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 in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen on Sunday to succeed him.
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.
Trump says US 'totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran'
President Donald Trump said that the United States is “totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise,” in a post on social media Friday.
“Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth,” Trump said in his post on Truth Social early Friday. “We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time.”
Mar 12, 2026, 9:43 PM EDT
1 French soldier killed, several injured during attack in Iraq, Macron says
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that one French soldier was killed and several others were injured after an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq.
Macron identified the soldier as Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces.
"To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation," he said in a statement.
The soldier's death marks the first French casualty since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began late last month.
Macron said French troops' presence in Iraq "is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism."
"The war in Iran cannot justify such attacks," he said.
Mar 12, 2026, 6:10 PM EDT
US refueling aircraft goes down in western Iraq: CENTCOM
A U.S. refueling aircraft "went down" in friendly airspace in western Iraq, with rescue efforts ongoing, U.S. Central Command said Thursday.
"Two aircraft were involved in the incident," CENTCOM said in a brief statement. "One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely."
The incident resulted in the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft, CENTCOM said. The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
"This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire," CENTCOM said.
FILE - A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena town, west of Okinawa, southern Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023.
Hiro Komae/AP
Mar 12, 2026, 3:05 PM EDT
Over 1,100 children injured or killed in Middle East: UNICEF
More than 1,100 children have been reported injured or killed since Feb. 28 amid the "intensifying conflict" in the Middle East, according to UNICEF.
"This includes 200 children reportedly killed in Iran, 91 in Lebanon, four in Israel and one in Kuwait," UNICEF said. "These numbers will likely climb as the violence intensifies and spreads."
Coffins are assembled as funerals are held for students and staff from a girls' school, who authorities said were killed in a US-Israeli strike on February 28, on March 3, 2026, in Minab, Iran. Iranian authorities said that over 160 people were killed in the blast, which occurred on the first day of the joint US-Israeli attack on sites across Iran.
Handout via Getty Images
The organization called for an end to the conflict while detailing the impact on children.
"Widespread disruption to education has left millions of children out of school across the region, while hundreds of thousands of children have been displaced by unrelenting bombardment," UNICEF said. "Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and sanitation systems -- upon which children depend to survive -- have been attacked, damaged, or destroyed by parties to the conflict."
"Nothing justifies the killing and maiming of children, or the destruction and disruption of essential services that children depend on," it continued.
