A woman walks past a cordoned-off area damaged during an Iranian strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 8,2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
- Iran named Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday. Khamenei, who is seen as even more hard-line than his father, will now be in charge of Iran’s armed forces and any decision about Tehran’s nuclear program. The appointment marks a new sign of defiance by Iran’s embattled leadership after more than a week of heavy U.S. and Israeli bombardment.
- At a news conference Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump seemed to threaten intensified action on Iran if the country made any “attempt to stop the globe’s oil supply.” US stocks closed higher following a remarkable reversal as oil prices fell from nearly $120 per barrel, their highest since 2022, back toward $90.
- A 26-year-old Army staff sergeant from Kentucky was identified as the seventh U.S. service member killed during the Iran war, after being wounded on a base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, the Pentagon said. The first six deaths were Army reservists killed the same day at a Kuwaiti port.
- New footage has raised the likelihood that the U.S. military struck an Iranian elementary school where a blast killed at least 165 people, mostly children.
- The death toll continues to rise: The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials in those countries.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard say they will determine the end of the war
The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday that the end of the war will be determined by Iran.
Spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said in a statement published in various Iranian state media and apparently in response to Trump’s remarks Monday that
“Iran will determine when the war ends.”Trump vows to hit Iran back harder if it stops oil tankers
The U.S. president pledged aggressive action against Iran if it continues to block the shipment of oil in the Strait of Hormuz.
On This Day in History — 1811“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump posted on social media. “Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”
The president said his threat was a “gift” to China, among other nations, because it relies on oil from the Middle East.
Senate Democrats demand public hearings on Iran war
A handful of Senate Democrats are threatening to impede the Senate’s work unless the Trump administration provides public hearings on the war with Iran.
A vote on a war powers resolution, which would have required congressional approval for any further attacks on Iran, failed last week mostly along party lines. But a group of Democratic senators has filed several similar pieces of legislation and could potentially force repeated votes on them if they choose.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said they were going to “use every lever that we have to stop business as usual” unless there is an agreement from Republicans.
The tactic showed how Democrats are desperate to force a debate on the Iran war, but because they have minorities in both chambers of Congress, they are getting creative to force the issue into the public view.
