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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Feb 28, 2026, 11:16 AM GMT

UAE reports 1 civilian death after Iran missile strikes

The United Arab Emirates' ministry of defense said a civilian was killed as a result of fallen debris after "a blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles."

The statement from the ministry said "air defence systems dealt with the missiles with high efficiency and successfully intercepted a number of missiles."

In Israel, the national emergency service said at least one person suffered blast injuries on Saturday.

The man, who injured in northern Israel, was in "mild condition," according to the service.

The emergency service said its teams also treated "several individuals who were injured on their way to protected spaces, all fully conscious, as well as to people suffering from anxiety across the country."

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported that five girls were killed when Israeli strikes targeted an elementary school in the southern city of Minab on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

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Feb 28, 2026, 10:25 AM GMT

IRGC claims it targeted US bases in region

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its missiles and drones targeted the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, other U.S. military bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as "military and security centers in the heart of the occupied territories," according to Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC.

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Feb 28, 2026, 9:57 AM GMT

Bahrain says missile attack targeted US Navy fleet service center

Bahrain's state-run news agency said that the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet's service center was targeted in a missile attack Saturday.

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Feb 28, 2026, 9:23 AM GMT

IDF says strikes on dozens of military targets in Iran

The joint Israeli-U.S. strike on Iran "included an attack on dozens of military targets and was carried out as part of a broad, coordinated, and joint attack against the regime," a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The IDF statement emphasized close cooperation with the U.S.

"In the months leading up to the attack, close joint planning was carried out between the IDF and the US Army, which enabled the broad attack to be carried out with maximum synchronization and coordination between the armies," the IDF statement said. "The IDF, across all its systems, has a rigorous and long-term preparation process for the operation, both in the defense systems and in the various attack plans."