A US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, as Washington and Israel intensified their bombardment on Wednesday of Iran's security forces and other symbols of power.

As the war expanded yet again, Tehran vowed to completely destroy the Middle East's military and economic infrastructure.

The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed.

READ MORE: First planeload of Australians stranded in Dubai lands in Sydney

Millions attended the funeral of his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said a torpedo from a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEDT). It was one of the few instances of a submarine sinking a ship since World War II.

The Sri Lankan navy said it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people from the ship, which sank off their country's coast.

Iranian State TV has begun calling the conflict the "Ramadan war," a reference to the holy Muslim fasting month currently taking place.

But that term also suggested leaders are trying to prepare the public for a protracted conflict.

READ MORE: Israel vows to assassinate Iran's new supreme leader

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, echoed that sentiment, saying: "We've just begun".

In addition to striking Tehran on the fifth day of the conflict, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel.

As the conflict spiralled, Turkey said NATO defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey's airspace.

The war has killed more than 1000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, while disrupting the supply of the world's oil and gas, snarling international shipping, and stranding hundreds of thousands of travellers in the Middle East.

Oil prices have soared following Iranian attacks on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy. US stocks appeared steadier at Wednesday's opening.

'Sunk by a torpedo'

The Iranian vessel sunk in the Indian Ocean was the Islamic Republic's "prize ship", Hegseth said.

The sinking of the IRIS Dena illustrates a US-Israeli military operation against Iran's military that is stretching beyond its borders. US President Donald Trump has said one of the key objectives of the war is to wipe out Iran's Navy.

"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters," Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. "Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo."

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that its navy received information that the IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking. The island nation sent ships and planes on a rescue mission, he said.

Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship in distress and "there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water."

He said the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital in the seaside town of Galle on the Sri Lanka's southern coast. The bodies recovered were being brought to land, he said.

Shifting timelines for US operations

During his Pentagon briefing, Hegseth declined to give a definitive timeline to how long the US would be involved in the war, indicated it could stretch to eight weeks.

"You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three," he said.

"Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we're going to keep them off balance."

Cooper said American forces have damaged Iran's air defences and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said such damage has led to a decline in launches from Iran.

Still, air raid sirens and explosions could be heard across central and northern Israel on Wednesday. Israel's military said Iran launched missiles toward the country, and Hezbollah sent rockets.

Iran has also struck around the region, and air sirens sounded Wednesday across Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

At least 1045 people have been killed in Iran, the country's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said on Wednesday.

Eleven people in Israel have been killed. More than 50 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. Six US troops have been killed.

A resident of Tehran, who runs a clothing shop, said he didn't know how to protect himself from the bombing.

"It's very difficult to decide what to do. If I leave the city, how am I supposed to earn money and survive?" said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the fear of reprisals.

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For US President Donald Trump, some of the sharpest criticism he's faced in the early days of the Iran war has come from once-loyal media figures far more accustomed to singing his praises.

Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Matt Walsh are among those to express discontent. It's been noticed in the White House, which has been playing defence on social media and in interviews.

To be sure, these critics are the minority of the media MAGAsphere, where Fox News' biggest stars remain cheerleaders.

READ MORE: 'Sunk by a torpedo': US strikes Iranian warship in first since WWII

But their words illustrate conservative media's influence and how valuable it is to Trump when all runs as a well-oiled machine — and, by contrast, how much of a problem it can be if it fractures.

Much of the criticism has centred on Israel's influence on Trump's decision to go to war.

Carlson, the former Fox News star who has built his own independent operation, told ABC News over the weekend that the attack was "absolutely disgusting and evil".

"It's hard to say this, but the United States didn't make the decision here. Benjamin Netanyahu did," Carlson said on his podcast, referring to the Israeli prime minister.

'No one should have to die for a foreign country'

Kelly, another former Fox anchor gone indie, said about American casualties on her show that "no one should have to die for a foreign country".

"I don't think those service members died for the United States," Kelly said. "I think they died for Iran or Israel."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's remarks prior to a Capitol Hill briefing were a flashpoint. Rubio said that Trump had given the go-ahead for the operation knowing that Israel was prepared to strike and he feared retaliation from Iran against US bases in the region.

"We knew that if we didn't pre-emptively go after them, before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio said. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that if the Trump administration had not acted, lawmakers would have wondered why.

Walsh, a Daily Wire host, wrote on X that Rubio was "flat out telling us that we're in a war with Iran because Israel forced our hand. This is basically the worst possible thing he could have said."

The Republican president told journalist Rachael Bade in an interview that he did not believe that the opinions of Carlson and Kelly are shared by his base of supporters.

