Live updates: Trump says 'very good' Iran talks, hints at 'total resolution'

Israel announced strikes on government infrastructure in Tehran on Monday.

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Last updated: Monday, March 23, 2026 6:16PM GMT
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President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israel strikes targeting military and government sites, officials said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes, and his son Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed him. Iran is responding 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.

BySteven Beynon ABCNews logo
Mar 16, 2026, 8:29 PM GMT

200 US troops have been wounded, including 10 'seriously'

Two-hundred U.S. troops have been wounded in the war with Iran so far, including 10 service members who have been "seriously wounded, according to Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins.

A US Air Force B-1 bomber is loaded with bombs at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, Monday March 16, 2026.
A US Air Force B-1 bomber is loaded with bombs at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, Monday March 16, 2026.

Out of the 200 injured, 180 troops have returned to duty, he said.

Wounds include burns, traumatic brain injuries and shrapnel wounds, according to a U.S. official.

Most attacks wounding U.S. troops have been from one-way Iranian attack drones, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said last week.

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:10 PM GMT

Over 1 million displaced in Lebanon, officials say

Over 1 million people are displaced in Lebanon, with more than 100,000 of those people staying in shelters, according to the nation's Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Prime Minister's Office.

A bulldozer clears debris from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs,, Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026.
A bulldozer clears debris from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs,, Lebanon, Monday, March 16, 2026.

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday announced a "limited and targeted" ground operation in southern Lebanon, and Israel's Ministry of Defense said that "hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of South Lebanon who have been evacuated" cannot "return to their homes south of the Litani region until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed."

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Iran not prepared for talks to end war

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron that the Iranians are not prepared for talks to end the war, saying there needs to be assurances that there would be no more attacks on Iran.

FILE - Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025.
FILE - Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025.

"I emphasized [in the call with Macron] that Iran did not begin this atrocious war," Pezeshkian said, according to a readout released by Iran.

"Speaking of ending the war, is meaningless, until we ensure there will be no more attacks in our land in the future," he said.

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Mar 16, 2026, 7:08 PM GMT

Trump says countries 'on the way' to help protect Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump, who has called on other nations to help protect the Strait of Hormuz, told reporters on Monday that "numerous countries have told me they're on the way."

"Some are very enthusiastic about it and some aren't, some are countries we've helped for many, many years," Trump said.

The president did not name countries that he says do not want to be involved, but he said, "We're protecting you and you don't want to get involved in something that is very minor. Very few shots are going to be taken because they don't have many shots left. But they said we'd rather not to get involved."

The president went on to call Iran a "paper tiger."

"I'd like to say their names," he said of the countries, "but frankly, I don't know if they would want me to or not, because, maybe they don't want to be targeted, but I say wouldn't matter if you targeted or not, because this is a paper tiger that we're dealing with now."