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 Khamenei later chosen to 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.
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Latest Developments
Mar 23, 11:08 AM
Trump 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.
Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images – PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, March 23, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“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.”
Vahid Salemi/AP – PHOTO: Rescue workers and first responders work at a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026.
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 AM
Iranian foreign ministry denies talks with US, Mehr reports
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.
Majid Asgaripour/via Reuters – PHOTO: A member of a police force stands guard on a street in Tehran, Iran, on March 23, 2026.
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 AM
Trump 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 AM
UAE 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.
Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: A man walks along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on March 20, 2026.
Mar 23, 7:24 AM
Trump 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.”
Makis Kartsonakis/Reuters – PHOTO: USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives at Souda Bay naval base on the island of Crete, Greece, March 23, 2026.
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 AM
Iran 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 AM
4 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.”
Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: People sit along the corniche area in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on March 20, 2026.
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.”
Mar 23, 4:36 AM
Iran threatens to lay mines across Persian Gulf if land invasion launched
In a statement issued on Monday and published by the semi-official Fars news agency, Iran’s Defense Council threatened to deploy naval mines across the “entire Persian Gulf” in response to any land invasion.
The council issued the statement ahead of the potential arrival of a force of U.S. Marines in the region.
“Any attempt by the enemy to target Iran’s coasts or islands will, naturally and in accordance with established military practice, lead to the mining of all access routes” in the “Persian Gulf and along the coasts,” the council said.
Getty Images – PHOTO: A tanker is pictured in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, on March 22, 2026 from Ras al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Mar 23, 3:43 AM
Israel launches new wave of strikes in Tehran
The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Monday that it had launched “a widespread wave of attacks” against Iranian government infrastructure in the capital Tehran.
-/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: A car drives past a giant billboard in the Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran, on March 22, 2026.
Mar 22, 8:27 PM
State Department tells Americans worldwide to ‘exercise increased caution’
In a notice on the U.S. State Department official website, the agency is advising Americans worldwide, “and especially in the Middle East,” to “exercise increased caution.”
“Americans abroad should follow the guidance in security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate,” the statement reads.
The State Department is warning that U.S. diplomatic facilities, including those outside of the Middle East, “have been targeted.”
The agency warns that groups in support of Iran “may target other U.S. interests overseas or locations associated with the United States and/or Americans throughout the world.”