In neighbouring Iraq, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted armed groups hostile to the Islamic republic in the autonomous Kurdish region, while Baghdad reported drone attacks and a nationwide blackout as evening fell.

In Lebanon, Israel launched a new wave of air strikes and occupied several border villages, as Tehran's proxy Hezbollah announced it had responded with a drone attack targeting Tel Aviv and engaged Israeli troops on the ground.

And in Iran, where the war began on Saturday with a wave of US-Israeli attacks, the Revolutionary Guards claimed total control over the vital Strait of Hormuz, while Israel said it was striking a major military compound.

In retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has lashed out with missile and drone strikes aimed at Israel and targets all across the Gulf.

Cities like Dubai and Riyadh, which have long taken pride in their safety from the tumult of the region, have been drawn in, with the growing chaos sparing few countries in Iran's vicinity and beyond.

- 'Fighting to win' -

A US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean in an attack described as "quiet death" by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

It was the first US sinking of an enemy ship by torpedo since World War II. "Like in that war," Hegseth said, "we are fighting to win."

Sri Lankan authorities said the bodies of 87 Iranian sailors had been recovered.

In another first, a missile launched from Iran was destroyed by NATO's air defence system while heading towards Turkey's airspace, drawing condemnation from Ankara and NATO.

A Turkish official later told AFP, however, that Turkey was not the target of the missile, but rather that it had "veered off course" and had been aimed at a base in Cyprus.

In the Gulf, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had total control of the Strait of Hormuz -- crucial to global energy shipments -- after President Donald Trump had said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the waterway.

The Revolutionary Guards had previously warned ships against entering the strait, and major shipping firms have already suspended transit, with maritime agencies reporting several vessels attacked.

- Iraq blackout -

Iraq was hit with a total blackout on Wednesday, its electricity ministry said -- without identifying the cause -- as missile strikes and drone attacks were reported in multiple areas.

Two drones were shot down near Baghdad's international airport, according to security sources, blasts echoed throughout the Kurdish city of Erbil, and two pro-Iran fighters were killed in a strike in the south, sources from the group said.

The US embassy in Baghdad told its nationals they should "leave Iraq now".

The country's autonomous Kurdistan region has been dragged into the Middle East war with Iranian drones targeting US bases since the Middle East war broke out.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted armed groups hostile to Tehran in the region on Wednesday, with one such group reporting a fighter killed.

- South Lebanon front -

In Lebanon, which Hezbollah dragged into the war, strikes have so far killed 72 people and displaced more than 83,000 since the start of the new round of fighting, officials said Wednesday.

Israel told people living south of the Litani river -- an area of hundreds of square kilometres -- to leave, saying that the army was "compelled to take military action" against Hezbollah there.

AFP video footage from Wednesday showed what appear to be two Israeli tanks amid residential buildings in Khiam, about six kilometres from the border.

Hezbollah said its fighters had engaged Israeli troops in "direct" clashes there, after having previously launched a swarm of drones at a naval base in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, continuing Israeli air strikes hit a hotel in Hazmieh -- the first reported attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut's suburbs, which is near the presidential palace and several foreign embassies.

Iran's military threatened to target Israeli embassies worldwide if Israel were to attack Tehran's mission in Lebanon.

- Bigger than 'shock and awe' -

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two cruise missiles as well as 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 had intercepted drone and missile salvos on Wednesday, with Abu Dhabi saying it had been targeted by three ballistic missiles and 129 drones, intercepting all but eight drones.

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

Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began.

The Pentagon has announced the deaths of six US service members since Saturday, four of them in Kuwait.

Qatar's premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused Iran of dragging its Gulf neighbours into a "war that is not theirs" in a call with Iran's top diplomat.

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.

burs/rh/smw

ADMIRAL GROUP