In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on Thursday, mourners in the city of Qom attend the funeral of those killed in the US-Israeli war with Iran. — AFP TEHRAN, Mar 5 (AFP): Israel on Thursday launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, which stepped up its attacks on Gulf nations Qatar and Bahrain, as the Middle East war spread throughout the region and beyond.
AFP reporters in Tehran and Doha heard huge explosions over the cities, with a thick column of black smoke billowing on the horizon of the Qatari capital.
A conflict sparked Saturday with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rapidly escalated, engulfing the region and drawing in global powers, while snarling shipping and energy markets.
The war has touched as far afield as the Sri Lankan coast, where a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship, and Azerbaijan, which threatened retaliation after a drone hit an airport.
Azerbaijan warned the attack "will not go unanswered" and vowed "necessary retaliatory measures," raising fears of another country entering the fray.
In Lebanon, AFPTV images showed buildings in rubble and plumes of black smoke over Beirut after Israeli strikes aimed at Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
On another front, Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups, as the United States reportedly seeks to arm Iranian Kurdish groups to infiltrate Iran.
Australia deployed two military aircraft to the theatre while Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said he could not rule out his armed forces taking part in hostilities.
The war has also dragged in NATO member Turkey after alliance air defences destroyed a missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkish airspace.
While a Turkish official said the missile appeared to have been aimed at a British base in Cyprus, Turkey summoned the Iranian ambassador over the incident.
Following Thursday's strikes on Tehran, AFPTV images showed blackened vehicles and mangled buildings, with smoke still rising from some.
A 30-year-old Tehran resident told AFP: "We're going through a very important page of our history and I'm not afraid."
"Hope is the only thing that we have right now."
Iran's official IRNA news agency said 1,045 military personnel and civilians have been killed since the war began, a toll AFP could not independently verify.
Iranian media reported Thursday that a sports complex, football stadium, municipality building and shop fronts across Tehran were damaged in Israeli and US strikes on the city.
The country is effectively cut off from the rest of the world, with the internet operating at around one percent of capacity, according to the Netblocks monitor.
Israel's war aims were to "inflict severe damage on the Iranian terror regime until it removes the existential threat", military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.
Reuters adds: Israel launched a large wave of strikes on Tehran on Thursday, targeting what it said was infrastructure belonging to the Iranian authorities, after Iranian missiles sent millions of Israelis rushing into bomb shelters.
As the US-Iran war entered its sixth day, the conflict has widened beyond Gulf states and into Asia, convulsing global markets and prompting thousands of stranded tourists and residents to try to flee the Middle East.
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