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 07, 2026, 5:07 PM EST

Trump attends dignified transfer of fallen soldiers

Trump attended the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Saturday afternoon for the service members who were killed in Kuwait.

The president spoke with the soldiers' families and saluted as the bodies were transferred from the military jet.

PHOTO: White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, First Lady Melania Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi attend a dignified transfer event for six US soldiers at Dover Air Force Base, on March 7, 2026.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump, special envoy Steve Witkoff, First Lady Melania Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi attend a dignified transfer solemn event for six US soldiers at Dover Air Force Base, in Dover, Delaware, on March 7, 2026.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

When asked by a reporter if what he just witnessed at the dignified transfer makes him think differently about going ahead with this war-- or putting troops on the ground in the Middle East, Trump responded, "We're winning the war by a lot."

Read more here.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Mar 07, 2026, 4:24 PM EST

Trump appears to preemptively reject British offers to send warships to Iran

President Donald Trump claimed on social media Saturday that the United Kingdom is "giving serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East but he preemptively rejected any offer.

"That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!" Trump said.

Trump has been vocally critical of Starmer for not allowing the U.S. to use military bases in the U.K. during the Iran strikes.

Mar 07, 2026, 2:23 PM EST

1 dead in Dubai amid latest missile, drone barrage

One person has died after debris from an aerial interception fell onto a car in the Al Barsha area of Dubai, the Dubai government media office has confirmed.

Video reviewed and verified by ABC News from Al Barsha neighborhood shows smoke coming from the side of a building, with the person filming saying a drone hit the building.

Mar 07, 2026, 2:04 PM EST

Trump misinterpreted 'our capabilities, determination and intent,' Iran foreign minister says

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's openness to de-escalation is "provided that our neighbors'" airspace, territory and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X Saturday.

Araghchi also criticized President Donald Trump saying that he misinterpreted "our capabilities, determination and intent."

"Responsibility for any intensification of Iran's exercise of self-defense will lie squarely with the U.S. Administration," Araghchi said.

He also pointed out the cost to the U.S. and that the American people "have ended up with an Administration that Netanyahu, after decades of failed attempts, finally managed to dupe into fighting Israel's wars."

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