By Sarah El Safty and Maha El Dahan

DUBAI, March 5 (Reuters) - Wealthy Gulf states are facing their biggest food security challenge since the 2008 global food crisis, as the Iran conflict threatens ports and disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The war is testing strategies adopted after 2008, when soaring food prices prompted Gulf nations to shift toward import-dependent policies reliant on pouring cash into agricultural investments abroad.

BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - Countries in the Middle East have told European officials they are concerned about the risk of civil war in Iran as a result of the conflict between Tehran and the United States and Israel, EU foreign chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

(Refiles story to change dateline to March 5)

By Saleem Ahmed and Asif Shahzad

QUETTA, Pakistan, March 5 (Reuters) - Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Tehranshaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents.

Theconflict has widened sharply, with a U.S. submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and NATO air defences destroying an Iranian missile fired towards Turkey.

By Nailia Bagirova

BAKU, March 5 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan's foreign ministry lodged an official protest with the Iranian embassy on Thursday after a pair of Iranian drones flew across the border into Azerbaijan and injured two people at an airport in the Nakhchivan exclave.

"This attack on the territory of Azerbaijan contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to increased tensions in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Iran has not approached Moscow with a request for arms supplies, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

Russia has condemned U.S.-Israeli strikes and called for an immediate ceasefire against a country it has drawn closer to in recent years.

Iran last year sealed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Moscow, Russia is building two new nuclear units at Bushehr, the site of Iran's only nuclear power plant, and Iran supplied Russia with shahed drones for use against Ukraine.

MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday accused the United States and Israel of trying to drag Arab countries into a wider Middle East conflict by provoking Iran into striking targets across the region and said there was no sign Washington and Tel Aviv would let up.

Arab states in the Gulf, all close U.S. allies - some of which also have close ties with Russia - have come under Iranian drone and missile attacks since the United States and Israel launched their air strikes on Iran on Saturday.

ANKARA, March 5 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Thursday that it was closely following the actions of the Iranian Kurdish PJAK militant group, which it said threatened Iran's security and regional stability, amid reports of discussions between Iranian Kurdish militias and Washington about the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.

On Tuesday, sources told Reuters that the Iranian Kurdish groups had consulted with the U.S. about whether, and how, to attack Iran's security forces in the western part of the country.

Britain is sending additional fighter jets to Qatar amid the widening war in the Middle East, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday as his defence minister visited Cyprus.

The four Typhoon planes will join an existing UK squadron in the Gulf state "to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region", Starmer told reporters.

The announcement came after Defence Secretary John Healey arrived in Cyprus following a drone strike on a UK air base on the Mediterranean island earlier this week.

By Mubasher Bukhari and Saad Sayeed

LAHORE, March 5 (Reuters) - Pakistan's efforts to preserve close ties with President Donald Trump are being put to the test after protesters stormed the U.S. consulate in Karachi last week and poured onto streets elsewhere over the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S. and Israeli strikes.

Africa hosts military bases within reach of Iranian missiles and is feeling the impact of rising oil prices and threats to shipping, as the continent again suffers from events largely beyond its control.

The continent is "structurally exposed" to the Middle East war, said Hubert Kinkoh, senior researcher at the CARPO think tank.

"Energy imports, foreign military bases, and its proximity to maritime chokepoints mean the war's effects reach African shores quickly."

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