Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Missiles Fired Iran Toward U.S. Base In Qatar Intercepted; Sources: Mideast Envoy Witkoff Has Remained In Contact With Iranians Since U.S. Strikes; Regional Countries Condemn Iranian Attacks On U.S. Base In Qatar. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 23, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": I'm Anderson Cooper in Tel Aviv.

We have been covering the major breaking news now for several hours. Iran launches a missile strike on the U.S.'s largest military base in the Middle East, in Qatar, in what appears to be so far a largely symbolic response to President Trump's recent successful strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Now, all of this unfolding just about two hours ago at the Al Udeid base in Qatar. This hour, the Pentagon says there are no reports of U.S. casualties, which a source has told CNN was intentional. The source says that Iran - says Qatar - or gave - that Iran gave Qatar - excuse me - advance notice on the assault so that Qatar could intercept it. Qatar's interior ministry just a short time ago said there is now no cause for concern, adding that the security situation remains stable.

A lot to get to in this hour. CNN Clarissa Ward joins me now right here.

I know you've been talking to people all throughout the region. It seems like this is a very limited strike. Iran hasn't gone out of their way to point out what they view as proportionality, just literally the number of missiles fired, comparing that to the number of bombs dropped by the U.S. on nuclear sites.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Talking to people in the region at the moment, the immediate sense you get is relief. This was the best-case scenario that people had hoped for, a symbolic display of strength for Iran that it can project to its domestic population, but in no way escalatory, making it very clear, as you said, tit for tat, down to the number of strikes.

And by the way, Anderson, as we've been discussing, using a playbook that has been used before after President Trump called for the - or actually ordered the killing of Qasem Soleimani, then head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a towering figure in Iran, much beloved. This is almost exactly how the Iranians responded. They telegraphed that there was going to be an attack on a U.S. base.

It ended up being al-Assad air base in Iraq. Nobody was killed. Nobody seriously injured, although there were some concussions. And essentially, everybody was able to draw a line under and move on. We've seen oil prices come down, which, again, is symptomatic of relief.

I think originally there had been concern when we saw those intercepts across the Qatar sky that this was unusual. And the fact that Qatar has a good, cordial relationship with Iran, that it has been like the hub, if you will, for many of the consultations and various efforts at diplomacy that have been happening in the region. Why would Iran choose Qatar?

But then, now that we have a better sense, that this was choreographed, that there - it was carefully calibrated. There were conversations happening in the background that allowed the Qataris to make sure everything was okay on their end and the Americans to make sure that their personnel were protected.

And so, the sense we have now is that, you know, for today at least, the region can sort of breathe a sigh of relief. And, you know - I mean, obviously, there's disruptions to air travel. Twenty-six flights have been diverted, a number of airlines still not flying. And there is still the open question, of course, as to how Israel will respond. Will Israel continue its strikes on Iran? Or will they seek to also put a line under it and their mission there and start to try to get everyone to the negotiating table?

COPPER: Which according to our Fred Pleitgen, who is in Tehran, he has been seeing certainly anti-aircraft fire, so seemingly Israeli operations still ongoing during the night here in Israel. It's about 10 o'clock at night or so here right now. It remains to be seen, though, if this is in fact it from Iran. I mean, that is the other question.

WARD: But - right, and I - before we all, like, completely relax, it is possible that this is the first in a phase or a wave of strikes on U.S. bases. But reading between the lines and looking back at the Qasem Soleimani playbook and reading that statement from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, it seems that they are at least trying to project ...

COPPER: Yes.

WARD: ... that they have achieved what they wanted to do. Now, is it possible that that's a ruse and that we're going to see other attacks? Of course, it's possible. Every precaution still needs to be taken. It's not that people are going to completely relax their posture. But I would say there is at least some optimism that this was largely symbolic and that this does create the space for a pause now.

COPPER: Yes, Clarissa, thanks very much for that.

I want to go to CNN's Chief International Security Editor, Nick Paton Walsh, who is joining us from London. Nick, what are you hearing from Iranians?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, the key part of this, I think as Clarissa was echoing there, is the direct proportionality we're hearing from the secretary of the National Security Council, that exactly the same number of missiles were involved in this attack as was on the attack on the nuclear facilities.

[15:05:06]

Now, I can't tell you if that's entirely accurate. We know of 14 bunker busters dropped, but potentially 30 Tomahawk missiles involved. That doesn't seem to exactly mirror the numbers here. But it's the point of the effort at proportionality that really matters as well.

And to some degree as well, I think we know that Iran's medium-range missile arsenal is significantly impacted by its ongoing barrage against where you are, Anderson. Suggestions today that in fact they had 2,500. They've lost 800 on the ground that could hit Israel and have fired 500.

