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Israeli Strikes Target Iran's Top Military and Nuclear Leadership; Israel Says Strikes Will Continue Until War's Objectives Are Reached; Trump Warns Iran To Agree To Nuclear Deal Before Even More Brutal Follow-Up Attacks; Blasts Heard In Tel Aviv After Israel Says Iran Launched Missiles; Iranian State Media Reports Retaliation On Israel Has Begun. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired June 13, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:01:30]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We start with breaking news. We've been following all day. Iran State Media is reporting a new round of Israeli strikes is now hitting parts of Tehran the capital, and Israel is bracing for retaliatory attacks just hours after its military operation on multiple Iranian targets began. Overnight, Israel launching its most extensive attacks on Iran in decades, targeting nuclear capabilities and top military commanders as well.
President Trump is set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. Netanyahu saying a short time ago that the United States knew about these looming attacks on Iran in advance. CNN Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Matthew Chance is monitoring developments for us live from London. Matthew, obviously, a dynamic situation in the Middle East right now.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very dynamic, Boris. Very tense, very dangerous. You spoke there about the latest reports coming to us from Iranian television that their air defenses have been activated. There may be another wave of Israeli strikes taking place in Tehran, the Iranian capital, possibly elsewhere as well. Certainly, I spoke to Israeli military officials earlier today and they told me this operation is not over. It will -- it has no time limit, they told me, and reiterated that idea that it could go on for days depending on how long it takes to achieve the objective.
That objective, by the way, they said is to remove the Iranian nuclear threat and the ballistic missile threat. And so, they're going to be pounding these places all across the country until they're satisfied it seems that that threat has disappeared or has been reduced significantly. The flip side of that, of course, is that there's going to be an Iranian response. They've vowed retaliation. They've already launched a hundred drones towards Israel, but they were sort of basically shot down by Israeli aired defenses, but by other countries as well as they approached Israel through the airspace. But let's not forget that Iran has significant ballistic missile forces at its disposal. It could choose to use them. It's got a lot of drones as well. It's a big supplier of drones to countries like Russia, for instance, which uses them in the Ukraine war. And so, it could kind of really strike hard at Israel if it takes the decision to do that. But one of the things that may have been hampering it back, hampering it rather its response, is the fact that so many Iranian military officials were taken out in the initial wave of the Israeli strikes, senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of the most powerful military institutions inside Iran.
Also, of course, they were at pains (ph), the Israelis, to strike at ballistic missile launch sites, vehicles and things like that. So that may have actually physically hampered the Iranian response, but it doesn't mean it's not coming. And that's what many people in Israel and the government are telling people in Israel to prepare for, Boris.
SANCHEZ: And Matthew, talk to us about the strategy and the timing here, because Israel is betting that Iran's response is going to be somewhat limited, at least because its proxies in the region have been virtually decimated. And also, because Israel itself has limited Iran's aerial defense going back to October of last year, in that attack. So to some degree, they felt like this was the time to act, right?
CHANCE: I think that's probably right. I mean, there's a lot to be said for that. I mean, certainly a year ago, in April, when I was in Israel, I think Israeli forces carried out devastating attacks on missile forces inside Iran.
[14:05:00]
It's apparently the case that those installations have not been fully rebuilt. But that key issue, which you just mentioned, is the role of Iranian proxies. I mean, up until now, up until a year ago or so, it was the first line of defense for Iran, to prevent it, encountering Israeli strikes like this. They'd have groups like Hezbollah or in neighboring Lebanon that would be the sort of frontline in attacking Israel. But Hezbollah has been degraded substantially because of Israeli airstrikes, the same is true of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, which were also kind of proxies of Iran.
And then there's the regime in neighboring Syria, under Bashar al- Assad. It sort of like kept certain groups, including Hezbollah elements, that would've potentially been used against Israel, but that regime has fallen. And so, that whole picture of regional proxies that was such a mainstay of Iran's defense, Iran's offensive capability and defensive capability against Israel, that's been swept away. It's left it very vulnerable, which is why I think Israel feels it is so con -- it has felt so confident to strike at this time.
But, let's not again, rule out a couple of things. First of all, the possibility of an Iranian retaliation, and also the possibility that these strikes could have bolstered the voices of hardliners inside Iran that are calling for a nuclear deterrent to prevent these kind of strikes in the future. So, it's possible that this Israeli operation could actually have accelerated the nuclear threat that it was meant to entirely remove.
