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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ByLauren Peller ABCNews logo
Mar 06, 2026, 12:47 AM GMT

Johnson continues to argue the US is not at war

House Speaker Mike Johnson continued to argue that the U.S. is not at war with Iran, following the failed war powers resolution vote in the House on Thursday.

"We are not at war. We have no intention of being at war," he told reporters. "The Department of War has made it very clear -- this is a limited operation. It's an operation that is limited in its scope and duration."

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gestures as he and the GOP leadership talk about the war against Iran, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on March 4, 2026.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson gestures as he and the GOP leadership talk about the war against Iran, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on March 4, 2026.

Johnson's comments come a day after President Donald Trump said: "I have to go back and look at the war. You know, I have a lot of things happening."

The House speaker said he is "grateful" that the resolution failed.

"It would have been a very dangerous gambit to take the commander-in-chief's ability away to complete this mission. Would have been a very serious misstep by Congress," Johnson said.

ByIsabella Murray ABCNews logo
Mar 06, 2026, 12:05 AM GMT

Trump offers immunity or 'guaranteed death' to Iranian forces

President Donald Trump called upon the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, military and police to "lay down their arms" against the U.S. and Israel as the conflict in Iran surges on -- telling these military forces to "take back your country" from the regime.

The president offered these officers immunity, saying they'd face "absolutely guaranteed death" if they declined.

"And I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military and the police to lay down their arms. They're only going to be killed. And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country," Trump said during an event on Thursday at the White House.

"You're going to have a chance, after all these years, to take back your country. Accept immunity, we'll give you immunity," he continued.

"So you'll be perfectly safe with total immunity, or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death. And I don't want to see that. They don't want to see it either," he added.

ABCNews logo
Mar 05, 2026, 10:51 PM GMT

Hegseth argues war isn't expanding

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back on the notion that the war is expanding in the Middle East due to Iran's attacks on U.S. bases in the Gulf or that there's "chaos."

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said during Thursday's briefing. "If anything, what Iran is doing by targeting allied countries that would otherwise want to stay out of this, they've actually pulled them into the American orbit."

Hegseth argued it's "actually firming up the unity of the resistance."

"Now you've got UAE and Qatar and Bahrain and Saudi and Kuwait and others saying, 'Hey, we're with you here. We'll shoot with you. We'll fly with you,'" he said.

BySteve Banyon ABCNews logo
Mar 05, 2026, 10:47 PM GMT

Iranian missile attacks down 90% since 1st day of war: CENTCOM

Iranian missile attacks have decreased 90% since the first day of the war, according to CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper.

Iranian drone attacks have also fallen 83%, he said. A drone attack is what killed six American troops in Kuwait over the weekend.

"In just the last hour, U.S. B2 bombers dropped dozens of 2000-pound penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers," Cooper said. "Notably, we've also struck Iran's equivalent of Space Command, which degrades their ability to threaten Americans."