Now, this attack, significantly shorter range, most likely used shorter range and medium-range missiles, too. So, Iran going to a different part of its arsenal, frankly, that doesn't really impede its ability to have any remaining deterrent against Israel.

But Al Udeid in itself evacuated empty. That known publicly for a number of days, symbolic certainly because it is the home of Central Command. But also too, we've been seeing on Iranian state media, they're echoing the fact that this indeed, they say, was where the drone that was launched that killed Qasem Soleimani, who Clarissa was mentioning, in 2020 killed. And back then, Iran's preeminent military figure who'd led them to their sort of peak of regional influence through the years in which they built up or supported the barbarous regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad and indeed assisted in repressing much of ISIS inside of Iraq as well.

So clearly here, Iran facing a very complex moment where it had to suggest that it had some kind of military power; put on this heavily telegraphed - I won't say it's a firework show, because there's lethal things involved here - but this display of its might for television cameras above Doha; then very quickly tell the Qataris, who it had forewarned, that it wants no public spat with them at all; fire at a base that it knows to be empty; and then, I think at this point, desperately hope that the message of deterrence is enough for its hardliners - what's left of them, Anderson. They've been decimated, if not more, over the past 10 days of Israeli onslaught - and allow itself, potentially, to start thinking about diplomacy.

Yes, this may not be the full scale of it, and it is entirely possible in the weeks or months ahead that Iran still decides to race towards the nuclear weapon it's long denied it wants, or try something more asymmetrical against Israeli or American targets. In Europe or elsewhere, they've been hitting opposition journalists in the city where I am - London, recently too. But I think that moment of concern and tension may be ebbing, and it's

important to remember too, Anderson, at the beginning of Israel's conflict, perhaps the motive or the reason why Israel began its onslaught, Iran was exceptionally weak, its entire military apparatus infiltrated and targeted by a wave of strikes 10 days ago, which in fact we had a wave just as - or almost as bad as just today as well.

It is weak, its response here again shows that weakness, and I think it's a reflection frankly that at this point we're seeing Israel and the United States trying to show the taboos it breaks as something it can step over and move away from. Iran has to over-magnify its power in the region because it's ebbed so much.

COPPER: Yes, it's an extraordinary moment we are in right now, a historic moment. CNN's Chief White House Correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, joins us now. Kaitlan, what's the White House saying - what are you hearing from them in this last hour?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: You know, Anderson, notably as we've been tracking all these updates and learning more about this retaliatory action by Iran, we actually have not heard yet directly from President Trump on this attack, and the assessment of course that the White House has made of that, and so we're still waiting to hear from him.

We are told a statement is expected soon from the President, that obviously could tell us a lot about the coordination that we had heard, the heads up that the Iranians gave to the Qataris, that not exactly clear where they were striking, but they were going to retaliate against U.S. air bases and U.S. bases that are in the region.

And so, we're waiting to hear from the President himself. We do know that the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the Joint Chiefs Chairman, Dan Caine - Gen. Dan Caine, are both here on the White House campus. Last I checked, Anderson, they had actually been inside the Situation Room when these attacks started being launched by Iran towards this Qatari - this base in Qatar.

And so, they were all obviously monitoring that very closely because really what they were waiting to see in the Iranian retaliation, which they knew was coming after the President launched those strikes, was just how far it would go. What would the scope and scale of that be, because that would determine the United States' response to that. And so, we're still waiting to see that.

I will note, Anderson, that as we're waiting for the President's statement on this, he is weighing in on the strikes that happened by the United States on Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday night. He is again claiming that they were totally destroyed. That is a quote from the President on Truth Social.

[15:10:05]

Obviously, we know those assessments are still underway, and we did hear from the Joint Chiefs Chairman over the weekend who said that they were extremely damaged and there was destruction there as well, but we're waiting to still see exactly what that looks like and what the result of those massive strikes by the United States on Saturday night were, but the President clearly defensive about it and posting about it on Truth Social just this afternoon.

COPPER: Yes. Do we have the video of that statement by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs? I'm asking the control room if we have it. We do. Let's play what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Gen. Dab Caine: I think the BDA is still pending, and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The battle damage assessment is ongoing, but our initial assessment, as the Chairman said, is that all of our precision munitions struck where we wanted them to strike and had the desired effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COPPER: So, just to be clear, the President has very clearly said, completely obliterated. That was his initial response. What you're hearing from the military today is these are ongoing, and that's understandable. It takes a long time to really get full bomb damage assessments, not just from satellite images, but also all the various means of gathering information with signals intelligence, human intelligence, electronic intelligence.

