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.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and multiple Gulf nations. Iran is also attempting to block some shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel is also intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
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IDF claims without evidence that Hezbollah preparing for an attack
The Israel Defense Forces claimed, without evidence, that Hezbollah is planning for an attack against Israel, including rocket barrages, in the coming hours, according to a statement.
In a letter addressed to Hezbollah fighters, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem praised them and pledged to continue fighting on Tuesday.
Mar 17, 2026, 11:48 AM EDT
Trump says most NATO allies won't join war, but US doesn't 'need' them
President Donald Trump said that "most of our NATO 'allies'" do not want to join the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran.
Trump claimed allies' refusal to join is "despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon," he wrote in a post on social media.
"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea .... WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!" he said in the post.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House, on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2026, in Washington.
Yuri Gripas/EPA/Shutterstock
French President Emmanuel Macron said the country would never take part in operations to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and that it is carrying on with work to prepare a coalition that could provide freedom of navigation once hostilities ended, according to Reuters.
"We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said at the start of a cabinet meeting to discuss the conflicts in the Middle East, according to Reuters.
Mar 17, 2026, 10:22 AM EDT
NCTC Director Joe Kent resigns over opposition to Iran war
National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned Tuesday over his opposition to the war in Iran, becoming the highest-profile administration official to step down publicly over the conflict.
In a resignation letter posted publicly on social media, Kent wrote that Iran posed “no imminent threat to our nation” and said he could not “in good conscience” support the war. The National Counterterrorism Center is housed within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. ABC News has reached out to ODNI for comment.
Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, speaks during the House Committee on Homeland Security on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 11, 2025.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Kent, who is an Oregon native, is a combat veteran who served over 20 years in the U.S. Army and completed 11 combat deployments in the Middle East. Kent led the U.S. counterterrorism and counternarcotics enterprise and he served as the principal counterterrorism adviser to the president, according to ODNI.
Kent also invoked a deeply personal loss in explaining his decision. He is a Gold Star husband whose late wife, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent, was killed in action during a suicide bombing while serving in Syria in 2019.
"I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives," Kent wrote in his resignation letter.
Mar 17, 2026, 9:24 AM EDT
Tanker hit by falling debris, not projectile, UKMTO says
A tanker at anchor off the coast of the United Arab Emirates was struck on Tuesday by "falling debris" rather than a projectile, as had previously been thought, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre said in an updated advisory.
The vessel, which has not been publicly identified, was "subjected to falling debris from interceptions in the vicinity of the vessel," UKMTO said.
There was "minor" damage to the vessel and the crew were reported as safe, the organization said.