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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Mar 07, 2026, 10:51 PM GMT

Trump rebuffs Kurdish forces, says ground troops could 'possibly' go into Iran

President Donald Trump said there could "possibly" be ground troops going into Iran, but "there would have to be very good reason" to send them.

"And I would say, if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn't be able to fight at the ground level," he added.

Trump was strong in his opposition to the U.S. using Kurdish forces against Iran, saying "I've told them, I don't want them."

He added, "We're not looking to the Kurds going in. We're very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is. I don't want the Kurds going in," Trump said.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Mar 07, 2026, 10:50 PM GMT

Trump attends dignified transfer of fallen soldiers

Trump attended the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Saturday afternoon for the service members who were killed in Kuwait.

The president spoke with the soldiers' families and saluted as the bodies were transferred from the military jet.

When asked by a reporter if what he just witnessed at the dignified transfer makes him think differently about going ahead with this war-- or putting troops on the ground in the Middle East, Trump responded, "We're winning the war by a lot."

Read more here.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray

Mar 07, 2026, 9:56 PM GMT

Trump appears to preemptively reject British offers to send warships to Iran

President Donald Trump claimed on social media Saturday that the United Kingdom is "giving serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East but he preemptively rejected any offer.

"That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer - But we will remember. We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!" Trump said.

Trump has been vocally critical of Starmer for not allowing the U.S. to use military bases in the U.K. during the Iran strikes.

Mar 07, 2026, 9:55 PM GMT

1 dead in Dubai amid latest missile, drone barrage

One person has died after debris from an aerial interception fell onto a car in the Al Barsha area of Dubai, the Dubai government media office has confirmed.

Video reviewed and verified by ABC News from Al Barsha neighborhood shows smoke coming from the side of a building, with the person filming saying a drone hit the building.