Iran…Israel …Trump…3/9/2026…10 Days…When Over?…Iran Oil?…US Hit the Iranian School…Regime Change?

Earlier in the day, the president suggested that the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran could be near an end. The war “is very complete, pretty much,” Mr. Trump said in a phone interview with a CBS reporter, Weijia Jiang. He said, “We’re very far ahead of schedule.”

Those comments appeared to ease market fears of a prolonged war. Oil prices dropped and stocks rose. But after markets closed for the day, Mr. Trump appeared to switch gears.

“We have won in many ways, but not enough,” he told a gathering of Republican lawmakers in Florida. “We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.”

Asked at the news conference later if the war with Iran would be over this week, Mr. Trump said, “No.” He said only “soon, very soon.”

Mr. Trump expressed displeasure at the decision by Iran to name Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader. Ayatollah Khamenei was killed on the first day of the war, but Mr. Trump did not reply directly to a question about whether his son might meet the same fate.

“I was disappointed,” he said of the selection, “because we think it’s going to lead to more of the same problem for the country.”

The international benchmark oil price, priced below $70 last month, briefly jumped to almost $120 late Sunday night, then fell after the Group of 7 wealthy nations said they were considering intervening to bring prices down. It then fell again after Mr. Trump’s remarks to CBS, ending the day below $90.

The war has all but halted ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. Mr. Trump claimed to CBS that the strait had reopened to shipping, though international monitors say otherwise, and said he was “thinking about taking it over,” though it was unclear what that would mean.

Israel and the United States continued to pummel Iran — Mr. Trump said U.S. forces had carried out 3,000 airstrikes since the war began nine days earlier — and Iran once again launched missiles and drones at its neighbors.

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader, was appointed by senior clerics on Monday, in the face of Israeli threats to kill Ayatollah Khamenei’s successor. Iran’s military and hard-line political forces trumpeted the selection, but in Tehran, government opponents were heard chanting “Death to Mojtaba” from their windows — reflecting widespread if often muted dissent.

As the conflict raged into its 10th day, U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran had killed about 1,300 people, according to Iranian officials, while Iranian attacks across the Middle East killed more than 30. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 1,900 Iranians.

In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have killed almost 500 people, state media reported, and more than 600,000 people have been displaced, according to President Joseph Aoun. In response to rocket fire by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, Israeli forces have pushed into southern Lebanon and bombarded Hezbollah strongholds.

A ballistic missile launched from Iran targeted Turkey before being downed by NATO defenses, the Turkish defense ministry said. It was the second such incident announced in six days. Officials said the previous Iranian attack, on March 4, had been aimed at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.

Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance, whose nations are bound to defend one another. Iran denied targeting Turkey and has yet to comment on Monday’s announcement.

At least one person was killed in Israel during an Iranian missile attack on Monday morning, according to Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency service, raising the death toll in the country to at least 11. Saudi Arabia said Monday it had intercepted attacks headed toward the kingdom’s massive Shaybah oil field, drones over Riyadh, the capital, and ballistic missiles targeting a Saudi air base.

In Bahrain, the state-owned energy company declared that it could no longer fulfill its contracts, citing the continuing fighting and a recent attack on its refinery complex.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

• Gulf states: The civilian toll of Iranian retaliatory strikes has continued to rise in Arab states along the Persian Gulf. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said early Tuesday morning in the Middle East that one person had been killed and others were injured from an Iranian attack that hit a residential building in the capital, Manama. Qatar blamed Iran for the deaths of two civilians on Sunday in Saudi Arabia, saying that an attack had targeted a residential facility.

• Seventh American: Vice President JD Vance witnessed the arrival of the seventh U.S. service member killed in the war with Iran at Dover Air Force Base Monday night. Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington was seriously injured in a strike on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. He died from his injuries days later, officials said. Six other U.S. troops were killed in an Iranian drone attack on a military base in Kuwait.

• School hit: A newly released video adds to the evidence that an American missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, many of them children, were reported killed. The evidence contradicts Mr. Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for the strike. Read more ›

• Lebanon: Israeli ground forces raided a new area of southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military, part of an effort to carve out and expand a buffer zone inside the country. Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting for the past week since the Lebanese armed group, which is backed by Iran, shot rockets at Israeli territory.

• Aid from Ukraine: Ukraine sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to help protect U.S. military bases in Jordan, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with The New York Times. The United States made the request for help on Thursday, and the Ukrainian team was expected to arrive in the Middle East soon, he said. Read more 

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Trump Advisers Urge Him to Find Iran Exit Ramp

“President Trump said he was eyeing a quick end to the war in Iran, as some of his advisers privately urged him to look for an exit plan amid spiking oil prices and concerns that a lengthy conflict could spark political backlash,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Trump won’t stop fighting until he can claim a satisfactory victory, a senior administration official said, especially when the U.S. has a military advantage. Trump has at times been surprised that Tehran won’t cave despite the unrelenting joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign.”

Aaron Blake: Trump contradicts himself on Iran repeatedly in just a few hours.

ISW….Iran Update Morning Special Report, March 9, 2026

1. The combined force has struck several key Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces sites in Esfahan Province. The IDF struck the Seyyed ol Shohada Operational Base, which oversees IRGC Ground Forces units in three provinces. The combined force struck the IRGC Ground Forces 14th Imam Hossein Division, which operates under the Seyyed ol Shohada Operational Base and was deployed to Syria during the Syrian civil war. The IDF also struck the Saheb ol Zaman Provincial Unit, which has been involved in protest suppression.
2. Iran has continued to attack Israel and other regional countries since ISW-CTP’s last data cutoff at 3:00 PM ET on March 8. The Turkish Defense Ministry stated on March 9 that a ballistic missile launched from Iran entered Turkish airspace. NATO air defenses intercepted the missile, and some debris from the missile landed in Gaziantep Province, southeastern Turkey. Israeli media separately reported on March 9 that Iranian cluster munitions killed one person and wounded three others at six impact sites in central Israel.
3. The combined force also continued to strike Law Enforcement Command (LEC) institutions in central and western Iran. The IDF confirmed on March 9 that it struck the Esfahan City LEC Headquarters. The combined force previously struck the Esfahan Province LEC Headquarters.
4. Hezbollah claimed that its fighters have engaged Israeli forces advancing into Lebanon on three separate axes since ISW-CTP’s last data cutoff on March 8.

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Trump and Putin discuss end to Iran and Ukraine wars on call

President Trump spoke on the phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Monday and discussed the war with Iran and the efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Why it matters: This was the first call between Trump and Putin since the beginning of the war with Iran.

• Russia is a key ally of Iran and U.S. officials are concerned it is helping the Iranians in their war effort.
• Trump downplayed that scenario, but White House envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters on Saturday that he has communicated to Russian officials that they shouldn’t share any intelligence with Iran.

Driving the news: Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russian reporters that the call lasted around an hour and was “frank” and “businesslike.”

• He claimed Putin presented Trump with “several proposals” for ending the war with Iran.
• Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on state TV that France, China and Russia have reached out to discuss conditions for a ceasefire.

The other side: Several hours later, Trump told reporters he had “a very good call with Putin.”

• “He wants to be helpful [with Iran]. I told him you can be more helpful by ending the war in Ukraine,” Trump said…..

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U.S. Orders More Diplomats to Leave Middle East