"I think that MAGA is Trump," he said. "MAGA's not the other two."

Republican former US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has fashioned herself as an influencer and media figure since bitterly breaking with Trump, said on Kelly's podcast that she was furious over the US military action.

"Make America Great Again," Greene says, "was supposed to be America first, not Israel first."

Will Trump supporters return to the fold?

Trump is probably right to think that most of his supporters will return to the fold if they're unhappy with the Iran attack, said Jason Zengerle, author of Hated By All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unravelling of the Conservative Mind.

Given the consistency of his views on the topic, Carlson is probably the most important of Trump's conservative critics, Zengerle said.

"If the war does go badly, I think it strengthens the hand of someone like Tucker," he said.

"All of this is a debate about what happens after Trump is gone anyway."

There have been cracks in Trump's conservative media support prior to Iran, notably with the vast and sprawling narratives around the Jeffrey Epstein report.

But this week's criticism unleashed some startling internal vitriol. Ben Shapiro, of The Daily Wire, called Kelly "wildly inconsistent" and a coward. Elisabeth Hasselbeck denounced Kelly for her suggestion that American servicemen died for Israel.

"How dare you?" Hasselbeck said Tuesday on The View.

Fox News' Sean Hannity said that Carlson was "not the person I knew when he was at Fox". Kelly denounced Hannity as a supplicant who "would never say anything other than to puff Donald Trump up".

It's worth remembering that most of what readers and viewers are seeing in conservative media supports Trump.

Howard Polskin, publisher of The Righting newsletter, estimated Tuesday that about 95 per cent of what he's monitored on websites is behind the president.

"Trump Stands Tall on Iran," headlined The American Spectator.

The most popular personalities on Fox News — still the top dog among conservatives — continue to be supportive. Hannity, Brian Kilmeade and Mark Levin were among the most vociferous leading up to the attack and after.

"The president has shown more courage, and this Pentagon, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon, has executed brilliantly once again," said Kilmeade, the Fox & Friends co-host.

"I think that MAGA gives him the benefit of the doubt, no question about it," Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary during the early part of Trump's first term, said on his podcast Tuesday.

"I think he's built up a ton of credibility with the base. … Look, you've got PTSD from a lot of our former leaders between Iraq and Afghanistan in particular, who only know forever wars, and so I get it. But this president has proven now twice that he knows what he's doing."

Criticism of war rollout draws specific White House rebuke

The podcast influencers who helped to drive many young men into Trump's camp during the 2024 campaign have been largely quiet.

Some of Walsh's criticism this week appeared to sting so much that it drew a specific rebuke from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"So far we've heard that although we killed the whole Iranian regime, this was not a regime change war," Walsh wrote on Monday.

"And although we obliterated their nuclear program, we had to do this because of their nuclear program. And although Iran was not planning any attacks on the US, they also might have been, depending on who you ask. And although we are not fighting this war to free the Iranian people, they are now free, or might be, depending on who seizes power, and we have no idea who that will be. The messaging on this thing is, to put it mildly, confused."

Leavitt posted a lengthy response on X explaining Trump's rationale.

"Simply put," she wrote, "the terrorist Iranian regime would not say yes to peace".

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A woman from Sydney's east has undergone surgery after she was attacked inside her home by a celebrity dentist who was later shot dead by police.

The family of photographer and mother-of-three Chloe Paul told 9News she was working from her Potts Point home when Dr Steven Lin broke into her unit demanding money.

Her family said Lin pinned Paul to the ground, where he beat her and attempted to choke her, however, her background in boxing helped her to break free and call police.

LIVE UPDATES: Iran made chilling nuclear threat, US claims

She underwent surgery today for a broken nose following the attack.

Lin, who appeared to be affected by drugs, also assaulted one of Chloe's neighbours in the unit's communal laundry room.

He gained access to the building by driving into the secure complex as another car left.

Lin, 41, was the author of The Dental Diet and was once the owner of two successful dental practices on the NSW Central Coast.

The dentist amassed a large following on social media, offering health advice to more than 250,000 Instagram followers.

Officers claim that when they confronted him, he lunged at police with a knife, resulting in a Taser being deployed.

Police claim the Taser was "ineffective", and a single round was fired at the 41-year-old.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

READ MORE: The reality of being an Aussie stuck in Dubai during the Middle East crisis

It is believed Lin barricaded himself inside one of the apartments during the 10-minute ordeal and did not know either of the victims.

In recent years, the author faced court for a raft of offences against women, including stalking, assaults, choking and breaching apprehended violence orders.

A critical incident has since been declared to investigate the actions of the officers.

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LIVE: Hundreds of thousands of people globally have had plans thrown into chaos over the Middle East war.

