The military operation against Iran entered its ninth day on Sunday. Reports have indicated that cracks are emerging in the remnants of the Iranian leadership structure as it scrambles to replace slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid continued waves of strikes from the United States and Israel, some of which left the Iranian capital of Tehran shrouded in thick black smoke.
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**Sunday’s live updates below. All updates in Eastern time**
11:25 AM: Ukrainian experts to be dispatched next week to Middle East
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that military experts with experience in handling Iranian Shahed attack drones — which have been used by Vladimir Putin’s Russia against Ukraine — will be deployed to the Middle East region next week.
Zelensky said that they will “assess the situation and provide assistance – since they are coming with the capabilities to assist right away – we will proceed accordingly.”
10:25 AM: Nearly 200 Hezbollah terrorists killed over past week in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that it has struck more than 600 terror targets in Lebanon after Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists broke the truce last week by firing rockets into northern Israel in the wake of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IDF also said that it has killed over 190 terrorists over the past week, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) commander Abu Hamza Rami.
10:20 AM: U.S. warns Iranian public to stay at home
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a safety warning to the Iranian people on Sunday, saying that the Islamist regime is using “heavily populated civilian areas to conduct military operations,” including the launching of one-way attack drones and ballistic missiles, pointing specifically to cities such as Dezful, Esfahan, and Shiraz.
“This dangerous decision risks the lives of all civilians in Iran since locations used for military purposes lose protected status and could become legitimate military targets under international law,” CENTCOM said.
“U.S. forces strongly urge civilians in Iran to stay at home. The Iranian regime is knowingly endangering innocent lives. Additionally, Iranian forces are jeopardizing the safety of innocent people throughout the Middle East by deliberately and indiscriminately targeting civilian airports, hotels, and residential neighborhoods,” the U.S. military command added.
8:40 AM: Arab League condemns Iranian ‘escalation’
Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit accused Iran of engaging in a “reckless and unjustified escalation” by targeting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring countries across the Gulf, which recently included Kuwait’s international airport and a desalination plant in Bahrain.
Gheit said that the attacks represent a “grave miscalculation” on the part of Tehran and that the attacks are “placing the entire region on an extremely dangerous trajectory.”
The Arab League leader described the Iranian attacks as a “desperate strategy directed against states that neither participated in the war nor sought it,” adding that such a strategy “will only deepen hatred and hostility across the region.”
7:55 AM: New Supreme Leader reportedly chosen
According to reports in Iranian state media, the 88-member Assembly of Experts has selected a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed alongside his senior leadership in an Israeli strike in the opening hours of the American-led military operation against the Islamist regime in Tehran.
Without namingthe supposed successor, the semi-official news agency state-backed Mehr News Agency quoted Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Huda, a member of the selection committee, as saying: “All the rumors and news that tried to pretend that the Assembly of Experts has not yet made a decision are pure lies.”
Rumours have indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Supreme Leader, is a frontrunner to replace his father. However, other reports have also claimed that some within Tehran have expressed scepticism over the younger Khamenei’s hardline Islamist positions and his lack of experience.
6:55 AM: 400 targets hit over past day, says Israel
The Israel Air Force has “completed a wave of extensive strikes over the past day in western and central Iran,” the IDF said in a statement on Sunday. The Israel Defence Forces said that over 400 targets were hit over the past day, including attacks on ballistic missile launchers and weapons manufacturing sites.
6:45 AM: Don’t want the smoke
Tehran residents woke up to a darkened sky on Sunday as black smoke covered the city following a series of strikes by the U.S. and Israel against oil facilities in the Iranian capital. Clips of large-scale explosions were shared on social media on Saturday, with many commentators describing the scenes as “apocalyptic”.
The Israel Defense Forces said that the oil depots in the city were used to fuel the “military forces of the Iranian terror regime.”
TEHRAN, IRAN – MARCH 8: Thick smoke rises over Tehran after oil depots were targeted during ongoing airstrikes on Iran launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, in Tehran, Iran on March 8, 2026. The strikes hit oil storage facilities in the Iranian capital, sending large plumes of smoke into the sky as tensions in the region continue to escalate. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
6:35 AM: Cracks begin to emerge among Iran’s remaining leaders
According to a report from the Reuters news agency on Saturday, “angry divisions between hardliners and more pragmatic factions” have broken out in the wake of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the continued bombardment from the United States and Israel.
Citing unnamed sources “close to Iran’s leadership” speaking anonymously, the report claimed that there are deep divides over perhaps the most important decision facing the faltering regime, naming a successor to Khamenei.
While his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been widely tipped as the lead candidate, Reuters reported that moderates among the clerics who will select the next Supreme Leader have been alienated by his hardline stances and that among some, he is seen as young and untested.
Further divisions emerged over the weekend amid President Masoud Pezeshkian’s public apology to neighbouring Gulf states for the past week of strikes and a promise to refrain from attacks against those who remain neutral in the conflict with the United States. According to the news agency, some in top military circles viewed the apology as a demonstration of weakness.
Meanwhile, the military leadership apparently paid little mind to the president’s comments, and strikes continued across the region. When Pezeshkian repeated his comments on social media, the apology was notably absent.
A former official is quoted as saying it will be impossible to replace Khamenei’s political abilities, suggesting there is no figure with the strategic ability to unite disparate factions during the current crisis.
For earlier Livewire updates from Saturday, please click here