SANCHEZ: Important perspective, Matthew Chance, thank you so much for that. Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The escalating conflict is threatening to derail nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which were set to happen in Oman this weekend. President Trump telling Reuters today that he's uncertain whether Iran's nuclear program exists following Israel's strike. Trump says that while U.S. talks with Iran are still planned for Sunday, he isn't sure they'll happen. The president also told Axios today that Israel strikes on Iran could help his efforts to secure a nuclear deal with Iran. CNN's Kristen Holmes is with us now from the White House. Kristen, I mean, tell us a little bit about his thinking on that and if that may be true or not.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, we just heard Matthew Chance laid it out for the opposite of what Donald Trump is hoping for. This idea that this actually escalated Iran's nuclear programming, made them more motivated. Donald Trump is actually hoping for the opposite here, which is that this brings Iran to the table. I want to pull up this, Dana talked to -- Dana Bash talked to Donald Trump earlier today, and he really issued this kind of loose threat to Iran saying things could get worse. This is what he said.
He said, Iran should have listened to me when I said -- I gave them. I don't know if you know this, but I gave them 60-day warning and today is 61. They should now come to the table to make a deal before it's too late. It will be too late for them. The people I was dealing with are dead, the hardliner. So obviously, they're too late, too late for them. If they don't come on Sunday, if they don't come soon, he's issuing a threat to them. They're hoping, and they being the administration, that this brings Iran to the table, that they're going to want this to stop, that they're going to want to move forward.
I have been spoken to a number of administration officials who say that, right now, they are still planning on those talks taking place, but they're obviously saying they don't know if anyone's going to show up. They don't know if this is actually going to happen. They're just hopeful that this brings them to the table. And the other part of this to keep in mind is that Donald Trump in these series of calls that he has made with reporters over the past 24 hours, has seemingly made it clear that he was very aware of what was happening. And we've seen some pushback from Iran on that, saying that the U.S. should be held accountable for what happened.
Donald Trump saying that he knew everything that was going to happen. Obviously, it's unclear if he knew everything. We do know Netanyahu and Donald Trump spoke multiple times yesterday, including ahead of those strikes. But if that could somehow stand in the way of these talks, now Iran saying, well, you knew this was coming and you allowed this to happen. All of this is playing out in real time. Again, those talks were set for Sunday in Oman. We're keeping tabs to see how exactly this lands before Sunday.
KEILAR: All right, Kristen Holmes, live for us at the Wine House, thank you. Boris?
SANCHEZ: Let's dig deeper now with CNN Military Analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, always great to be with you at the Magic Wall. Is there anything about these sites that were targeted that stands out to you?
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, there are a lot of different things, Boris, and let's take a look real quick here at what happened in Tehran. This blast really kind of epitomizes exactly what the Israelis have been able to do. So Iran, Tehran specifically is the political center for the country. And then you go down here to Natanz. This is one of their key nuclear sites and this is been a target for the Israelis for quite some time. That they were able to do this is a significant thing on the Israelis part from an operational perspective.
[14:10:00]
And then when you look broadly at the different parts here, you see that what the Israelis did was they basically took out air defenses right here in the northwest of the country and actually down in the western and southwestern parts, plus in the middle. And basically, what they're doing is they're clearing a path for their aircraft to go in and strike further targets if they feel the need to do that.
SANCHEZ: We are anticipating some kind of retaliation from Iran. So far, in comparison to the past, it's been relatively muted. What are you anticipating is going to come from Iran?
LEIGHTON: So one of the things that we've already seen is drones attacking Israel. So for example, you have the Shahed drones. We know these not only from Iran, but also from --
SANCHEZ: Ukraine.
LEIGHTON: -- the Ukraine war, exactly. And the Ukraine war is kind of a laboratory for the Iranians because what they're doing is they're supplying these to the Russians. The Russians are using them in combat operations, and the Iranians are refining their capabilities. It does fly low and slow, so that's a vulnerability for the aircraft. It's also on a programmed, pre-programmed path basically to the targets. So it can be messed with a bit, but not as much as an aircraft or a UAV that can be moved around through radio control, and it attacks and swarms. So this is where swarm warfare becomes a pretty big thing.
So this is what the Iranians are going to do with this, with that particular thing. Now, the other part of it is, what they can do with some of their affiliates, the regional affiliates. These affiliates, most famous of these would be these PMU affiliates right here. These are the Paramilitary Units that are active in Iraq. Syria has some, but of course, that's very much a place of a lot of upheaval with the fall of the Assad regime. You have some, of course, in the Palestinian territory. Hamas is on its back foot; Hezbollah on its back foot. You have the Houthis in Yemen. They're dealing with stuff down here in the Red Sea, in the Arabian Gulf. And everybody else is kind of occupied, in essence. SANCHEZ: Yeah.
