Humanitarian needs in Iran are growing sharply due to the war, the Red Cross said Tuesday as it launched an emergency appeal for more than $50 million.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said its appeal for 40 million Swiss francs ($51.5 million) would help support five million people through the next 16 months.

"Across the country, communities are facing growing humanitarian needs related to health care, shelter, water and sanitation, and mental health and psychosocial support," the IFRC said.

NEW DELHI, March 10 (Reuters) - A second Iranian ship is currently nine nautical miles from Sri Lanka's coast, a spokesperson for Sri Lanka's cabinet said on Tuesday, adding that it would eventually be moved.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, writing by Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by YP Rajesh)

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war on Saturday:

- Kharg Island bombed, Iran threatens US-linked oil targets -

President Donald Trump said the US heavily bombed military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles almost all of the country's crude exports, and threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure.

Fresh Israeli strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs and south Lebanon on Tuesday after the Israeli army warned people to evacuate, with Lebanese authorities saying nearly 760,000 people had been registered as displaced.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) - Russia has so far been the only winner from the war in the Middle East as energy prices soar and attention for its war against Ukraine has faded, EU Council President Antonio Costa said on Tuesday.

"So far, there is only one winner in this war – Russia," Costa said in a speech to EU ambassadors in Brussels.

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - Israel is ahead of schedule in achieving its war goals in Iran, its ambassador to France said on Tuesday, adding that the operation aims to weaken Iran’s authorities to curb attacks beyond its borders and allow its people to shape their own future.

"When we were asked at the start of this war about its duration, we said it would last a few weeks. That hasn’t changed," Joshua Zarka told BFM TV. "We are ahead of schedule to achieve our war objectives."

Iran vowed on Tuesday that not one litre of oil would be exported from the Gulf while the United States and Israel continue their bombardment, as the United Arab Emirates closed its biggest oil refinery after a drone attack.

Oil prices have surged since Iranian attacks on shipping closed the Strait of Hormuz in the wake of a US-Israeli strikes that killed Tehran's supreme leader but fell back somewhat on Monday when US President Donald Trump suggested the war would soon end.

KAPIKOY, Turkey, March 10 (Reuters) - At a remote mountain pass in eastern Turkey, travellers from Iran step across the threshold with a mix of fear, exhaustion and relief - arriving after a week marked by war, long journeys by train or car, communications blackouts and borrowed phones.

March 10 (Reuters) - UAE's foreign ministry condemned a drone attack on its consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan's Erbil, it said in a statement early on Tuesday.

Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said late on Monday that it had downed three drones in Erbil, with debris from one of the drones falling near the UAE consulate. It said no casualties were reported.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Muayad Hameed, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA, March 10 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Tuesday that a U.S. Patriot air defence system was deployed to its southeast, near a NATO radar base, as part of steps by the alliance to boost air defences in the face of missile threats from the Iran war.

It is being deployed to Malatya province, the location of the Kurecik NATO radar base, which provides vital data for the alliance and helped identify two Iranian ballistic missiles heading toward Turkey over the last week.