SEOUL, March 11 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Wednesday it supports the Iranian people's choice of new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was named on Monday to succeed his father killed in the initial strikes against the country by the U.S. and Israel, state media said.

North Korea's foreign ministry also said it strongly denounces acts of aggression by the U.S. and Israel of "illegal" attacks against Iran, which are destroying peace and escalating instability worldwide, KCNA state news agency said.

(Reporting by Jack Kim; E+diting by Chris Reese)

By Parisa Hafezi and Angus McDowall

DUBAI, March 10 (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards forced through the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies, bludgeoning aside the concerns of pragmatists, senior Iranian sources said.

Already very powerful, the Guards have gained yet greater sway since the war began and quickly overcame the misgivings of senior political and clerical figures whose opposition to the choice delayed the announcement by hours, the sources said.

US Navy escorts could help increase the flow of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, but American warships accompanying slow-moving commercial vessels would face threats including mines, missiles and drones in the narrow waterway bordering Iran.

Iran has threatened to block oil exports via the key maritime chokepoint -- through which nearly 20 percent of the world's crude usually transits -- in response to the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic.

SYDNEY, March 11 (Reuters) - Two more players from the Iranian women's soccer team sought asylum in Australia, local media reported, after five players were granted humanitarian visas on Tuesday over safety concerns on their return home for not singing the national anthem.

One player may have refused to board a flight at Sydney airport at the last minute on Tuesday night, national broadcaster ABC News said in a report, citing unidentified sources. The remaining players have left Australia for Iran.

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators expressed alarm on Tuesday about the Iran war, saying they were worried that President Donald Trump could deploy U.S. ground forces and noting the high risks given Russian support for Tehran's military.

"We know that Russia is already helping with intel, providing that to Iran, and that there's an axis with Russia and China, Iran and North Korea that puts at greater risk the United States and our national security," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said on CNN.

March 10 (Reuters) - Boeing has signed a new $289 million contract with Israel to deliver as many as 5,000 new air-launched smart bombs, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the transaction.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

By Jonathan Saul

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Navy's assessments spell continued disruption to Middle East oil exports and reflect a divergence from President Donald Trump’s statements that the U.S. is prepared to provide naval escorts whenever needed to restart regular shipments along the key waterway.

The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump would not be "happy" if Russia is sharing intelligence with Iran during the Middle East war, but it held back any strong criticism for Moscow.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Moscow had passed sensitive intelligence to Tehran, including the locations of US warships and aircraft in the region.

March 10 (Reuters) - Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday did not offer a timetable on when the war with Iran could end, telling Germany's Bild newspaper: "We need to take a deep breath and get to the end result."

Herzog said the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran were changing the whole configuration of the Middle East. He defended strikes on Iranian oil sites as a way of taking away money from Tehran's "war machine".

When the top US general spoke Tuesday of his "respect" for Iranian fighters, the remark underscored a striking divide between the restrained language of the military brass and the swaggering rhetoric used by President Donald Trump and his administration.

From Trump joking that it was "more fun" to sink Iranian warships than capture them, to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boasting that US forces were "punching them while they're down," critics say the administration's messaging -- reveling in the destructive power of the US military -- has been jarring.