President Donald Trump said strikes on Iran could last four to five weeks or longer.

That's where we're starting the seven from the Washington Post. I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Tuesday, March 3rd.

Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories.

It is the fourth day of the U.S. and Israel's attack on Iran and Iran's retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.

Yesterday at the White House, President Trump spoke about the possible duration of the war,

which began with strikes on Saturday.

And we have right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have

capability to go far longer than that. We'll do it. Whatever somebody said today, they said,

oh, well, the president wants to do it really quickly after that,

he'll get bored. I don't get bored. There's nothing boring about this. Do you agree with that,

Pete? I don't think there's anything, Mr. General, I think there's nothing boring about it.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society says the death toll from ongoing airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel has risen to

787. And six U.S. soldiers have been killed so far, according to the Pentagon. The chairman of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Cain said yesterday that the U.S. military expects further casualties

before the war is over.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegzeth also spoke at a news conference from the Pentagon yesterday.

He would not rule out sending ground troops to Iran.

And he insisted that, quote, this is not a so-called regimechange war, even though that was part of Trump's original

explanation for the attack. Since Saturday, the administration has offered shifting rationales for its

decision to launch strikes. Yesterday, Trump referenced Iranian missiles, its nuclear program,

and its sponsorship of terror groups.

And the administration's failure to clearly explain the strikes is a problem for the American

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