Reuters - Gold prices rose for a fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, as investors sought safe-havens amid an escalating U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran, raising fears the ​conflict could spiral into a protracted regional war and deepen uncertainty.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot ‌gold was up 1% at $5,377.21 per ounce, as of 0122 GMT. In the previous session, bullion climbed to its highest point in more than four weeks after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes ​on Iran over the weekend.

* U.S. gold futures for April delivery were ​up 1.5% at $5,391.90.

* The dollar hovered close to a more than five-week ⁠high reached on Monday, supported by firm demand and cautious market sentiment.

* A stronger ​greenback typically makes dollar-denominated assets such as bullion more expensive for other currency holders. ​But in crisis conditions, gold trades more as a risk hedge than as a currency alternative.

* Iranian media reported that a senior official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards said on Monday the Strait of ​Hormuz has been closed and warned that Iran would fire on any ship trying ​to pass through the strategic waterway.

* This is Iran's most explicit warning since telling ships it ‌was closing ⁠the export route on Saturday, a move that threatens to choke a fifth of global oil flows and send crude prices sharply higher.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said that he ordered the attack on Iran to thwart what he described as imminent threats from Tehran's ​nuclear and ballistic missile ​programmes, vowed to ⁠pursue the conflict for as long as necessary, while warned a "big wave" of further attacks was coming soon, without providing specific details.

* ​The attack on Iran has pitched the Gulf into war, ​killed scores ⁠of civilians in Iran, Israel and Lebanon, thrown global air transport into chaos and shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

* Spot silver rose 1.4% to $90.67 per ounce on ⁠Tuesday, after ​climbing to a more than four-week high in ​the previous session.

* Spot platinum added 0.6% to $2,316.50 per ounce, while palladium gained 1.6% to $1,795.08.