The Islamic State jihadist group said Thursday that it carried out twin bombings which killed at least 84 people at a memorial ceremony in Iran for slain Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani.

The claim from IS came as Iran observed a day of national mourning for those killed in Wednesday's blasts.

In a statement on Telegram, IS said two of its members "activated their explosives vests" among the crowds who had come to honour Soleimani on the anniversary of his death in a targeted US drone strike in Baghdad four years ago.

Fears have mounted that Israel's war in Gaza could spread across the region after strikes in Lebanon and Iraq as well as deadly blasts in Iran, but experts say a wider conflict is unlikely for now.

What has happened?

Almost three months into the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, tensions are high in the region.

Neighbouring Lebanon, Hamas and a US official have said Israel was behind an air strike that killed Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri, 57, in a stronghold of Lebanese group Hezbollah in Beirut on Tuesday.

Israeli bombing killed dozens of people in besieged Gaza Thursday, the health ministry of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said, with regional tensions surging over the almost three-month-old war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was headed back to the Middle East for his fourth trip to the region since the Hamas attack of October 7 triggered the bloodiest ever Gaza war.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head Thursday to the Middle East as fears mount that Israel's war in Gaza will spread across the region, following deadly blasts in Iran and the killing of a Hamas leader in Lebanon.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the trip -- Blinken's fourth to the region since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip -- but declined to offer any details on the itinerary apart from a stop in Israel.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will leave Thursday on his fourth crisis trip to the Middle East, an official said, as fears mount that the Israel-Hamas conflict will spiral into a regional war.

The top US diplomat will leave Thursday evening from Washington on a trip that will include Israel, the US official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

The official did not offer any further detail but Blinken on previous trips has visited a number of Arab countries.

Twelve nations led by the United States on Wednesday jointly warned Yemen's Huthi rebels of unspecified consequences unless they immediately halt sea attacks that are increasingly disrupting global commerce.

President Joe Biden's administration described the statement -- joined notably by Britain, Germany and Japan -- as a final warning as he weighs possible military strikes against the Huthis if attacks persist.

Hunger is everywhere at Rafah zoo, in Gaza's far south, as internally displaced Palestinians seek shelter from the war between cages and animals die of starvation.

"The situation is very tragic, there's no food, water, medicine, or anything," its owner Ahmed Jumaa said, a parrot perched on his shoulder.

The World Health Organization has warned of the risk of famine and disease, with only a minimal amount of aid entering the Palestinian territory nearly three months into the fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.

The Dakar Rally roars into life on Friday in Saudi Arabia with Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah seeking a sixth title and third in a row in the mythic motorsport marathon.

A 425-strong colourful caravanserai made up of cars, bikes, quads and trucks sets out from Al-Ula on a treacherous 4,900-mile odyssey around the Gulf kingdom with a January 19 finish in Yanbu on the Red Sea.

This year's route includes a first ever 48-hour stage in the Empty Quarter, a vast sea of sand with dunes as far as the eye can see.

The chief of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel on Wednesday against waging war on Lebanon, a day after a strike killed Hamas's deputy leader in the southern Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah.

"If the enemy thinks of waging a war on Lebanon, we will fight without restraint, without rules, without limits and without restrictions," Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

"We are not afraid of war," he said, adding that "for now, we are fighting on the frontline following meticulous calculations".

Near Israel's tense northern border with Lebanon, residents fear the killing of the deputy leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas in Beirut could spark a war with their neighbour.

During nearly three months of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli army has also been exchanging cross-border fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is allied with Hamas.

While the violence had already dampened the mood in the coastal city of Nahariya, the anxiety level shot up with the death of Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri in a strike in a Beirut suburb on Tuesday.