Live updates: Trump says 'very good' Iran talks, hints at 'total resolution'

Israel announced strikes on government infrastructure in Tehran on Monday.

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Last updated: Monday, March 23, 2026 6:16PM GMT
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President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes targeting military and government sites, officials said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes, and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding 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.

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Iran not prepared for talks to end war

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron that the Iranians are not prepared for talks to end the war, saying there needs to be assurances that there would be no more attacks on Iran.

FILE - Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025.
FILE - Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025.

"I emphasized [in the call with Macron] that Iran did not begin this atrocious war," Pezeshkian said, according to a readout released by Iran.

"Speaking of ending the war, is meaningless, until we ensure there will be no more attacks in our land in the future," he said.

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Trump says countries 'on the way' to help protect Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump, who has called on other nations to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, told reporters on Monday that "numerous countries have told me they're on the way."

"Some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren't, some are countries we've helped for many, many years," Trump said.

The president did not name countries that he says do not want to be involved, but he said, "We're protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor. Very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left. But they said we'd rather not to get involved."

The president went on to call Iran a "paper tiger."

"I'd like to say their names," he said of the countries, "but frankly, I don't know if they would want me to or not, because, maybe they don't want to be targeted, but I say wouldn't matter if you targeted or not, because this is a paper tiger that we're dealing with now."

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Trump: Iranian regime 'literally obliterated'

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that the Iranian regime has "been literally obliterated."

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Washington.

"The Air Force is gone, the Navy is gone, many, many ships have been sunk. ... Anti-aircraft is decimated. Their radar is gone, and their leaders are gone," he said.

"They've been a terror for 47 years, and now, I guess, the world or the United States, with the help of Israel, is doing what should've been done many years ago," Trump said.

Trump also said the U.S. has attacked Iran's manufacturing plants for missiles and drones, noting, "We just hit three of them today."

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Displaced Lebanese can't return until northern Israel residents are safe, Israel says

After the Israel Defense Forces on Monday announced a "limited and targeted" ground operation in southern Lebanon, Israel's Ministry of Defense said that "hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of South Lebanon who have been evacuated" cannot "return to their homes south of the Litani region until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed."

Over 831,000 Lebanese people have registered themselves as internally displaced, with 130,715 of them in shelters, according to the country's Disaster Management Unit.

Since the war began, 850 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 105 children and 66 women, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.