BEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday called for a ceasefire in the Gulf region as soon as possible, stressing that the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Gulf countries should be fully respected, according to statements from his ministry.

Wang made the remarks in a phone call with his Kuwaiti counterpart Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Monday as Iran answered a U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign with strikes around the Gulf region.

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

- 'Empty' threats -

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani brushed off threats by US President Donald Trump to hit the Islamic republic harder if the flow of oil stops through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Take care of yourself not to be eliminated!" he wrote in a post on X.

- Fresh Tehran strikes -

The United Arab Emirates decried Monday that it was being targeted "in a very unwarranted manner" in the Middle East war, stressing it would "not partake in any attacks against Iran".

"The UAE does not seek to be drawn into conflict or escalation," said Jamal Al Musharakh, the UAE's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

At 10:56 pm an alert announcing the approach of an Iranian missile sounds, and a brief, heart-pounding wait begins in the operations room at Magen David Adom (MDA) as first responders get ready to deploy.

In this nerve centre for Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross, three floors underground in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, a paramedic adjusts her helmet then picks up the phone to dispatch her colleagues: four debris impact sites have just been reported.

All eyes are fixed on screens displaying the number of calls to 101, the number for the national emergency response organisation.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Australia was "making a terrible humanitarian mistake" by allowing Iran's national women's soccer team to be sent back to Iran and called on Australia's prime minister to give asylum to team members.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Under a banner bearing the portrait of Iran's slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the words "your path will continue", crowds gathered in Tehran to pledge allegiance to his son and successor.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was named the Islamic republic's new leader on Monday, 10 days into the war that began when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran and has since ensnared the Middle East.

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Turkish state-run lender Halkbank and the U.S. Justice Department have reached a deferred prosecution agreement, the judge overseeing the long-running U.S. criminal case against the bank said in a court filing on Monday, without providing further details of the deal.

In the case, prosecutors had accused of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly helping Iran evade American economic sanctions.

Halkbank's case has long been a thorn in U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling it an "unlawful, ugly" step.

(Corrects to read 'last year' (not 'this year'), paragraph 11)

March 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has begun oil output cuts, sources said on Monday, becoming the latest Gulf producer impacted by the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran which has halted ship traffic in the region and sent oil prices up nearly 30% to $119 a barrel on Monday.

Adding to market jitters were Tehran's hardline succession plans which cooled hopes of a quick end to hostilities.

By Rami Ayyub, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, March 9 (Reuters) - Talks to advance President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the U.S. and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.

As Israel's national consciousness rallies behind the country's second offensive against Iran in under a year, a small group of anti-war activists equipped with posters and loudspeakers have mobilised to voice dissent.

The vast majority of Jewish Israelis support the ongoing campaign of strikes on Iran, according to national polls published since the joint US-Israel operation began on February 28.

A broad sweep of politicians from across the spectrum have also backed the military campaign, which has now expanded with Israeli forces fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.