Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reports

He is the son of assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

ByDavid Brennan, Jon Haworth, Kevin Shalvey, Leah Sarnoff, Meredith Deliso, Nadine El-Bawab, and Bill Hutchinson
Last Updated: March 9, 2026, 5:55 AM EDT

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 by airstrikes in Tehran on the first day of strikes. His successor is yet to be named.

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.

(Read previous Iran live updates here.)

Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Mar 06, 2026, 8:42 AM EST

New England Patriots plane used for State Department charter flight

The State Department has shared a photo of Americans in the Middle East boarding what appears to a New England Patriots team plane. Assistant Secretary of Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson said the chartered State Department flight landed safely in Washington, D.C., Friday morning.

Americans board a U.S. Department of State flight on a plane chartered from a company that manages the New England Patriots team plane that left the Middle East bound for Washington, Mar 5, 2026.
U.S. Department of State/X

"This flight was entirely paid for by the State Department," an official said. "The New England Patriots organization were not involved in this flight."

-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston

Mar 06, 2026, 8:10 AM EST

UAE intercepts over 100 drones and at least 9 missiles Friday

Air defenses in the United Arab Emirates have intercepted at least 109 drones and nine ballistic missiles on Friday, the Ministry of Defense said in a post on X.

Three drones made it through air defense Friday, officials said.

"Since the start of the brazen Iranian aggression, 205 ballistic missiles have been detected, with 190 ballistic missiles destroyed, while 13 of them fell in the sea, and 2 missiles fell within the country's territory," the statement said.

"Additionally, 1,184 Iranian drones were detected and 1,110 of them were intercepted, while 74 drones fell within the country's territory. Eight cruise missiles were also detected and destroyed," the statement continued.

-ABC News' Othon Leyva

Mar 06, 2026, 6:01 AM EST

Ukrainian drone specialists to deploy to Middle East to help defend US bases

Ukrainian interceptor drone specialists will be deployed to the Middle East "in the coming days" to assist in the defense of U.S. bases, a Ukrainian official told ABC News.

The Ukrainian official said the deployment will include interceptor drone pilots and electronic warfare specialists.

The source refrained from naming specific countries for operational security reasons but stressed that the support provided by Ukraine will be focused on defending U.S. military bases in the region.

-ABC News' Oleksiy Pshemyskiy

Mar 06, 2026, 5:23 AM EST

French carrier strike group to enter Mediterranean Saturday

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier strike group will enter the Mediterranean Sea Saturday, France's Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin said on French TV Thursday night.

Vautrin said the Charles de Gaulle had left its previous location in northern Europe and would pass through the Straight of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean late Friday and into Saturday.

On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France's only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, would be deployed to the Mediterranean to support Cyprus and France's gulf Arab allies.

France insists its operations in the Middle East are and will remain "strictly defensive" in nature and that France is playing no role in assisting the U.S.-Israeli offensive operations against Iran.

-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge

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