Iran live updates: 7th killed service member is identified

Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, was killed in Saudi Arabia.

ByDavid Brennan, Jon Haworth, Kevin Shalvey, Leah Sarnoff, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Bill Hutchinson ABCNews logo
Last updated: Monday, March 9, 2026 3:00PM GMT
ABC News Live

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 in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen on Sunday to succeed him.

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.

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Mar 02, 2026, 1:22 PM GMT

'We didn't start this war but ... we are finishing it,' Hegseth says

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference Monday, "We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it."

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference on US military action in Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2026.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference on US military action in Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2026.

Hegseth said Iran was building "powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions," with "our bases, our people, our allies all in their crosshairs."

He said Iran "tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb."

He said the U.S. "bent over backwards for diplomacy" but "Tehran was not negotiating," and stalled to rebuild their stockpiles.

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Mar 02, 2026, 1:20 PM GMT

No indication nuclear installations hit, IAEA says

The International Atomic Energy Agency said so far there's "no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit" in Iran.

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Mar 02, 2026, 2:29 PM GMT

4th US service member killed

A fourth U.S. service member has been killed in action, CENTCOM said.

A fourth U.S. service member has been killed in action, CENTCOM said.

The fourth person, who was "seriously wounded" in the initial attacks this weekend, later died from their injuries, CENTCOM said.

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Mar 02, 2026, 11:51 AM GMT

168 killed at girls' elementary school in Iran

Iran's Education Ministry said Monday that 168 students were killed in an attack on a girls' elementary school in Minab in southern Iran this weekend.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told ABC News on Sunday that Israel doesn't target civilians. "So far we have found no connection to any IDF activity. No IDF activity in that area at all, but we're looking into it," the spokesperson said.