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 07, 2026, 11:26 AM EST

IDF says it completed 'broad wave of strikes' across Tehran overnight, including Mehrabad Airport

The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday it had "completed a broad wave of strikes" overnight across Iran's capital and on military infrastructure located at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport.

"'Mehrabad Airport' was used by the Quds Force of the IRGC and served as a central hub for arming and funding the regime’s terrorist proxies in the Middle East. Aircraft loaded with weapons and cash took off from the airport numerous times and landed across the region for the use of the Iranian terror regime’s proxies," the IDF claimed in a statement.

Smoke and fire rise from the site of airstrikes at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, on March 7, 2026.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

"The strike on the military infrastructure at the airport not only disrupts the regime’s ability to arm Iran, but also terror proxies throughout the Middle East," the IDF claimed.

-ABC News' Dorit Long

Mar 07, 2026, 11:11 AM EST

Qatar says it intercepted missile attack as sirens go off

Qatar's military intercepted a missile attack that targeted the country, the Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.

Emergency alerts went out to cell phones in Qatar, an ABC News team on the ground can confirm.

Mar 07, 2026, 11:10 AM EST

Israeli forces wore uniforms 'similar' to Lebanese army in raid on eastern Lebanon, Lebanese officials say

Israeli ground troops that infiltrated the town of Nabi Chit in eastern Lebanon overnight wore "military uniforms similar to those of the Lebanese army," the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, said Saturday.

Haykal noted that the Lebanese army has "reinforced its deployment" along the Lebanese-Syrian border region and is "maintaining communication with the relevant Syrian authorities," according to the press release.

Destruction is shown at Nabi Chit, Lebanon, after a military strike on March 7, 2026.
Fadel Itani/AFP via Getty Images

He also warned that the Lebanese army in the south of the country is "operating under extremely difficult circumstances amidst escalating Israeli attacks." He said the army is redeploying forces in the Lebanese-Israeli border region and repositioning units within the area south of the Litani River, where the Israeli military has issued forced evacuations for all residents.

"The army is giving considerable attention to addressing the displacement of citizens, providing them with all possible support, protecting shelters, and maintaining security in their vicinity through exceptional security measures," Haykal said in the statement.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

Mar 07, 2026, 9:11 AM EST

Death toll in Lebanon rises to 294 amid ongoing Israeli attacks: Lebanese officials

At least 294 people have been killed and 1,023 others injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in the southern costal city of Tyre, Lebanon, on March 7, 2026.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images
A man inspects the debris of destroyed buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Haret Hreik neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburbs, on March 7, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

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