COLLINS: Yes, and the President today, he was saying completely obliterated on Saturday. He said just totally destroyed earlier today, but obviously there are still questions. I mean, there's no doubt they were hit. We can see it from the satellite images that show the before and after of those U.S. strikes on Saturday night, but there are still questions about the enriched uranium and the stockpile of that. Obviously, they knew these attacks were likely going to come, and so all of that is obviously still something being determined by defense officials here in the U.S., Anderson.

COPPER: Kaitlan, we'll come back to you shortly. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is Tehran right now.

Fred, what's the latest you're hearing on the ground there?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well - hi, Anderson. Well, first of all, it's become a lot more calm in the skies here over Tehran. Of course, when we were speaking the last time, there was still a lot of anti-aircraft fire going out from those guns, especially towards the eastern part of Tehran, which is actually, by the way, one of the places that's been the most hard hit by those Israeli strikes.

But as far as Iran's retaliation is concerned, they are continuing to claim that this retaliation, as they put it, was both robust and successful, and also one that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says was very destructive. The Iranians claiming in one post that they destroyed the air base in Al Udeid. We are also hearing from Iranian state TV, which is claiming that six missiles got through air defenses and struck that base. Obviously, impossible to independently verify that from our vantage point right here.

But the Iranians certainly are saying that they believe that this was a successful attack. And I think one thing was really key in a statement that we got from the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, saying that the amount of missiles that were fired at the Al Udeid air base was exactly the same amount as the bombs that were dropped on Iranian nuclear installations, possibly meaning that this was a tit-for-tat response by the Iranians.

And I think for them, Anderson, it was also very important to point out from their vantage point that this was not an attack on Qatar, that this base is not anywhere near any urban areas. So, they - they consider the Qataris to be noble people and they have friendly relationships with them, but that this was an attack on a U.S. installation after the Iranians say that they were attacked by the U.S., drawing the U.S. into that conflict.

And that's really been the vibe also that we've been getting here on the ground, speaking to Iranian officials, speaking to regular people on the street as well, is that they feel that the United States has been drawn into what could be a very protracted conflict with Iran by Israel. Anderson?

COPPER: Well, Fred Pleitgen, I appreciate it, on the ground in Tehran.

Joining us now is Brett McGurk. He's the former National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa. Also joining us is retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Steve Anderson.

Brett, let me start off with you. It's remarkable to me to hear Iran go out of their way to point out the - their - you know, the number of missiles fired are equal to the number of, you know, bombs dropped on the two Iranian facilities. They're not including the Tomahawk missiles fired by submarines. It's clear they - and also through the reporting that they telegraphed this to authorities in Qatar before the strike. What do you make of that very public pronouncement?

[15:15:00]

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Anderson, I think this is a crisis receding because Iran is vulnerable, they're weak, and it looks like this is what they're going to do. I just have to say, this is not a tit for tat. Anderson, I think this is a crisis receding because Iran is vulnerable, they're weak, and it looks like this is what they're going to do.

I just have to say this is not a tit for tat. I mean, the United States of America just attacked the crown jewels of Iran's nuclear system which they have spent decades and half a trillion dollars building up. And then all Iran has done in response is about 10 missiles, very ineffective, looks like no casualties, thank goodness, and probably a defeated attack. So, this is a sign of what we've been seeing play out here really over

many months but particularly the last ten days. Iran is in a very weak and vulnerable position. This is what they were able to muster. I suspect if I could just make a couple of predictions, I think we're going to see this crisis begin to recede. However, I think Israel will continue to maintain air supremacy over Iran. It will not be the scale of operations we've seen the last ten days.

But they will ensure, Israel will ensure that Iran cannot restore its air defenses, restore its missile production capabilities or restore its nuclear program. I think this is kind of the new normal.

I also expect, Anderson, that Iran ultimately will return to the table. I heard from a number of European former counterparts today. There was a lot of diplomacy going on behind the scenes. And there's something significant here the - that the Europeans have leveraged because there is - it's called snap back. The Europeans, particularly France and the U.K., can snap back all international sanctions on Iran. The deadline for that is in October under a U.N. Security Council resolution that dates back to the JCPOA, the Obama era deal.

But the Europeans, particularly the Brits and the French, they are prepared to snap back all international sanctions if Iran fails to disclose. There's been a lot of talk about perhaps they've diverted some nuclear material out of Fordo. They have to disclose that material and ensure that they're not going to continue to have an enrichment program.

So, Iran is in a very weak position here, bottom line. I think this crisis is going to begin to recede. I think Israel will continue to maintain air supremacy over Iran. This is a totally new equation in the Middle East. And ultimately, I do believe Iran now is going to come back to the diplomatic negotiating table and we'll see that unfold here over the coming month or so.

