Live updates: Tehran fuel depots burn as Israel launches a new wave of strikes
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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country’s regional neighbors are “brothers” as he downplayed its retaliatory strikes as an obligation.
What to know
- PEZESHKIAN SAYS IRAN MUST RESPOND: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country is "forced to respond" when it is attacked, even if those attacks come from neighboring countries. Iran has continued to strike Gulf nations.
- OIL DEPOTS HIT BY STRIKES: Several oil depots in Tehran were hit by airstrikes yesterday, according to semiofficial news agency Fars, with video from the city showing large fires and an orange sky.
- TRUMP CONTRADICTS ANALYSIS: President Donald Trump told reporters he believes Iran is behind the strike on an elementary school that killed at least 168 people. Preliminary findings from the Trump administration indicate it is increasingly likely a U.S. munition was responsible for the strike, sources told NBC News.
- AMERICANS TRYING TO LEAVE : Thousands of American citizens remain stranded in the Middle East.
- DEATH TOLL: Hundreds of people have been killed across the Middle East. In Iran, at least 940 have been killed by Israeli and American strikes, Iranian state media reported, and 11 have died in Israel as Iran fired back. Six American soldiers died in Kuwait in the military operation. And in Lebanon, nearly 300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes.
IDF warns they will pursue any successor to Ayatollah Khamenei
The Israel Defense Forces have warned they will pursue any successor of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran says it is close to announcing his replacement.
"We want to tell you that the hand of the State of Israel will continue to pursue any successor and anyone who seeks to appoint a successor," it said in a statement.
A member of Iran's Assembly of Experts said earlier today that most members had agreed on Khamenei's successor.
The IDF said the Assembly of Experts was set to convene in the city of Qom.
"We warn everyone who plans to attend the successor selection meeting that we will not hesitate to target you as well," it said. "This is a warning!“
Photos: Fire blazes in northeast Tehran following strike on oil depot
A video shared on social media yesterday and verified by NBC News shows the fiery aftermath of an airstrike on an oil depot in northeast Tehran.
Iran close to announcing new Supreme Leader
Iran's Assembly of Experts is close to agreeing on who will replace Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a member of the assembly.
"The main duty of the Assembly of Experts is to introduce a new leader as soon as possible," Ayatollah Amireza Hodayi said today, as reported by Iranian state media.
Most members have agreed on one candidate, and this decision has been sent to the Assembly’s leadership board, he said.
When ready, board representative Ayatollah Hashem Hosseini Bushehri will announce the name of Iran's new Supreme Leader to the public.
Araghchi: If Trump seeks escalation, he will get it
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s openness to de-escalation was turned down by Trump, who he said misinterpreted Iran’s capabilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Shadati / Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images file
“If Mr. Trump seeks escalation, it is precisely what our Powerful Armed Forces have long been prepared for, and what he will get,” Araghchi said in a statement posted on X. “Responsibility for any intensification of Iran’s exercise of self-defense will lie squarely with the U.S. Administration.”
Araghchi also commented on the human toll of the war in Iran for the U.S., as well as the costliness of it, adding that the National Intelligence Council determined the war “is destined to fail.”
Iran has continued to hit targets in the Middle East after Pezeshkian said it will only attack neighbors used to launch strikes. The attacks included strikes on the U.A.E., Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to local state media and officials.
Oil depots in Iran hit by airstrikes
Several oil depots in Iran were hit by airstrikes, according to semiofficial news agency Fars and an Iranian oil company.
Two of the depots that Fars said were struck, the Sharan and Shar Rey facilities, are in different parts of Tehran. Video from the city showed large fires and an orange sky. One showed huge plumes of dark smoke visible from a highway.
Explosions erupt following strikes at Tehran Oil Refinery in Tehran on March 7, 2026. Atta Kenare / AFP via Getty Images
Fars also reported a depot was hit in the nearby city of Karaj.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said missiles struck several facilities in Tehran and Alborz provinces and that firefighting teams were working to put the fires out.
Israel launches new wave of strikes as it advises some to seek shelter
The Israel Defense Forces is launching a new wave of strikes against Iran, targeting military infrastructure, it said in a statement.
It also indicated that Iran launched missiles that targeted locations on Israeli soil. Israel and its automated defense systems were working on intercepting the munitions, the IDF said.
Officials, including Israel’s Home Front Command, asked residents of targeted areas to find a “protected space” and seek shelter. It sent a precautionary alert to the cellphones of people living in those areas, Israel Defense Forces said.
Iran’s president says it doesn’t want conflict with neighbors amid backlash to strikes
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country’s regional neighbors are “brothers” as he downplayed its retaliatory strikes as an obligation not intended to undermine Iran’s connections to other Middle Eastern states.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Evgenia Novozhenina / AP file
“The enemy wants us and neighboring countries to be in war and tries to create differences between us and other countries,” he said during a visit to a hospital. “We consider neighboring countries our brothers and we must have good relations with them.”
At the same time, Pezeshkian said, Iran must respond to attacks.
“Responding to an attack does not mean we want conflict with that country or want to upset its people. We are forced to respond,” he said.
Earlier, he said neighboring countries would be spared its military offensives “unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries.”
Some of Iran’s most influential regional neighbors include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, which all host U.S. military personnel.
“If any country attacks our land, we must respond to that attack,” Pezeshkian said in remarks posted to telegram.
The president said Iran must reject the killing of “innocent” people during the war, and he asked if the United States also felt this way.
“Iran has not bowed and will not bow to bullying, injustice and invasion,” Pezeshkian said.
He urged people of the Middle East to stand together and take to the streets.
“Everyone should come because we want to defend the land and water of our country,” Pezeshkian said.
