Mar 04, 2026, 8:28 AM EST
IDF says it struck Tehran airport
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets targeted and dismantled the Iranian regime's defense and detection systems at the Mehrabad International Airport in the capital of Tehran.
Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reports
He is the son of assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
ByDavid Brennan, Jon Haworth, Kevin Shalvey, Leah Sarnoff, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Bill Hutchinson
Last Updated: March 9, 2026, 5:55 AM EDT
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His successor is yet to be named.
Iran is responding to the operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
(Read previous Iran live updates here.)
Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Key Headlines
- Mar 09, 2026, 4:06 AM EDT
- Mar 09, 2026, 3:33 AM EDT
- Mar 09, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT
- Mar 09, 2026, 2:13 AM EDT
- Mar 08, 2026, 10:00 PM EDT
- Mar 08, 2026, 9:38 PM EDT
Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 04, 2026, 8:27 AM EST
Hegseth: 'Terms of this war will be set by us'
At a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said "this is not a 'mission accomplished' situation," instead calling it "a reality check."
Hegseth said that now that both Israel and the U.S. have achieved dominance over the skies of Iran, those operations will be ramped up, shifting from mainly missile strikes in the first days to bomb drops.
“Flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital, flying over the IRGC, Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only us and Israeli air power every minute of every day, until we decide it's over and Iran will be able to do nothing about it,” he said.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
“More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today, and now with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS and laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile," Hegseth said.
“The terms of this war will be set by us at every step,” he said.
Hegseth said additional forces are arriving in the Middle East on Wednesday. CENTCOM on Tuesday night announced 50,000 troops are in the region.
“More and larger waves are coming, we are just getting started," he said.
-ABC News' Luis Martinez
Mar 04, 2026, 8:10 AM EST
Hegseth: 'We will take all the time we need'
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday, "America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy."
“We have only just begun," he said.
"It’s very early and has President Trump has said we will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed," he said. “We are only four days into this and the results have been incredible."
"We are accelerating, not decelerating," he said.
In a few days, Hegseth said, there will be complete control of Iranian airspace.
Mar 04, 2026, 8:07 AM EST
186 students and teachers killed in Iran, education ministry says
A total of 186 students and teachers have been killed and 114 others are injured from the U.S-Israeli attacks on different locations across Iran, according to the Iranian education ministry.
About 20 education centers have been either damaged or fully destroyed, the statement added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
