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.
Key Headlines
- Iran’s near-total internet blackout continues, tracker says
- Israel warns of strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs
- Israel says its working to intercept Iranian missiles
- Iranian missiles, drones targeting UAE, ministry says
- US orders evacuation of non-emergency government employees from Saudi Arabia
- More missile and drone attacks reported in the region
Tehran using missiles, drones solely for defense against US, Israel: Iran parliament speaker
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran's parliament, addressed Iran's neighboring countries on Wednesday, saying that Tehran uses its missile and drone capabilities "solely for legitimate defense" against American and Israeli targets.
In a post on X, he expressed hope that with the resolution of the war, the region can "return to days of cooperation and companionship.”
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
State Department says 17,500 Americans have safely returned to US
The State Department says it's aware of 17,500 Americans who have safely returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since Saturday, with more than 8,500 of those Americans returning on Tuesday.
The Trump administration is facing fierce criticism for not having a plan in place to evacuate Americans in advance of the joint operation. The State Department on Monday urged Americans to depart from 14 countries in the region using commercial means, but there are significant disruptions in air travel.
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
Marine traffic through Strait of Hormuz reduced by 90%
A new playback shared by Marine Traffic shows that movement of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz has dropped by 90% compared to last week.
The Strait of Hormuz is the critical maritime passageway between Iran, Oman and the UAE through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes. Analysts say shipping has been at a virtual standstill as insurance costs have spiked because of the safety risks of navigating the Strait.
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini
Israel moved up operations by several months: Defense minister
The Israeli operation against Iran was moved up several months "due to developments and circumstances" in Iran and with President Trump's position, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
"An operation was planned for the middle of the year, with the same goal that was set, but due to developments and circumstances, mainly what happened inside Iran, and the position of the President of the United States, and the whole possibility of creating a combined operation here, then the need arose to bring everything forward to February," Katz said Wednesday in remarks to intelligence soldiers.
"This was something we ourselves had hoped for but were not sure about," Katz added.
"When we spoke following the very successful 'Rising Lion' operation, I also said, and it was clear, we are not fighting the war that was, we need to prepare for the next war,” Katz told the soldiers. “Many intelligence and other capabilities have been exhausted, burned, and used up, and therefore the challenge was to rebuild the intelligence capability, and not just build it but expand it tenfold, and that is what actually happened here, across all of Iran.”
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Dorit Long