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 05, 2026, 10:24 AM EST

20,000 Americans have returned to US from Middle East: State Department

The State Department says it’s aware of 20,000 Americans who have returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since Saturday. The department said its task force has helped 10,000 Americans.

The department also said it is expanding its crisis intake form -- which previously covered the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel -- to now include Bahrain and Kuwait.

People arrive at the International Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, after being evacuated from Dubai on a commercial flight, March 3, 2026.
Michael Probst/AP

The Trump administration has faced 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.

In addition to the charter flight that left the Middle East Wednesday night, the department said it expects “additional flights and ground transports” to take place Thursday in order to move Americans out of the region.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

Mar 05, 2026, 5:29 AM EST

Explosions reported in Qatar amid missile attack

A series of loud explosions were heard in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, with the Defense Ministry saying in a statement that the country had been subjected to "a missile attack."

Qatari officials said Iran launched 14 ballistic missiles and four drones into Qatar around 11:51 a.m. local time. Thirteen missiles were intercepted, while one missile fell into the water, the Qataris said, and all four drones were intercepted. No injuries were reported.

-ABC News’ Marcus Moore, Dragana Jovanovic and Colm O’Molloy

Mar 05, 2026, 9:04 AM EST

Selection of Iran's new supreme leader in final stages

The process of selecting Iran's next supreme leader is entering the final stages, a member of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Mohsen Qomi, told Mehr News, Iran's semiofficial news agency.

Mar 05, 2026, 7:39 AM EST

Tanker hit by explosion in Persian Gulf, UKMTO says

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Thursday that a Bahamas-flagged tanker was hit by an explosion in the northern Persian Gulf late on Wednesday.

The explosion occurred while the vessel was empty and at anchor around 30 nautical miles southeast of the Kuwaiti coast, the UKMTO said.

"The Master" of the tanker reported "a large explosion on the port side then seeing a small craft leave the vicinity," the UKMTO said.

An oil tanker is pictured offshore of Dubai, UAE, on March 1, 2026.
Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images

Iranian state media on Thursday carried a claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' public relations office that IRGC naval forces attacked an oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf.

-ABC News' Zoe Magee

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