<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has called on Gulf states to "shut down US bases" and declared the closure of a key oil transit point should be used as leverage, in his first public comments since replacing his father.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The statement, read on television by a news anchor, came hours after all but the most essential Australian officials were directed to leave the United Arab Emirates and Israel due to worsening safety fears over the war in the Middle East.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Khamenei did not appear on camera, and an Israeli assessment indicates he was wounded in the war's opening salvo, which killed his father, Ali Khamenei, and many other leading figures in the extremist regime.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a major choke point for oil shipped out of the Middle East due to security fears, should be used and that Iran's attacks on Gulf Arab neighbours will continue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ayatollah vowed to avenge those killed in the war, including in a strike on a school.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said Iran would "obtain compensation" from its enemy, referring to the United States.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>If it refuses, Iran will "take from its assets" or destroy them to the same extent, he said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-attack-iran-new-supreme-leader-ayatollah-mojtaba-khamenei-issues-first-message/77821e30-da6c-4ce3-96ff-23104e7f65d8" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Australian officials told to leave</span></strong><span></span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>All but the most essential Australian officials have been directed to leave the United Arab Emirates and Israel due to worsening safety fears amid the war in the Middle East.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The UAE has been targeted repeatedly by Iranian drones and missiles since the US and Israel began bombing Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last night, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government had directed "non-essential" Australian officials to leave the country due to the "deteriorating security situation".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Israel and the UAE. We urge you to leave the Middle East if you can and if it's safe to do so.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Don't wait until it's too late. It may be the last chance for some time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Dependants of Australian diplomats had already been directed to leave the countries, as well as Lebanon, days before Iran was hit late last month in strikes many international law experts considered illegal.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thursday's major developments included Iran's attacks against commercial ships around the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq's port of Basra.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They were an escalation of Tehran's defence strategy of pressuring the US by squeezing the oil-rich Gulf region to threaten global economic stability. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The first week of the war cost the United States $US11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked back over $US100 ($142) on Thursday as the war showed no signs of slowing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Israeli military also was striking Iran and moving troops to fight Iran's militant ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, where more than 800,000 people have been displaced by the fighting. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The UN refugee agency on Thursday said up to 3.2 million people in Iran had been displaced by the ongoing war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>- Reported with Associated Press</span></em></div></div>