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.
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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
Iranian missile hits building in Dimona, IDF investigating
Israel Fire and Rescue said a building was hit during an Iranian missile attack in Dimona in southern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said attempts were made to intercept the missile and that the incident is being reviewed.
Israeli emergency services said they treated 47 people, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition and a woman in moderate condition, both due to shrapnel wounds.
The Negev Nuclear Research Center, which officially carries out only general scientific nuclear research, lies just outside Dimona. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was "aware of reports of an incident in the city of Dimona, Israel, involving a missile impact and has not received any indication of damage to the nuclear research center Negev."
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule
Iran continues to fire missiles and drones at countries in the region
Iran is continuing to fire missiles and drones at countries in the region, including Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Air defenses in Kuwait intercepted nine ballistic missiles and four drones that entered its airspace over the last 24 hours, the Kuwait Army General Staff Headquarters said in a post on X on Saturday.
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday air defense systems engaged three ballistic missile and eight drones launched from Iran.
-ABC News' Othon Leyva
22 countries have signed onto joint statement on Strait of Hormuz
Twenty-two countries have now signed onto a joint statement condemning Iran's attacks on shipping vessels in the Gulf and saying they are ready to join "appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Those countries include the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Romania, Bahrain, Lithuania and Australia.
The statement does not outline any specific commitments to ensuring the waterway's safety.
Italy's Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto, referencing the joint statement on X, said there is "no war mission" and there will be "no entry into Hormuz without a truce and without an extended multilateral initiative."
-ABC News' Victoria Beaule
CENTCOM gives update as war enters 4th week: 'Our progress is obvious'
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, provided an update on Saturday as the U.S. war in Iran entered its fourth week.
Cooper, in a video message, said the U.S. military has struck 8,000 military targets, including 130 Iranian vessels.
"Their Navy is not sailing, their tactical fighters are not flying and they have lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at the high rates seen at the beginning of the conflict," Cooper said. "Our progress is obvious."
Addressing Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Cooper said the U.S. dropped "multiple 5,000-pound bombs" on an underground weapons storage facility on Iran's coast in an effort to degrade it's military capabilities in the crucial shipping lane.
"My operational assessment continues to be Iran's combat capability is on the steady decline as our offensive strikes ramp up," he said.