Both sides trade strikes and threats as the Iran war approaches the two-week mark

DUBAI/BEIRUT, March 13 - The leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and vowed to fight on as the Middle East war approached the two-week mark on Friday, killing thousands of people, disrupting the lives of millions of others and shaking financial markets. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DUBAI/BEIRUT, March 13 - The leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and vowed to fight on as the Middle East war approached the two-week mark on Friday, killing thousands of people, disrupting the lives of millions of others and shaking financial markets.

New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first comments, read out by a television presenter on Thursday, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and calling on neighboring countries to close U.S. bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.

"I assure everyone that we will not neglect avenging the blood of your martyrs," said the hardline cleric, who is close to Iran's top military force. It was not clear why he did not appear in person.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first news conference since the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran started on February 28, taking questions via video-link and issuing a veiled threat to kill Khamenei and defending the military assault.

"I will not detail the actions we are taking. We are creating the optimal conditions for toppling the regime but I won't deny that I can't tell you with all certainty that the people of Iran will topple the regime - a regime is toppled from the inside," Netanyahu said.

"But we can definitely help and we are helping."