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
IDF asks hundreds of thousands to evacuate in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation orders on Thursday for hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon.
Over 83,000 people are registered as displaced persons in shelters, equivalent to 18,033 families, according to Minister of Social Affairs Hanin Al-Sayed.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
US suspends operations at embassy in Kuwait
The State Department announced that it has suspended all operations at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.
This is the first suspension of operations at a U.S. embassy since the conflict began.
The embassy itself was closed earlier in the week and struck by what was initially assessed to be an Iranian drone on Monday.
The embassy previously said it would provide "information on how American citizens in Kuwait may obtain an emergency passport for travel.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
1st flight from UAE lands in US
Emirates Flight 203, the first direct, commercial flight from the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. since the conflict with Iran began, landed safely in New York City on Thursday morning.
It’s not clear what, if any, role the U.S. government had in facilitating the flight.
Emirates previously announced that it had suspended its regularly scheduled flights through March 7, and the airline has since carried out a number of repatriation flights. The State Department announced Thursday night that a charter flight had left the Middle East and was on its way back to the U.S.
-ABC News’ Clara McMichael
Trump says he has 'to be involved in the appointment' of Iran's next supreme leader
President Donald Trump said that he has "to be involved in the appointment" of Iran's next supreme leader in an exclusive phone interview with Axios on Thursday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the U.S. and Israel strikes.
"They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela," Trump said, according to Axios.
But in a Saturday video Trump posted on social media after Operation Epic Fury began, he said to the Iranian people, "When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take."
Axios also reported that Trump said he does not want another hard-liner in leadership, saying that would make the U.S. go back to war with Iran "in five years."
"Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," Trump said, according to Axios.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart