Trump calls Strait of Hormuz 'something that we don't need'

Trump told reporters that he is talking to countries about policing the Strait.

Last Updated: March 15, 2026, 9:09 PM 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 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.

(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 11, 2026, 7:43 PM EDT

Senators told Iran war cost $11.3B in first 6 days

Pentagon officials told a group of senators in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday that the war in Iran cost at least $11.3 billion in its first six days, three people familiar with the briefing told ABC News.

The New York Times first reported the briefing and the $11.3 billion figure.

Senators on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee received the briefing, a source confirmed. Sen. Chris Coons, the top Democrat on that subcommittee, told reporters on Wednesday that the $11.3 billion estimate he had seen publicly reported was "roughly accurate."

"I expect that the current total operating number is significantly above that," Coons said when pressed on whether that figure took into account things like military buildup.

Ground crew prepare to load munitions onto a US Air Force B-1 bomber at RAF Fairford on March 11, 2026 in Fairford, England.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Coons also said that while the cost per day is not a "steady state," to "assume that it is well above a billion and a half a day I think would be a fair guess."

The money that has so far been spent to fund operations in Iran comes out of Pentagon funds already allocated by Congress. Congress has not yet approved any additional funding for Iran, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say that the White House has not yet made a request for supplemental funding.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Mar 11, 2026, 6:18 PM EDT

New supreme leader was injured during opening US-Israeli strikes: Israeli sources

New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was injured during the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes at the beginning of the war, Israeli sources told ABC News.

One Israeli source familiar with the matter said that his injuries include a fractured foot, bruising around his left eye and lacerations to his face. A second Israeli source said that Mojtaba was wounded with a leg injury and light facial injuries.

Khamenei's condition has been referenced on state television and the state news agency IRNA, which called him the "wounded war veteran" supreme leader.

In this July 18, 2024, file photo, Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of late Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran.
Majid Khahi/WANA via Reuters, FILE
Mar 11, 2026, 6:06 PM EDT

Trump says US has 'won' war in Iran but has to 'finish the job'

President Donald Trump said the U.S. has "won" the war in Iran but has to "finish the job," during remarks in Kentucky on Wednesday.

"We've won. Let me tell you, we've won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won," Trump said. "In the first hour it was over. But we won."

After the president declared victory, he noted that the U.S. has to finish the job, saying that America cannot "leave early."

"We gotta finish the job, right?" Trump said.

President Donald Trump speaks at Verst Logistics on March 11, 2026, in Hebron, Kentucky.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

-ABC News' Emily Chang, Noah Minnie and Michelle Stoddart

Mar 11, 2026, 4:58 PM EDT

Conflict sees significant escalation between Hezbollah, Israel

The ongoing fire between Israel and Hezbollah ramped up significantly Wednesday night.

Hezbollah announced a new operation, notably called al-Asf al-Makool, named in reference to a verse in the Quran that talks about an enemy army defeated by divine intervention.

Dozens of Hezbollah rockets were subsequently fired south, and Israel is responding with its most intense bombardment of the Beirut suburb of Dahyeh since those strikes started nearly a week ago, according to the IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces also issued a new evacuation order from the Israeli military for Dahyeh and ramped up airstrikes across the south in Lebanon.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz, Brandon Baur and Matt Rivers

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