President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes, with his son Mojtaba Khamenei later chosen to succeed him. Iran has responded 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 and expanding its ground operations in the south of the country.
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UAE says 7 Iranian missiles, 16 drones shot down on Monday
The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said on Monday that its forces had downed seven ballistic missiles and 16 drones launched by Iran.
The tally takes the UAE's total number of interceptions to 352 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,789 drones, the ministry said.
To date, two military servicemembers and six civilians have been killed during Iranian attacks, with another 161 people injured, the ministry said.
A man walks along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on March 20, 2026.
Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty Images
Mar 23, 2026, 7:24 AM EDT
Trump says no Iran energy attacks for 5 days, cites 'productive' talks
President Donald Trump said Monday he had instructed the Pentagon "to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions."
Trump said Washington and Tehran "have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East."
USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives at Souda Bay naval base on the island of Crete, Greece, March 23, 2026.
Makis Kartsonakis/Reuters
The president had threatened to strike Iranian power plants on Saturday unless Tehran ended its efforts to block commercial shipping from transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. That deadline was set to expire on Monday evening.
Trump said Monday that U.S.-Iran talks would "continue throughout the week."
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Mar 23, 2026, 6:49 AM EDT
Iran internet blackout enters day 24, NetBlocks says
Iran's nationwide internet blackout entered day 24 on Monday, according to the internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
The blackout has now been in place for more than 552 hours, NetBlocks said in a post to X on Monday, describing the outage as "the most severe registered in any country."
"International connectivity remains unavailable to the general public while authorities maintain a selective whitelist for global access," NetBlocks said.
Mar 23, 2026, 5:04 AM EDT
4 Gulf states report fresh Iranian drone, missile strikes
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait all reported fresh Iranian attacks on Monday.
The UAE Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its forces intercepted an unspecified number of Iranian missiles and drones. In Abu Dhabi -- one of the country's seven constituent emirates -- the official government media office said one Indian national was injured by "debris falling in the Al Shawamekh area following the successful interception of a ballistic missile."
People sit along the corniche area in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on March 20, 2026.
Ryan Lim/AFP via Getty Images
The Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry said its forces intercepted several Iranian drones over the country's eastern region on Monday. Iran also fired two ballistic missiles toward the Riyadh region, the ministry said, one of which was intercepted and the other of which fell in an uninhabited area.
Bahrain's Defence Force said in a post to X on Monday morning that it had intercepted another 32 Iranian drones and two ballistic missiles.
In Kuwait, the Defense Ministry said in a post to X in the early hours of Monday that air defenses were responding to "hostile missile and drone attacks."
