YESTERDAY Updated March 10, 2026: Here’s the latest.

 

YESTERDAY

Updated

March 10, 2026, 6:21 p.m. ET21 minutes ago

Euan Ward Paul Sonne Erika Solomon Eric SchmittHelene Cooper and Liam Stack

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/10/world/iran-war-trump-us-israel

 

Here’s the latest.

Trump administration officials sent mixed messages on Tuesday about the goals, timeline and tactics of the war against Iran, the latest in a string of muddled statements throughout the fighting, which has so far killed more than 1,800 people and disrupted global energy markets.

 

The confusion was typified by Chris Wright, the U.S. energy secretary, saying on social media that a Navy warship had “successfully escorted” an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, where the war has slowed ship traffic. Shortly afterward, a military official said that had not happened, and the social media post was deleted.

 

The day before, President Trump threatened to strike Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER” if it moved to stop the flow of oil through the strait, even though Tehran had already begun doing so days earlier.

 

And in a news briefing at the White House, the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said that President Trump, and not the leaders of Iran, would be the one to declare that Iran had unconditionally surrendered — one of the conditions he has laid out for ending the war.

 

“When President Trump says that Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, he’s not claiming the Iranian regime is going to come out and say that themselves,” she said.

 

Early in the day. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Tuesday would be marked by a significant increase in American and Israeli strikes on Iran. As midnight passed in the Middle East that had not appeared to take shape, though Israel did begin a wave of attacks early Wednesday local time.

 

As Washington again struggled to come up with a consistent narrative for the war, a humanitarian crisis loomed in Lebanon, where nearly 700,000 people have been driven from their homes, the United Nations said Tuesday. Israel’s mass evacuation orders and bombing campaign have transformed the country into a major new front in the expanding Middle East war. Airstrikes there continued on Tuesday.

 

In Beirut and its densely packed surrounding area, tens of thousands of people fleeing Israel’s attacks on the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah were living in schools and government buildings. Others slept in cars and on sidewalks along the city’s seaside promenade.

 

More than 667,000 people have registered on the Lebanese government’s online displacement platform, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday, citing government figures. That included more than 100,000 in the past 24 hours, it said.

 

Israel’s military also announced a new wave of strikes in Tehran, the Iranian capital, on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he hoped the Iranian people would oust the Islamic republic. “Ultimately, it is up to them” when the war ends, he said.

 

Some Iranians said the strikes overnight Monday into Tuesday were among the worst so far. “It seems they are striking everywhere: homes, schools, mosques, hospitals,” said one resident, Javad, who asked to withhold his full name out of concern for retaliation.

 

Here’s what else we’re covering:

 

American injuries: The Pentagon said on Tuesday that Iranian strikes, which have killed seven U.S. service members since the war with the United States and Israel began, had also wounded 140 U.S. service members, eight severely.

 

Russian oil: The Trump administration has started to loosen restrictions on Russian oil exports in a bid to temper rising gas prices, in the latest signal that the consequences of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran were cascading into other crises. The easing of Russian oil sanctions, which were intended to help force an end to the war in Ukraine, includes a 30-day waiver for India to buy Russian oil already at sea without retaliation from Washington. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the United States was considering lifting more sanctions on Russian oil.

 

Death toll: U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed about 1,300 people in Iran, according to Iranian officials, while Iranian attacks across the Middle East have killed at least 30. Israeli strikes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon, state media reported.

 

U.S. casualties: Iranian strikes have killed seven American troops, and injured 140 U.S. service members overall, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Of that number, military officials said 108 have returned to duty, but eight are severely injured. Read more ›

 

Health fears: Strikes on Iranian fuel depots led to dark plumes of smoke, black rain and sanitary concerns for local residents. “The war has entered our throats,” one said.