President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes, with his son Mojtaba Khameneilater chosento succeed him. Iran has responded 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 and expanding its ground operations in the south of the country.
Watch special coverage onNightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Latest Developments
Mar 23, 2:56 PMMore than 2,100 children killed or injured in Middle East: UNICEF
More than 2,100 children have been killed or injured across the Middle East since the war in Iran began, according to UNICEF.The fatalities include 206 children in Iran, 118 in Lebanon, four in Israel and one in Kuwait, according to UNICEF."These are reported figures, and they are expected to rise as the violence continues," UNICEF said in a release. "That is an average of approximately 87 children either killed or injured every day since the beginning of the war."
Mar 23, 2:27 PM10 killed in Lebanon in past 24 hours: Health officials
At least 10 people have been killed and another 90 wounded in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Monday.Overall, at least 1,039 people have been killed and another 2,876 wounded since March 2, according to the ministry.
Mar 23, 1:32 PMIran continues to deny any talks with US
Iranian officials have continued todenythat any talks took place with the U.S., after President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that Washington and Tehran had two days of "productive" talks.According to state media, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said "no talks with the U.S. have taken place" and that "reports claiming otherwise are fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets and distracting from the challenges facing the U.S. and Israel."During an event in Memphis on Monday afternoon, Trump said the U.S. is having "really good discussions" with Iran."I think they're very good. They want peace. They've agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, you know, etc., etc., but we'll see," Trump said. "You have to get it done. But I would say there's a very good chance."
When pressed on Iran's denial of Trump's statements, the White House referred ABC News back to the president's comments that the talks had taken place.
Mar 23, 11:08 AMTrump details US-Iran talks, says Iran agreed to not have nuclear weaponPresident Donald Trump talked about the ongoing negotiations with Iran during a lengthy gaggle on the tarmac in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.Trump said that Iran and the U.S. had many points of agreement in the current talks, which he previously said had been happening for two days – and he said that Iran agreed to never have a nuclear weapon.Trump said talks would continue over the next few days. He said Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have been involved in those talks.
"We have had very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead. But we have point -- major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement, perhaps that hasn't been conveyed," Trump said. "The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces. They're unable to talk to each other. But we've had very strong talks. Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner had them. They went, I would say, perfectly. I would say that if they carry through with that, it'll end that -- that problem, that conflict, and I think it'll end it very, very substantially."
When pressed about who they are speaking with in Iran, Trump said, "a top person.""Don't forget, we've wiped out the leadership phase one, phase two and largely phase three. But we're dealing with a man who I believe is the most respected and the leader," Trump said.Trump said he is not talking to the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Mar 23, 8:53 AMIranian foreign ministry denies talks with US, Mehr reports
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Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted the Foreign Ministry in Tehran as denying President Donald Trump's claim of talks between Washington and Tehran.
Trump, the ministry said, aims to buy time for U.S. military plans and reduce energy prices, Mehr reported."There are initiatives by regional countries to de-escalate tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington," the statement said.-ABC News' Zoe Magee
Mar 23, 8:31 AMTrump says Iran has 'representatives' when pressed about talks
President Donald Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen on Monday morning that Iran has "representatives," Kernen said, when pressed about who the administration had been in talks with.The conversation came after Trump's social media post saying that he ordered the Pentagon to postpone strikes on Iran's energy facilities after two days of "productive" talks.Trump said on Friday that the U.S. was having a "hard time" finding people to hold talks with saying that "We have nobody to talk to. And you know what? We like it that way."Kernen said Monday that Trump said there had been "great meetings, great conversations and hopes that within the next 5 days something very substantive can be arrived at for the end of hostilities."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Fritz Farrow
Mar 23, 7:34 AMUAE says 7 Iranian missiles, 16 drones shot down on Monday
The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said on Monday that its forces had downed seven ballistic missiles and 16 drones launched by Iran.The tally takes the UAE's total number of interceptions to 352 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,789 drones, the ministry said.To date, two military servicemembers and six civilians have been killed during Iranian attacks, with another 161 people injured, the ministry said.
Mar 23, 7:24 AMTrump says no Iran energy attacks for 5 days, cites 'productive' talks
President Donald Trump said Monday he had instructed the Pentagon "to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."Trump said Washington and Tehran "have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
The president had threatened to strike Iranian power plants on Saturday unless Tehran ended its efforts to block commercial shipping from transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. That deadline was set to expire on Monday evening.Trump said Monday that U.S.-Iran talks would "continue throughout the week."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Mar 23, 6:49 AMIran internet blackout enters day 24, NetBlocks says
Iran's nationwide internet blackout entered day 24 on Monday, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks.The blackout has now been in place for more than 552 hours, NetBlocks said in a post to X on Monday, describing the outage as "the most severe registered in any country.""International connectivity remains unavailable to the general public while authorities maintain a selective whitelist for global access," NetBlocks said.
Mar 23, 5:04 AM4 Gulf states report fresh Iranian drone, missile strikes
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait all reported fresh Iranian attacks on Monday.The UAE Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its forces intercepted an unspecified number of Iranian missiles and drones. In Abu Dhabi -- one of the country's seven constituent emirates -- the official government media office said one Indian national was injured by "debris falling in the Al Shawamekh area following the successful interception of a ballistic missile."
The Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry said its forces intercepted several Iranian drones over the country's eastern region on Monday. Iran also fired two ballistic missiles toward the Riyadh region, the ministry said, one of which was intercepted and the other of which fell in an uninhabited area.Bahrain's Defence Force said in a post to X on Monday morning that it had intercepted another 32 Iranian drones and two ballistic missiles.In Kuwait, the Defense Ministry said in a post to X in the early hours of Monday that air defenses were responding to "hostile missile and drone attacks."
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