121 drones were intercepted while eight fell on state territory”.
• Qatar’s military said it was targeted “at dawn today, by 10 drones and two cruise missiles coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” with all of the projectiles intercepted by its forces.
• Iran has no intention of negotiating with the United States and can continue the war for “as long as we want”, Mohammad Mokhber, a senior aide to the late Ayatollah Khamenei, told state TV.
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday defended his handling of the US-Israeli war against Iran after President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack over the British leader’s initial refusal to allow the Americans to use UK air bases.
• Bahrain said on Wednesday that residents could register as volunteers to aid war efforts in sectors including health, engineering, logistics and administration, as Iran pressed on with its Gulf retaliation campaign.
AFP
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