Monday morning news: March 9, 2026

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7th U.S. troop dies in Epic Fury » A seventh American service member has died from combat injuries sustained in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

U.S. officials say an Army soldier stationed in Saudi Arabia has died from injuries suffered there during an Iranian attack on March 1st. The first six U.S. combat deaths were Army reservists killed during an attack in Kuwait.

The death toll from what’s known in the U.S. as "Operation Epic Fury" keeps climbing. Besides at least 1,230 deaths in Iran, at least 300 people have been killed in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah is trading attacks with Israel. Around a dozen people in Israel have been killed.

Khameini’s son named supreme leader » Meanwhile, Iranian state TV has announced the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's hardliner son Mojtaba Khamenei is succeeding him as Iran’s supreme leader.

The defiant move goes against what President Trump wanted. Trump has called the younger Khamenei a lightweight. The president also wanted a hand in selecting Iran’s new leader, and has said anyone who doesn’t have his personal approval won’t last long.

Trump is demanding an unconditional surrender from Iran, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi says that’s not happening.

ARAGCHI: Well, they have to explain why they started this aggression before we come to the point to even consider a ceasefire.

Aragchi on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy restated part of the rationale given several times publicly by the Trump administration.

KENNEDY: Iran had taken baby steps to restart its nuclear program… Its plan was to stockpile enough missiles so that it could destroy the Middle East.

Kennedy on Fox News Sunday.

President Trump says Epic Fury will continue until Iran can’t fight anymore.

Israel, with the help of American intelligence, attacked Iran’s oil infrastructure Sunday, while Iran continued strikes on the U.S.’s Middle East allies. 

The U.S. had ordered all nonessential diplomats and families to leave Saudi Arabia as Iran steps up retaliation there.

Americans evacuated from Middle East » The U.S. State Department says more than 32,000 Americans have successfully evacuated from the Middle East over the past week and are back home.

The State Department says it’s completed close to two dozen charter flights to help with that effort. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace:

MACE: This has not been an easy task, but in seven days to have evacuated that many Americans… We’re very grateful for it and grateful for everyone’s hard work on the ground.

Democrats are criticizing the State Department, saying the Trump Administration lacked a plan to evacuate Americans from the Middle East before the strikes on Iran began.

U.S. gas prices up 50 cents in one week » The military operation in Iran has interrupted the global flow of oil, sending energy costs and the price at the gas pump way up in the U.S.

Gas Buddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Pat DeHaan says:

DEHAAN: The national average as we speak here, up to about $3.45 a gallon. That now stands 51 cents higher than where we were a week ago, when we stood at $2.94.

He says that is the fifth-largest weekly increase Gas Buddy has seen, going back to 2000.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the spike is temporary. He says it’s based on fears that the conflict in Iran will be a long, drawn-out crisis, which he insists it won’t be.

Counter-protestor throws IED near Mamdani’s home » Competing demonstrations outside New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home turned dangerous over the weekend.

AUDIO: Tell everyone else… [screams]

That’s what it sounded like as an 18-year-old counter-protestor threw a homemade improvised explosive device, or IED, sending protestors and police scrambling. No one was hurt.

The scene came during a collision of dueling protests: One, an anti-Islam protest led by right wing influencer Jake Lang, the other, a counter-protest to Lang’s. Again, it was one of the counter-protestors who threw the explosive.

New York Police say the IED—one of three suspicious devices they’re now investigating— could have caused injury or death. Both young men under arrest in connection with the IED admit to being inspired by ISIS.

Midwest states recovering from fatal tornadoes » Crews are surveying the damage in Oklahoma and Michigan after tornadoes roared through late last week, killing at least six people and leaving more than a dozen hurt.

Among those killed: Jodie Owens and her 13-year-old daughter Lexi in Major County, Oklahoma. Jodie’s brother, Justin Zonts, talked to KFOR-TV:

ZONTS: They were amazing people, and anyone who knows them will be devastated by this news… This just feels like a movie. It feels like I’ve watched a movie, and someone... I just, I don’t believe it’s real still.

In Union City, Michigan, where at least four people were killed, it was the most violent tornado this early in the year in Michigan’s history.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead on Legal Docket: a case involving gun rights and drug use. Plus, more on the effect on oil prices a week into the conflict with Iran.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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