State Department tells Americans worldwide to 'exercise increased caution'
The war entered its fourth week on Saturday.
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.
Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Key Headlines
- Strait of Hormuz 'is not closed,' Iranian foreign minister says
- Iran says Strait of Hormuz open to all except 'enemies,' state media, Iranian president say
- 'Iran endangers the entire world,' Netanyahu says
- Iran warns of retaliatory strikes if US attacks power plants, state media says
- Trump threatens to 'hit and obliterate' Iranian power plants if Strait of Hormuz not opened in 48 hours
200 US troops have been wounded, including 10 'seriously'
Two-hundred U.S. troops have been wounded in the war with Iran so far, including 10 service members who have been “seriously wounded, according to Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins.
Out of the 200 injured, 180 troops have returned to duty, he said.
Wounds include burns, traumatic brain injuries and shrapnel wounds, according to a U.S. official.
Most attacks wounding U.S. troops have been from one-way Iranian attack drones, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said last week.
-ABC News’ Steven Beynon
Over 1 million displaced in Lebanon, officials say
Over 1 million people are displaced in Lebanon, with more than 100,000 of those people staying in shelters, according to the nation’s Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Prime Minister's Office.
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday announced a "limited and targeted" ground operation in southern Lebanon, and Israel's Ministry of Defense said that "hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of South Lebanon who have been evacuated” cannot “return to their homes south of the Litani region until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed."
Iran not prepared for talks to end war
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron that the Iranians are not prepared for talks to end the war, saying there needs to be assurances that there would be no more attacks on Iran.
"I emphasized [in the call with Macron] that Iran did not begin this atrocious war,” Pezeshkian said, according to a readout released by Iran.
“Speaking of ending the war, is meaningless, until we ensure there will be no more attacks in our land in the future," he said.
Trump says countries 'on the way'
President Donald Trump, who has called on other nations to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, told reporters on Monday that “numerous countries have told me they’re on the way.”
“Some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren’t, some are countries we’ve helped for many, many years,” Trump said.
The president did not name countries that he says do not want to be involved, but he said, “We're protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor. Very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left. But they said we'd rather not to get involved.”
The president went on to call Iran a “paper tiger.”
“I'd like to say their names,” he said of the countries, “but frankly, I don't know if they would want me to or not, because, maybe they don't want to be targeted, but I say wouldn't matter if you targeted or not, because this is a paper tiger that we're dealing with now.”
Later in the press conference, Trump said he does not need help from other countries.
Asked if he was confident that France would help with the re-opening of the Strait, Trump said, “Yeah. I mean, sure, he's going to," referring to French President Emmanuel Macron.
“I think he's going to help. I mean, I'll let you know. I spoke to him yesterday. I don't do a hard sell on them because my attitude is, 'We don't need anybody,” Trump said.
“We're the strongest nation in the world. We have the strongest military by far in the world. We don't need them," Trump said. "But it's interesting. I'm almost doing it in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react. Because I've been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won't be there. Not all of them, but they won't be there."