Air strikes continue to rock the Middle East.

‘People avoiding alcohol should not consume this product.’

The trial continues for Michael Rodger, accused of murdering Richard Leman in 2023.

Analysis: Kyle and Jackie O's 22-year airwave reign has come to an abrupt end after the show was rocked by 'serious misconduct' claims, a move that media experts say could forever change the radio landscape.

The once bullet-proof radio duo came undone after Jackie 'O' Henderson exited the KIIS FM show yesterday following an on-air argument with Kyle Sandilands on February 20.

The pair signed a $200 million contract with parent company ARN Media – a relic of a bygone radio era – and had grand plans for another decade of the top-rating show.

So what will this mean for Australian breakfast radio now?

LIVE UPDATES: Iran made chilling nuclear threat, US claims

For his part, Sandilands now has 14 days to "remedy a serious breach of contract" and was not on the breakfast show this morning when the show began at 6am.

"Ms Jacqueline Henderson has given notice that she 'cannot continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands'," ARN Media's statement yesterday read.

Media expert Peter Cox said Henderson's departure and Sandilands' potential axing could actually be a major financial win for the ASX-listed network.

"This could be a great relief to the network, they had a $100 million commitment to (each of) them out into the future," Cox told nine.com.au.

"This (potentially) allows them to break that contract. They could still employ one or other of them in the future if they wanted to, individually or combined up with other people.

"But, I would think for the network, this has got them out of a really big financial hit."

The pair reportedly earned around $10 million a year each, including a revenue-sharing arrangement, after signing a landmark deal in 2023 which would have kept them on the airwaves until at least 2034.

Combined, the pair's contracts were reportedly worth $200 million over a decade.

The Sydney-based show launched in Melbourne in 2024 but was unable to deliver the ratings after achieving a meagre 5.5 per cent audience share in the Victorian capital.

Cox said the Kyle & Jackie O Show's abject failure in the Melbourne market was the first indicator that ARN's golden goose was in trouble.

"They have not got the ratings in Melbourne. That means they haven't got the revenue," he said.

"So ARN Media have not been able to get full value out of them."

Media Stable managing director Nick Hayes believes the show's performance in Melbourne may have been the pressure point that led to this week's fallout.

"The fact that they couldn't make any inroads there with Melbourne and they were warned… they knew, but egos were flying high there and they were hoping that they were going to become number one in Australia's second biggest radio market," Hayes said.

"But it just shows that local always wins.

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"Because it failed so miserably in Melbourne, it was pretty much the litmus test there for the rest of the country and it was never going to fly."

ARN's share price jumped more than 4 per cent as markets opened this morning, rising to 0.36c per share after steadily tracking downwards for months.

Cox said this was the clearest sign that investors have faith in an ARN without its flagship radio show.

"This is a big win, and of course, to be up… when the market is in free fall, that's a big result."

Henderson and Sandliands' absence will bring commercial Australian radio into a fresh era; one that doesn't involve $100 million, 10-year contracts.

READ MORE: Plan to hand Aussies an extra week of annual leave

Their crumbling facade is proof the landscape may not have room for controversial personalities anymore, InsideOut PR chief executive Nicole Reaney said.

"I think they started at a time where you could push the boundaries; they have both stormed extreme controversy over the years," Reaney explained.

"But I think times are changing, where people are quick to trigger and cancel personalities.

"I think over the years, we have seen Kyle also shift his demeanour as well."

As for Henderson and Sandliands' careers? The fallout will fade and they will both be OK, Cox said.

Outside of radio, Sandilands has TV commitments as a judge on Australian Idol.

Henderson launched a lifestyle brand with her friend Gemma O'Neill in 2023, which the radio personality announced she was stepping away from earlier this year.

"I think the two of them will be able to handle this. They've got plenty of money," Cox added.

"They will make money in the future, and for the radio network, I think it got rid of a terrifying liability that they've got themselves into."

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When under pressure on inflation, tariffs, immigration and even the Jeffrey Epstein case, the Trump administration has pointed to the success of the financial markets.

But Donald Trump's biggest move of his presidency, the war with Iran, has seen a sharp drop in shares globally.

And there's no end in sight for the market decline.

READ MORE: Trump's past comments on Iran come back to haunt him

"Yesterday was the markets' denial phase. Today is the no relief phase," Bank of New York's Bob Savage said.

"There is significant room for global market corrections to continue, as risk has been built up over the last three years of global growth."

The ASX 200 dropped sharply on opening this morning, the third straight day of substantial losses.

Former Goldman Sachs strategist Robin Brooks said that financial markets are the "ultimate constraint" for Trump.

"It was disorderly conditions in the Treasury market that got him to back down vis-à-vis China back in April 2025," he said.

"We're moving in that direction very fast."

Some stockbrokers are even hoping for another TACO moment from the president.

The unflattering term coined on Wall Street stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out".

Many investors have cashed in on the assumption that the president would reverse his unpopular decisions in the face of wide opposition.

The term first came into use after Trump delayed many of his Liberation Day tariffs.

READ MORE: Conservative commentators lash Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran

"There are a few areas where Donald Trump is sensitive to pushback," the US Studies Centre Director of Research Jared Mondschein told nine.com.au.

"As much as people say he likes to only go in one direction and go maximalist, he often comes to a more negotiated outcome or settlement."

And when it comes to Iran, Trump does not have the support he would have hoped for.

"He's also gotten pushback from Republicans on some matters, when he sees his GOP base is not with him," he said.

"He also has responded in the past to the financial markets not going well."

But predicting the president's next move is a "fool's errand", Mondschein said.

The ASX 200 is down 1.71 per cent and counting an hour after the markets opened.

Meanwhile, the price of oil continues to skyrocket as Iran threatens oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Dow Jones had another bad day, as did the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite.

READ MORE: Furious Republican senator threatens to bring Trump agenda to a halt

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More than 200 stranded Australians have left Dubai after the US-Israeli war on Iran erupted across the Middle East and caused widespread airport closures.

Emirates flight EK414 safely made it out of the warzone about 9.30am today (AEDT) and is expected to land in Sydney about 10.30pm. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said the UAE helped provide a commercial flight.

READ MORE: Could this be the 'ultimate constraint' for Trump amid war with Iran?

She said six crisis teams will be heading to the Middle East to help stranded Australians.

Dubai International Airport reopened for limited services earlier this week, days after it was struck by an Iranian retaliatory strike and the airspace was shut.

The federal government estimates there are about 20,000 Australians in the UAE and another 115,000 more in the broader Middle East region.

Wong told the ABC earlier this morning the situation is a "consular crisis that dwarfs any that Australia has had to deal with".

Australia yet to commit to repatriation flights

Australia has not yet committed to sending repatriation flights to help stranded citizens abroad.

Wong has repeated that repatriation flights are "one of the contingencies we always look at", but insisted that commercial flights would be the fastest way to get the large volume of Australians safely out of the Middle East.

Shadow defence minister James Paterson called on the government to do "everything they can" to help Australians out of the Middle East.

He said the opposition would offer "unqualified bipartisan support" if military assets were needed to help repatriate them.

READ MORE: 'Good signs' for interest rates after economy growth stronger than expected

Meanwhile, several other nations across the world have begun plans to repatriate their citizens.

The US has sent free charter flights to evacuate citizens from the UAE, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The Department of State said it is in contact with 3000 citizens and 9000 have already returned home.

The UK has 130,000 citizens in the region and has organised a charter from Oman, Germany has 30,000 citizens and booked a charter from Oman and Saudi Arabia and Italy has already chartered about 500 citizens from the UAE and signalled there will be more to come for the thousands of others.

France has 400,000 citizens in the Middle East and is preparing to evacuate them.

Small number of commercial flights resume

Dubai Airport resumed limited services out of its two international terminals on Tuesday.

Priority is being given to departing flights. 

Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport until they have received a confirmed departure time from their airline.

Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and flydubai are also resuming limited flights.

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https://twitter.com/DXBMediaOffice/status/2028874306353258687

Commercial flights have departed Dubai today for several cities, including London, Manchester, Moscow, Prague, Amsterdam, Budapest, New Delhi and Mumbai.

There were 26 flights cancelled. 

Warnings about flight safety

Some flights have been able to safely leave Dubai, but the situation is volatile and airspaces can open and close abruptly.

There have also been sporadic warnings to shelter in place due to incoming attacks. 

Dubai Airport said it is maintaining the "highest standards of operational safety". 

"Dubai Airports continues to closely monitor the situation in coordination with the relevant authorities, and our focus remains on maintaining the highest standards of operational safety, security, and well-being of passengers and staff," the airport said on its website. 

Smarttraveller warned that airports and aircraft are more vulnerable to attacks and retaliatory strikes.

"Consider a commercial option to depart if you can secure one, and it is safe to do so," Smarttraveller said in its latest update.

READ MORE: Unions launch bid to give Aussies an extra week of annual leave

"You should verify the status of any border crossing before you travel by air, land or sea. Make sure you have access to food, water and essential medicines.

"Consider that airlines may cease operating at short notice, and you may need to find accommodation. Availability of accommodation may be limited."

Australians are urged not to travel to the region. 

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