As Iran retaliates, largest US military base in Middle East hit by ballistic missile, Qatar says

No one was injured, according to the Qatari Ministry of Defense.

ByJon Haworth, Jack Moore, Nadine El-Bawab, David Brennan, Kevin Shalvey, Meredith Deliso, and Leah Sarnoff
Last Updated: March 3, 2026, 10:02 PM EST

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, with daytime strikes in the joint U.S.-Israel attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.

On Sunday, Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran is responding to the U.S.-Israeli operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and Gulf nations. American diplomatic facilities have also been attacked.

In Lebanon, Israel is intensifying its long-running strike campaign against the Iranian-aligned Hezbollah militia.

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 03, 2026, 5:55 AM EST

IDF says it struck Iranian regime's leadership compound

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Tuesday that its aircraft had overnight "struck and dismantled facilities within the leadership compound of the Iranian terrorist regime in the heart of Tehran."

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran early on March 3, 2026.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

"During the strike on the compound, numerous munitions were dropped on the Presidential Office and the building of the Supreme National Security Council," the IDF said. "In addition, the gathering site of the regime’s most senior forum responsible for security decision-making was targeted, as well as the institution for training Iranian military officers and additional key regime infrastructure."

The IDF added: "This compound serves as the most central and significant headquarters of the Iranian terrorist regime. Its strike further degrades the functional continuity of the regime’s command and control systems."

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor and Jordana Miller

Mar 03, 2026, 4:57 AM EST

787 people killed by strikes on Iran, Red Crescent Society says

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said Tuesday that at least 787 people had been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran since Saturday, according to the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

APTOPIX Iran US Israel
A woman crosses almost deserted square with a billboard at rear showing a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S.–Israeli military campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Associated Press

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian and Morgan Winsor

Mar 03, 2026, 4:54 AM EST

US Embassy in Riyadh closed on Tuesday after drone strikes

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh said in a statement that it will be closed on Tuesday following an attack on the facility by Iranian drone strikes overnight.

A security vehicle patrols in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 3, 2026.
Stringer/Reuters

The embassy said in an update that a shelter-in-place order remained in effect for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran. It urged Americans throughout Saudi Arabia to stay inside.

Tens of thousands of Americans live in Saudi Arabia, according to recent estimates.

-ABC News' Marcus Moore, Dada Jovanovic and Colm O'Molloy

Mar 03, 2026, 4:09 AM EST

Iran attack designed to help Iranians 'remove' regime, Katz says

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post to X on Tuesday that the "combined Israeli-American attack on Iran" is intended -- in part -- to "create the conditions for the Iranian people to act and remove" the government in Tehran.

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran early on March 3, 2026.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

"We have severed the head of the Iranian octopus and we are now working to crush and sever the octopus's tentacles," Katz wrote.

The Israeli-U.S. campaign, he said, "is unprecedented in its scope, precision, and power -- and it aims to crush the regime's capabilities, protect Israel's home front and U.S. military forces in the region, prevent Iran from returning to the path of nuclear weapons production and mass missile production," and help Iranians topple the regime.

The operation, Katz said, "will continue with full force for as long as required."

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