LEIGHTON: And so, the Iranians don't have the opportunity to use these types of militias like they once did. So this makes it a little bit weaker for them. And the other thing, of course, to watch out for are the U.S. troops in the area.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
LEIGHTON: So these U.S. troops, here we have the numbers in the different countries. Some of the most important would be like in Qatar, we have 10,000 or so at Al Udeid Air Base and another military facility there, almost 3,500 in the UAE, a lot in Kuwait, 13,500 there. And basically what you're seeing here, this is kind of our frontline facing Iran. So, this becomes a target for Iran.
SANCHEZ: Right.
LEIGHTON: It's a potential target. So, they could try some type of asymmetric warfare if they get angry enough at the U.S. and feel that we were responsible in part for this. That could be a very significant factor.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, a lot of dangers, obviously, in the region and a dynamic situation, one that's rapidly unfolding. As you were speaking, Colonel, we've actually just learned from Israeli news sources that they've identified incoming missiles right now, launched from Iran. So we're going to continue monitoring that breaking news as we take a live look at the skies over Israel. Again, missiles being launched from Iran that Israel has identified. This is live in Tel Aviv right now.
You hear the sirens going off and it appears that there are projectiles in the sky right now. Colonel, if you could weigh in on the capabilities that Israel has on its own to defend itself against some of these missiles, because as we saw in the attack last October, they relied on help not only from the United States, but other regional allies as well.
LEIGHTON: That's exactly right, Boris. And that help came in the form of Aegis Cruisers, Air Force, U.S. Air Force assets. So, you had both the Navy and the Air Force providing support to the Israelis. So what the Israelis have includes, there -- it's basically a three-tiered air defense system, air missile defense system. One aspect of it is the Iron Dome. And there you -- it sounded like you heard a rocket go up to try to intercept something. And what we're looking at there is the possibility of them trying to intercept one of the Iranian rockets.
We may see an explosion if they hit something, and that is something that could very much change the dynamic. They don't strike every single incoming missile or rocket. What they're trying to do is they're trying to get the ones that are going to affect their population centers. And it's almost like tracer fire. There you see the blast right there, that shows that they've intercepted and there there's a strike. There's a strike right there. That may have fallen just outside of population area there in Tel Aviv, but it looks pretty close to the city center. That is something where there may be some damage.
SANCHEZ: Colonel, let's actually go live to Oren Liebermann, who's in Jerusalem for us, sheltering in a bomb shelter as we speak. Oren, the skies over Tel Aviv lighting up right now.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: This is, frankly, what we've been waiting for over the course of the past 18 hours since the Israeli attack on Iran first took place. The response that Israel were warned could be far larger than what we have seen before.
[14:15:00]
We are -- just a few minutes ago, we got the alert from Israel's Home Front Command and from the Israel Defense Forces to head to bomb shelters. That's where you find us right now, these protective doors around us in pretty much all directions are the ways in and out of the bomb shelter here in the basement of the building in which the Jerusalem Bureau is based here. So as we came down here, we heard the sirens going off. We also heard you describe (inaudible) coming in and frankly, of intercepts. We just got a heads up from an Israeli military official that dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles are en route to Israel. The people of Israel have been instructed to remain in bomb shelters until further notice. And then, you saw some of this already begin to start playing out on your screen.
Meanwhile, the red alert, and I'm just listening to what I hear here. It's possible we're hearing intercepts from Jerusalem. It's a little hard to hear it in the bomb shelter. You may have a better sense of that, being able to see our live pictures from different places throughout Israel to see the incoming missiles. But this is frankly, what had been expected, a potentially large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack, one that could attempt to overwhelm Israel's aerial defense systems. And whether this is all of it or the beginning of it, regardless, it is according to Israel's military incoming here (inaudible) to head into the bomb shelter.
A short while ago, there were red alerts in different areas throughout the country. That's the warning of incoming Israeli, or rather incoming Iranian missiles here. And that coming just a short time ago, that compelled us to head into this bomb shelter here as we wait for the latest, this could be a longer period that we'll spend down here. It could be in and out throughout the evening. This is the, effectively, what Home Front Command had said, stay close to bomb shelters throughout the day. And we had seen out on the streets of Jerusalem, there were far fewer people out since early this morning.
