Journalists covering the war in the Middle East are facing increasing restrictions and censorship imposed by governments and armed groups, with reporters being stopped and questioned or even detained, a survey of AFP bureau chiefs from the region showed.

Some of the tightest restrictions are in Iran and Israel, although Gulf monarchies, targets of unprecedented drone and missile attacks from Iran, have also imposed tighter controls.

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

- Israel announces fresh strikes on Iran -

Israel's military said that it had unleashed a new "wave of strikes" on Tehran, shortly after a round of explosions was heard in the Iranian capital.

"The IDF (military) has begun an additional wave of strikes on Iranian terror regime targets," the Israeli military wrote on its official Telegram channel.

- Oil prices dive -

At a market in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat, pensioner Shemshat Kurbanova always used to pick the "juiciest" Iranian fruit -- but 10 days of war across the border have sent prices soaring and she is now worried how to get by.

The Middle East war has tumbled global markets, with the effects being felt almost immediately in some of Tehran's closest neighbours.

Iran last week banned all goods and agricultural exports, triggering economic pressure on secretive Turkmenistan and the wider Central Asian region, where Tehran had a growing economic footprint in recent years.

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Britain is working with allies on a range of options to support commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in the face of Iranian threats, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesperson said on Tuesday after calls with the leaders of Italy and Germany.

After speaking to Germany's Friedrich Merz and Italy's Giorgia Meloni late on Monday, Downing Street said in a readout that they agreed on the "vital importance of freedom of navigation" through the Strait and "agreed to work closely together in the coming days in the face of Iranian threats."

DOHA, March 10 (Reuters) - Qatar wants to strengthen its defence partnership with the United States in the wake of Iranian air strikes on Qatari territory, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, even as it sees the existing deal as an important deterrent.

Iran launched missile and drone attacks on its oil-producing Gulf neighbours after U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed its top leaders. The conflict disrupted output in the region and sent oil prices surging.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The top U.S. general said on Tuesday that the United States was carrying out strikes against Iranian mine-laying vessels.

The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas transport, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage fills.

"(U.S. Central Command) continues today to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities," General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the most intense day of strikes against Iran in the campaign so far.

Speaking with reporters, Hegseth said Tuesday would bring the most fighter jets and bombers against Iran.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, editing by Michelle Nichols)

By Michael Holden

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - A former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence attended a British court hearing via videolink on Tuesday charged with crimes against humanity and torture relating to the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011.

Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, who now lives in Britain, appeared virtually at the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court from his home. He was wearing a breathing apparatus mask and the court was told he suffered from degenerative motor neurone disease.

JERUSALEM, March 10 (Reuters) - The Israeli military illegally used white phosphorus munitions over homes in the southern Lebanese town Yohmor on March 3, posing a threat to civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Monday.

"The incendiary effects of white phosphorus can cause death or cruel injuries that result in lifelong suffering," Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.

March 10 (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday called the U.S decision to designate Afghanistan a "state sponsor of wrongful detention" regrettable, and said it wanted to resolve the matter through dialogue after the U.S. demanded the release of U.S. citizens held.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday he was designating the Taliban government a "state sponsor of wrongful detention," and urged Kabul to free all detained U.S. citizens, including Mahmood Habibi and Dennis Coyle.