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

Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 04, 2026, 2:12 PM EST

Ground troops 'not part of the plan,' Leavitt says

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said U.S. ground troops in Iran are "not part of the plan" at present.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, March 4, 2026.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“They’re not part of the plan for this operation at this time, but I certainly will never take away military options on behalf of the president of the United States or the commander in chief, and he wisely does not do the same for himself,” Leavitt said at a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Mar 04, 2026, 1:35 PM EST

Trump to attend dignified transfer of killed service members

President Donald Trump will attend the dignified transfer of the six U.S. service members killed in this weekend’s retaliatory attack by Iran, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.

Four of the six have been identified: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa. All four died Saturday in Kuwait from an Iranian drone attack.

Mar 04, 2026, 1:14 PM EST

Tehran using missiles, drones solely for defense against US, Israel: Iran parliament speaker

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, addressed Iran's neighboring countries on Wednesday, saying that Tehran uses its missile and drone capabilities "solely for legitimate defense" against American and Israeli targets.

In a post on X, he expressed hope that with the resolution of the war, the region can "return to days of cooperation and companionship.”

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian

Mar 04, 2026, 12:01 PM EST

State Department says 17,500 Americans have safely returned to US

The State Department says it's aware of 17,500 Americans who have safely returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since Saturday, with more than 8,500 of those Americans returning on Tuesday.

The Trump administration is facing fierce criticism for not having a plan in place to evacuate Americans in advance of the joint operation. The State Department on Monday urged Americans to depart from 14 countries in the region using commercial means, but there are significant disruptions in air travel.

Passengers whose flights were cancelled wait at the departure terminal of Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, on Feb. 28, 2026, as many airlines canceled flights due to the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
Hassan Ammar/AP

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

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