And now, just a few moments ago, probably about an hour ago and then again, 10 minutes ago, there were two more alerts from Home Front Command, stay close to shelters. And then just before we headed down here, that heads up to head to shelters. And that's where you find us right now. We're waiting for more updates coming in from the Israeli military. As of right now, the number is dozens of Iranian ballistic missiles are en route to Israel. We have seen Iran launch far larger barrages of more than a hundred ballistic missiles. We also saw them launch approximately a hundred drones much earlier in the day. From what we heard from the IDF, only one of those got through and that was in Northern Israel, but it was never the drones that were the major concern. It was always the ballistic missiles. And that, at least from what we're hearing right now, is what's playing out, outside of the bomb shelter. Here again, you'll have a better sense of that from the video you described, from the video Colonel Cedric Layton described, (inaudible) in bomb shelters, in what areas this could be very widespread because of the potential impact and damage of these ballistic missiles. How long does this last? And is this one round or is it a long night for the country in bomb shelters following that massive wave of strikes that Israel carried out on Iran just about 18 hours ago, that started.
KEILAR: And Oren, what is Israel's assessment of Iran's capabilities at this point? Can they know for sure what Iran's capabilities are?
LIEBERMANN : They'll at least have some sense of that. They have said earlier, throughout the day, that they struck-surface-to surface missiles. Those are the types of missiles that Iran would use to launch from Iran, a long-range attack on Israel. But clearly, they didn't get all of it as we're finding out now and as we may find out over the course of the coming hours and days. They have known and have seen the power of Iran's missile arsenal, their drones. They consider Iranian drones incredibly advanced, so they know full well the capabilities that are there.
One of the big questions was, when would this response come? They were ready for it almost imminently. And when the attacks started at roughly 3:30 in the morning local time last night, there was (inaudible) Home Front Command that said, stay close to shelters because a response may be imminent. That part was (inaudible) in terms of ballistic missiles. And now, it's a question of how long does this last and how many more are there. I was just handed pictures from my producer of what looks like smoke or clouds of debris rising from near cities in Israel here to get a sense of the significance of the incoming.
It's hard to get a hundred percent of a sense of this, but it looks like, from what we see here, from what I'm seeing on my monitor here, and from what you may be able to see in live pictures that we're able to pull in from across the country, that this could be significant and crucially, it could be just starting here as we come from you (ph), in the bomb shelter.
[14:20:15]
SANCHEZ: Oren, please stand by. Obviously, the news here, blasts heard in Tel Aviv after Israel confirmed that there were incoming ballistic missiles launched by Iran. Our reporter in a bomb shelter right now, Oren Liebermann citing dozens of Iranian bombs headed for Israel. We saw an array of lights in the sky above Tel Aviv, at least one missile seeming to get through Israel's defenses and landing. And that is the cloud of smoke that you see right now. We have a panel of experts with us, alongside Colonel Cedric Layton. We also have CNN Senior Military Analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis, as well as Jason Rezaian, who was held prisoner in Iran for several years. I believe we're watching video from moments ago. This is what it looked like in the skies over Tel Aviv. Admiral Stavridis, I'm curious to get your perspective on what we're watching unfold right now.
ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST (via telephone): Well, first and foremost, you just heard the assessment that these could be dozens of ballistic missiles. This will sound odd. I hope so. I hope it's only dozens. What we ought to be concerned about is not a few dozen, that does pose a risk, a few may or may not get through. But if the Iranians go big here and launch 200, 250 ballistic missiles, and they coordinate with Hezbollah to the north of Israel, which has been knocked back considerably over the last year, but still has surface-to-surface capability and is parked right along that border, that confluence coming together, could overwhelm the Israeli air defenses.
And oh, by the way, this is not a choreographed moment as we saw before, where you have, as Cedric was correctly pointing out, U.S. Navy Aegis-class destroyers which have incredible air defense capability and we're aligned to be part of the air defense system, not in place right now. So, let's hope it's going to be a relatively limited number. But if I'm working in Israel right now, I'm very concerned about what's happening. And all of us who are friends of Israel ought to be very concerned about what we're seeing.
KEILAR: And at this point, we're looking, Admiral, there appears to be at least a momentary pause. We do not see action being taken from Iron Dome or other missiles coming in. What are you looking for, though? Are you looking for this to possibly be in waves or if this is all it is, what does that tell you?
STAVRIDIS: If this is all it is, then I think we're looking at another, if you will, performative reaction from Iran, much like we saw in previous rounds of this over the last year or so. And I also was surprised, pleasantly surprised to see the drones kind of not associated with in timing with those ballistic missiles. In other words, if you want to overwhelm the air defenses, you're going to come in with a massive number and you're going to bring it all as close to zero minute, zero second as you possibly can.
