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Iran live updates: Trump thinks Strait will 'automatically open' when US leaves

Trump continued to shrug off responsibility to other countries.

ByDavid Brennan, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Jon Haworth, and Nadine El-Bawab

Last Updated: March 31, 2026, 10:09 PM PKT

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in Tehran on the first day of strikes, with his son Mojtaba Khamenei later chosen to succeed him. Iran has responded 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 and expanding its ground operations in the south of the country.

Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

Key Headlines

• 57 minutes ago
  IRGC issues warning to US companies it says were used in assassinations
• 1 hour and 19 minutes ago
  Trump thinks Strait will 'automatically open' when US leaves
• 6:56 PM PKT
  Israel gives another Beirut neighborhood 1 hour to evacuate as death toll surpasses 1,200
• 6:18 PM PKT
  Hegseth confirms US destroyed an ammo depot in Isfahan
• 4:24 PM PKT
  Katz says Israel will demolish south Lebanon homes, block return of residents

Here's how the news is developing.

57 minutes ago

IRGC issues warning to US companies it says were used in assassinations

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a warning to American companies in the Middle East, saying they are "considered legitimate targets."

The companies named by the IRGC include Cisco, HP, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, IBM, Dell, Planter, Nvidia, J.P. Morgan, Tesla, GE, Spire Solutions, G42 and Boeing.

"The IRGC warns the ruling regime of aggressive America: You ignored our repeated warnings about the necessity to stop terrorist operations, and today, in your terrorist attacks and those of your Israeli allies, several Iranian citizens were martyred," the IRGC said in a statement in Farsi.

"Since the main element in designing and tracking assassination targets are American ICT and AI companies, in response to this terrorist operation, from now on the main institutions involved in terrorist operations will be considered legitimate targets," the IRGC said.

1 hour and 19 minutes ago

Trump thinks Strait will 'automatically open' when US leaves

President Donald Trump said he believes the Strait of Hormuz will “automatically open” when the U.S. exits, he said in a phone interview with the New York Post on Tuesday.

“We’re not going to be there too much longer. We’re obliterating the s--- out of them right now, it’s a total obliteration,” he told the Post.

Asked about the Wall Street Journal report that indicated he was considering ending the war without opening the Strait of Hormuz, Trump sidestepped but argued that the Strait will “automatically open” when the U.S. leaves Iran.

A police speed boat patrols the port as oil tankers and high speed crafts sit anchored at Muscat Anchorage near the Strait of Hormuz, March 30, 2026 in Muscat, Oman.

Elke Scholiers/Getty Images

“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” Trump said, according to the NY Post. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”

Trump continued to shrug off responsibility to other countries to open the Strait.

“Well, I think it’ll automatically open, but my attitude is, I’ve obliterated the country. They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it… because I would imagine whoever’s controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait," he said.

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026.

Altaf Qadri/AP

His remarks come despite his threats on Monday to bomb power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly, all of the country’s desalinization plants if the Strait of Hormuz did not “immediately” open.

“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)" Trump wrote on social media.