Iran’s new Supreme Leader has declared Iran will avenge the blood of its martyrs, keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and attack US bases.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s first statement since succeeding his slain father was read out on state television.

In the defiant address, Khamenei said the United ‌States must close all its bases in the region.

He said the strait, which runs past Iran’s coast and supplies a fifth of the world’s oil, should remain shut to put pressure on the enemy.

US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the US was by far the world’s largest oil producer and made a lot of money when oil prices went up.

Iranian state television offered no explanation of why Khamenei, 56, did not appear on camera.

Israeli intelligence assessments suggest he has been wounded in the war, likely in the February 28 Israeli strike that killed his father, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The popular demand is to continue our effective defence and make the enemy regret it,” the hardline cleric said.

“The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used,” Khamenei added, referring to the shipping route through which a fifth of global oil normally passes along Iran’s coast.

Australians ordered to leave

Australia has ordered all non-essential officials to leave Israel and the United Arab Emirates two weeks into the war.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said staff were directed to leave “due to the deteriorating security situation”.

“Essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it,” she said in a statement posted on social media on Thursday night.

“We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Israel and the UAE.

Wong’s statement came after the government told families of Australian officials in Israel and Lebanon to leave in the days before the war began on February 28.

Voluntary departures were also offered to diplomats’ dependents in the UAE, Jordan and Qatar.

The government on Tuesday that more than 2600 Australians were returning home from the region on commercial flights.

Wong said the overwhelming majority of Australian citizens who were travelling through the Middle East and had been stranded when the war broke out had returned home.

Historic disruption

The war in the Middle East is creating the biggest ‌oil supply disruption in history, the International Energy Agency says, a day after it agreed to release a record volume from strategic stockpiles to offset shortages and a spike in prices.

Global ‌supply is expected to drop by eight million barrels a day in March, the IEA said in its latest monthly oil market report – equal to almost 8 per cent of world demand – due to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.

Two tankers were ablaze in an Iraqi port on Thursday after a hit by suspected Iranian explosive-laden boats, a step-up in attacks that have cut off oil from the Middle East.

Images ‌verified by Reuters as ‌having been filmed from ⁠the shore of the port of Basra showed ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs that lit up the ​night sky after the attacks, which Iraqi authorities blamed on Iranian boats.At least one crew member was killed.

Hours earlier, three other ships had been struck in the Gulf.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for at least one of those attacks, on a Thai bulk carrier that was set ablaze, which the Guards said had disobeyed their orders.

Another container vessel reported being struck by an unknown projectile near the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

Academy Awards host Conan O’Brien (second right) rolls out the red carpet. Photo: AAP

Oscars fallout

Oscars organisers say security arrangements for the ceremony on Sunday (local time) are tight following reports of an FBI alert warning of a possible retaliatory drone attack targeting the US west coast.

The 98th annual film awards ceremony will be held at Los Angeles Dolby Theatre, and be broadcast globally in more than 200 territories. Conan O’Brien, 61, will host.

The security focus follows reports the FBI had warned law enforcement agencies across California of a potential retaliatory drone attack by Iran in response to American military actions, according to an alert reported by ABC News.

Officials from the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department declined to comment directly on the memo but confirmed heightened vigilance in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.

“I feel like on this show, we have one of the best teams in the business in all aspects, and that comes down to our security team,” Oscars executive producer Raj Kapoor said.

“Of course, every year we monitor what’s going on in the world. We have the support of the FBI and the LAPD, and it’s a close collaboration.”

Kapoor also spoke about the responsibilities involved in ensuring safety for those attending and watching the ceremony.

“This show has to run like clockwork,” he said.

“But we want everybody who is coming to this show, who is witnessing the show, who is even a fan of the show, when they’re standing outside the barricades. We want everybody to feel safe, protected, and welcome.”

Growing toll

The war that began with a US-Israeli ⁠bombing campaign at the end of February has so far killed about 2000 people ‌and caused what the ​International Energy Agency describes as the biggest disruption to global energy supplies in history.

Undermining US and Israeli claims to have knocked out much of Iran’s stock ​of long-range weapons, ‌more drones were reported on Thursday flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed militia Hezbollah fired its biggest volley of rockets into ​Israel of the war, prompting fresh Israeli strikes on Beirut.

Oil prices soared back above $US100 a barrel, having come down earlier in the week when Trump said the war would be over soon.

—with AAP