Beijing is a close partner of Iran and has urged the United States and Israel to cease their attacks on the country, while also criticizing Tehran's strikes against Gulf states housing US military bases.

The regional war has also steadily pulled Iraq further into the fighting, after the country has long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.

Trump threatened to delay a planned summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this month if Beijing does not assist with reopening the strait.

The Foreign Ministry in Jakarta has condemned Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as the war in Iran spills across more borders.

The ships take a longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope in the southern tip of Africa following the outbreak of the war caused by unprovoked United States-Israeli attacks on Iran. 

The US president, in an interview with NBC News, said he thought Tehran was keen to come to the table but that Washington would fight on for better terms and might bomb targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island once, again, "just for fun".

Global oil prices have surged by 40 percent as Iran has choked off the vital sea passage and attacked Gulf energy facilities since US-Israeli strikes launched the war on Iran.

Jakarta decided to postpone the summit of eight Muslim-majority developing countries grouped under the D8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, which was scheduled to be held in mid-April, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Trump had also threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure if Tehran did not allow passage for ships via the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass.

Sjafrie told reporters Indonesia had been prepared to send 20,000 troops for the force but was now ready to deploy 8,000, introduced gradually, adding that other countries had pledged to send lower numbers. 

The war launched by the United States and Israel has rapidly spread across the region, with hundreds killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, and sparked global economic upheaval.

The United States and Iran have signaled no quick end to their war, with US President Donald Trump saying it was necessary to finish the job and Iran warning that the world should be ready for oil at US$200 a barrel after striking tankers in Iraqi waters and other ships near the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Days after the first bombs launched by the United States and Israel on Iranian cities, explosions were heard across Tehran and other locations, including near the Indonesian embassy complex where evacuees were spending some time before leaving the country.

The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran's attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes that sparked the Middle East war, with Tehran targeting US assets but also civilian infrastructure.

The conflict has engulfed the Middle East and roiled energy markets since the February 28 US-Israeli strikes that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the war, with Tehran on Tuesday vowing no crude exports would leave the Gulf if the bombardment continued.

The United States said Tuesday it was striking Iranian ships capable of mining the crucial Strait of Hormuz and threatened escalation if Tehran presses ahead, as the Middle East war wreaks havoc on global oil markets.

The World Health Organization backs Iran's advice urging people to stay indoors due to toxic air from strikes on oil facilities.

President Prabowo Subianto has claimed that Indonesia maintains its long-standing “free and active” foreign policy, underscoring that Jakarta will continue to avoid aligning with any country or bloc despite rising geopolitical tensions, in his first public statement since the US-Israel war on Iran began on Feb. 28.

Here are the death tolls from the war as reported by countries as of March 9, more than a week after it began. Reuters has not independently verified these deaths.   

"Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones -- and we are not done yet," Netanyahu said during a visit to the National Health Command Centre on Monday night, according to a statement published Tuesday.

The remarks from one of Iran's top leaders, who also ruled out negotiations with Washington, came as Tehran launched a new wave of attacks on US-allied Gulf nations hours after Trump's assurances of a swift end to the rapidly widening conflict.

Von der Leyen stressed that "there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime".

China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters on Monday that Iran's decision to appoint the younger Khamenei was "based on its constitution".

Indonesia has called on authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Oman to fully investigate last week’s explosion of the Mussafah 2 tugboat in the Strait of Hormuz involving five Indonesian nationals, as tensions escalate and attacks persist in the vital shipping lane. 

As Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed Iran's new leader, the benchmark price for a barrel of crude soared beyond $100 for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine four years ago, prompting swift reactions across the world. 

There have been numerous attacks on ships navigating the strait since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.

In a lengthy statement, the assembly said that "after careful and extensive studies... in today's extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei (may Allah protect him) is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, based on the decisive vote of the respected representatives of the Assembly of Experts."

On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed "that the roar of the bombs may cease, the weapons may fall silent, and a space for dialogue may open".

Indonesia claims its offer to mediate in the United States-Israel war on Iran is being supported by fellow Muslim-majority countries, as its troops are being put high alert at home amid disruptions in the Middle East.

"At some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing," he told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One.