24/7 LiveChicago & Suburban Cook Co.North SuburbsWest SuburbsSouth SuburbsNW Indiana

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.

------

For updates in Spanish, click here.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
ABCNews logo
Mar 04, 2026, 12:40 PM GMT

Israel kills Iranian alleged to be behind Trump assassination attempt: Sources

Two Israeli sources briefed on the matter told ABC News on Wednesday that Israel had killed Rahman Makdem, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' special operations division who was alleged to have been behind the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump in 2024.

The location of the killing was not immediately clear. Trump was informed of the operation by the Israelis, the sources said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti

ABCNews logo
Mar 04, 2026, 12:58 PM GMT

Khamenei mourning ceremony postponed, state media says

Iranian state television said that the mourning ceremony for Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei planned for Wednesday evening had been postponed and will be held later at a time yet to be announced.

This photograph taken on March 3, 2026, shows a memorial with flowers and a portrait of late Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside the Iranian Embassy in Bishkek.
This photograph taken on March 3, 2026, shows a memorial with flowers and a portrait of late Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside the Iranian Embassy in Bishkek.

The announcement came after another wave of intense strikes targeting the capital Tehran.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor

ABCNews logo
Mar 04, 2026, 11:32 AM GMT

Hegseth, Caine to address reporters on Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are scheduled to hold a press conference at 8 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the Department of Defense said in a statement.

Mar 04, 2026, 11:30 AM GMT

Iranian civilian death toll rises to 912, human rights group says

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a U.S.-based group that relies on a network of activists in Iran for its reporting, said in a statement Tuesday night that it has so far documented the deaths of 912 civilians and the injuries of 211 civilians in Iran, as a result of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military operation.

Among those killed are at least 181 children under the age of 10, according to HRANA.

HRANA said it is reviewing 880 reports of other deaths.

"These figures reflect a devastating and escalating human toll and represent absolute minimums," the group said in the statement. "The protection of civilians is not optional. It is a binding legal obligation."

HRANA said it has also "verified credible reports of attacks on at least seven medical centers and emergency health facilities" in Iran.

ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers or information, but HRANA has been accurate in its reporting during previous periods of unrest and conflict in Iran.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian and Morgan Winsor

Watch Live
ON NOW