So, the fact that it could be a wave or two that's coming might indicate a lot of confusion and inability to synchronize back in Iran. It could indicate that the Iranians are not interested in escalating this. Although Prime Minister Netanyahu was pretty clear, Israel intends to go on striking over the next, shall we say, five days to seven days. So Brianna, what I'm watching for is timing. Are they going to try and bring all this together? So far, they have not. That's good news for the Israeli air defenders.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. And we are just getting an update from the IDF via social media. They are writing, "All of Israel is under fire." This, again, as we are watching a blast in Tel Aviv after Israel confirms that dozens of ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran towards sites within Israel. I want to go to Jason Rezaian. He is a writer for The Washington Post. He's actually the author of "Prisoner; My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison." Jason, I wonder what you make of this retaliation coming from Tehran. It was something that we anticipated. I think the question was how expansive it would be.
JASON REZAIAN, WRITER, THE WASHINGTON POST (via telephone): Boris, I think the reality is that this is probably as expansive as Iran can pull off at this moment. Top military leadership has been decapitated, literally. The country has been on its heels for over a year now.
[14:25:00]
I think, if we look at the course of the last year and a half and the various attacks on Iranian targets by Israel, the responses have been muted because Iran doesn't have the capability to respond in the same sort of kinetic, conventional ways that would put a dent in Israeli capabilities, especially when they are backed by the United States and our allies.
So I think, the Admiral is correct. This is probably a performative response. They couldn't do nothing. But it just goes to show how weakened the Iranian regime has become over the last year or so.
KEILAR: And Jason, as Israel is saying, it struck two Iranian nuclear facilities here in their Friday morning attacks in Iran. What do you think the thinking is on Iran as it is looking at so much leadership decimated, as it's looking at its facilities decimated? President Trump is saying he hopes this means they'll want to negotiate. He's hoping that it's actually a positive outcome, a lot of people are doubtful of that. How is Iran going to see it?
REZAIAN: Well, I think it's going to take a little while for them to brush off from the losses that they've just incurred at such high levels of their system. I think it's probably chaos in Tehran right now. I think the remaining top commanders are probably hiding in bunkers at this point. The supreme leader, who has had a stable position, in most respects, for a better part of 35 years, must be feeling as though Israel could take him out at any moment. So, I don't think that the calculations will be super strategic.
I think Iran is responding in the moment. And I think, if the military structure can withstand the next few days, I don't think we'll see a major retaliation, the likes of which that Israel and its allies couldn't put down.
SANCHEZ: And we are getting confirmation now, Iranian state media says that retaliation on Israel has begun. We have with us, Senior International Correspondent, Fred Pleitgen. He was recently in Tehran. Fred, one of the things that's notable about this is just how apparently caught off guard the senior leadership was in Tehran, even though, at least in Western media, for several days, CNN and other outlets had been reporting that the United States and its allies had been moving embassy personnel, that military forces were put on guard. This attack was seemingly projected.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And the Iranians certainly seemed to have been anticipating it as well. It was quite interesting because, over the past couple of days, I've been in touch with senior Iranian officials and one of the things that they had said is that they had, apparently, they said put together a target list for targets in Israel that they would strike if there would be an attack by the Israelis on Iran.
Now, one of the things that they said that they would attack is what they call clandestine nuclear facilities inside Israel with their missiles, obviously, and their drones as well. It's unclear whether or not what we're seeing unfold right now in Israel is exactly that, those Iranian missiles coming in to try and take out to some of those targets that the Iranians were talking about. But certainly, the statements that we were getting and the messaging that we were getting from senior Iranian officials was that they were strong, that they would be able to respond, and they would retaliate against military targets.
Unlike last time, of course, we know a couple of months ago, when they fired a lot of missiles and even the Iranians that time after the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, acknowledged that they were using mostly only their older missiles at that point in time and said that the next time, they would attack with more modern missiles. So, unclear whether or not that's going on right now, but certainly, the Iranians acknowledging that what has been happening since the early morning hours of today has been a big blow for them.
You have, of course, Hossein Salami, the Head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who has been killed. He's already been replaced. That's one of the things that the Iranians have been saying, is that, of course, these are big blows to them, but they do have people who then take the places of those who were eliminated. But I think one person to definitely focus on, which is really important is Ali Hajizadeh, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who was the Head of Iran's Aerospace Forces, also a Senior Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
And I've been looking over the past couple of months very closely at Iran's missile program, and certainly, Ali Hajizadeh is basically seen as the father -- was basically seen as the father of Iran's ballistic missile program, their drone program, and also their surface-to-air missile program as well. You'll recall, in 2019, the Iranians shot down the U.S. drone over the Gulf of -- over the Strait of Hormuz. And that was also the work of Iranian air defenses that were produced in Iran. So certainly, a very important figure as far as that's concerned.
