Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reports

He is the son of assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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.

Mar 06, 2026, 11:45 AM EST

Trump says Iran doesn't need to become democratic state, open to religious leader

President Donald Trump elaborated on his vision for Iran’s new leadership in an interview with CNN on Friday, saying Iran does not need to become a democratic state and that he’s open to a religious leader.

“There has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just,” he continued. “Do a great job. Treat the United States and Israel well, and treat the other countries in the Middle East -- they’re all our partners.”

The president also discussed Iranian leadership with Politico on Thursday, saying he is going to have a “big impact” in selecting their next leader. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed last weekend in the US.-Israel attacks.

“Now they’re looking at the son. The reason the father wouldn’t give it to the son is they say he’s incompetent,” Trump told Politico, referring to a son of Khamenei.

A woman gestures while holding an image of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the day of an anti-Israeli and U.S. rally, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 6, 2026.
Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via Reuters

Trump also boasted about the military operation in Iran, telling Politico the U.S. is “being surgical” and that the U.S. has “unlimited supply of weapons.”

-ABC News’ Emily Chang

Mar 06, 2026, 11:39 AM EST

Lebanon death toll reaches 217

At least 217 people have been killed and 798 others have been injured in Lebanon since Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, March 6, 2026.
Hussein Malla/AP

After Hezbollah said it fired rockets against Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said it started striking targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon.

Mar 06, 2026, 11:01 AM EST

White House to call on defense contractors to 'more speedily build' weapons

The Trump administration has planned a meeting with the leadership of defense contractors at the White House on Friday to urge the companies to accelerate the production of American-made weapons.

Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley fires Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 4, 2026.
US Navy

“The President will continue to call on these U.S. companies to more speedily build American-made weapons, which are the absolute best in the world," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Leavitt said the meeting was "scheduled weeks ago," before the U.S. began strikes in Iran. The news of the meeting was first reported by Reuters.

It comes as Trump said on social media Monday that the U.S. has "a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons."

Leavitt said the “U.S. military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to continue demolishing the Iranian regime and achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury.”

-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart

Mar 06, 2026, 10:47 AM EST

Netanyahu: 'On the way to completing all our missions'

"We are on the way to completing all our missions," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday at the site of an Iranian missile attack in southern Israel.

“We are striking the enemy - both at its leadership, its oppressive regime and at various targets, including in Lebanon," Netanyahu said.

People stand on the rubble of a damaged building after an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following renewed hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 6, 2026.
Reuters

"In attack - what is needed are three things: first of all, determination, secondly, initiative, and thirdly, cunning. We have such in abundance, as the enemy has already discovered, and I tell you, citizens of Israel, he will discover even more," Netanyahu added.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

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