As Iran retaliates, largest US military base in Middle East hit by ballistic missile, Qatar says

No one was injured, according to the Qatari Ministry of Defense.

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, with daytime strikes in the joint U.S.-Israel attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.

On Sunday, Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran is responding to the U.S.-Israeli operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and Gulf nations. American diplomatic facilities have also been attacked.

In Lebanon, Israel is intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iranian-aligned Hezbollah militia.

Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

Mar 03, 2026, 3:13 PM EST

IDF says it killed Iranian military leader linked to Hezbollah

The temporary commander of the Lebanon Corp of the Iranian Quds Forces was killed in an air strike in Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF statement describes Ali Zadeh as the "highest ranking Iranian commander responsible for Lebanon" and a key link between Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp.

In a post on social media, the IDF said any representative of Iran currently in Lebanon would be given 24 hours to leave.

"After that, there will be no safe place for representatives of the Iranian regime in Lebanon, and the Defense Army will target them wherever they are found,” the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Mar 03, 2026, 2:19 PM EST

Trump claims to have 'beaten' Iran 'militarily' amid ongoing strikes

President Donald Trump was pressed by reporters Tuesday about future plans for Iran.

The president said strikes on Iran were continuing, saying there was a strike on Tuesday “on the new leadership.”

“I guess there was another hit today on the new leadership, and it looks like that was pretty substantial, also. So they're getting hit very hard, and we'll see what happens,” Trump said.

The president also seemed to claim an early victory, saying the U.S. has Iran "beaten militarily."

An Iranian flag is planted in the rubble of a police station, damaged in airstrikes yesterday, on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

"They're still lobbing some missiles. At some point, they won't even be able to do that because we're hitting all of their carriers. We're hitting all of their missile stock. You know, they built up all these missiles over the last few years. They had a lot of them. They've shot a lot of them. And we're knocking out a lot,” Trump said.

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Mar 03, 2026, 2:18 PM EST

Trump on worst-case scenario on regime change

President Donald Trump suggested that the worst-case scenario to come from these strikes is that regime change would go wrong and “somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person.”

He also suggested the people of Iran would have their “chance” to choose a leader, but he’s instructed, “Don't do it yet.”

“It would probably be the worst -- you go through this, and then in five years, you realize you put somebody in who is no better. So we'd like to see somebody in there that's going to bring it back for the people, and we'll see what happens with the people. You know, they have their chance. We've said, ‘Don't do it yet.’ If you're going to go out and protest, don't do it yet. It's very dangerous out there. A lot of bombs are being dropped,” Trump said.

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

Mar 03, 2026, 2:06 PM EST

State Department says it's 'actively securing' military, charter flights for Americans

The State Department said it is working on “actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” according to the department’s Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs.

"We've been in direct contact with nearly 3,000 Americans abroad,” he said in a post on X.

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

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