COPPER: Brett, let me just ask you - I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, you were involved in some of this planning over the many years. You've worked for four different administrations. Did you - just in terms of possible like outcomes that were war-gamed out or were kind of gamed out, where does this lie?

If this is in fact the extent of Iran's military response to the decimation of their, you know, whatever the level of decimation, the decimation of their nuclear facilities, in your ...

MCGURK: Yes.

COPPER: ... where does this stand in terms of the panoply of responses? It would seem to be a remarkable victory for the United States and for Israel if this is in fact the only response and this leads to - back at the negotiation table.

MCGURK: Yes, Anderson, when something like this would be briefed to a president, we mentioned turn one. Turn one is the American attack and you're on the escalation ladder. Turn two is what is Iran going to do in response and a president would be briefed on the most escalatory to the least escalatory. This is in the realm of the least escalatory.

So, this is about as good a turn two as you can ask for and now it looks like that escalation ladder, it's - you're not going to go up. There's a ceiling on it. That's about as good as you could possibly hope for and on the back end of the equation, Iran is not in position now to restore its nuclear capabilities, its mission capabilities because of what Israel has done and Israel maintaining air supremacy. It's a completely upside-down Middle East from what we might have assumed a period of years ago. So that's as I see it right now.

I have to say, though, there have been some analogies to the Soleimani strike in which Iran then five days later launched a number of missiles, no American casualties but concussions but about two months later in March of that year, that was in January, in March two Americans were killed in a rocket attack in Iraq by Iranian backed militias.

So, I don't want to say that this puts a - this is definitely the end of the story. Iran might have some more things up its sleeve. But Iran is in a very weak position and they're in a quandary, and that's why I suspect this crisis will begin to recede. Israel maintains that air supremacy, although not doing the scale of operations we're seeing over the last ten days and ultimately, I think you'll see diplomacy get back on track here over the course of the summer.

[15:20:00]

COPPER: Brigadier General Steve Anderson, what do you make of the position the United States is in right now, the position Iran is in and Israel, again for people who have followed this for a long time, it seems to be kind of an extraordinary inflection point.

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (Ret.): Yes, Anderson, I would agree with Brad that Iran is extremely weakened right now. In fact, I think that it demonstrates that we did not need to execute Operation Midnight Hammer. The Israelis have this well in hand. There's no reason why we needed to cross that threshold and my concern is that although maybe the immediate crisis may have ebbed, long term, I mean Iran's in this for the long game. You've got 91 million Iranians and, you know, there's no fanatic like a religious fanatic. There's lots of people that are willing to die for their religion and I think that there's lots that they could potentially do to us in the United States.

Might not be this week, might not be next month, but this could very well come back to haunt us. And again, I think that this proves that Operation Midnight Hammer was not needed, that the Israelis could definitely have taken down the nuclear capability of the Iranians by themselves and we did not need to get involved and cross this threshold.

COPPER: Brett McGurk, what do you - I'm wondering what you think about that assessment? Yes, what do you think of that?

MCGURK: I think, we've - since this crisis started, we mentioned Fordo and it was Iran's decision to put 10 cascades of very advanced centrifuges in Fordo in that underground facility. This crisis could not end with all of that intact. Now, we're still waiting for the BDA, the battle damage assessment of that Fordo strike. I suspect that the centrifuges are probably totally inoperable and Fordo will not be an enrichment facility that Iran has going forward. That's good.

But look, we want to stay focused here on the mission. There should not be mission creep. The mission is let's make sure Iran's nuclear program cannot be restored. If there is material diverted, that has to be accounted for. I think there's a diplomatic path to ensure you can do that. But in any case, we are where we are.

We did the operation 48 hours ago. We now have Iran's response. I think this is about as good as you could hope for in terms of a response. You now have a ceiling on it. But the equation here has been completely changed in terms of Iran's vulnerability, weakness and the initiative here being with the Israelis, the Americans and our partners.

And I just - it's almost - you asked - I've been around this for some time. This is - the American - I just can't overestimate. We did the attack into Iran and this is Iran's response and they're saying that's it. This is a totally new equation, Anderson. Crisis will recede, but you're standing in the middle of a very new Middle East.

COPPER: Brett, just to that point, there are those in Israel who, you know, I mean, the Prime Minister here has talked about the Iranian people rising up, encouraging them to rise up. There are other people in Israel who say regime change is necessary truly for the security of Israel. I talked to Ambassador Bolton who, you know, is somebody who believes still there should be regime change in Iran. To that you say, what? Is that - yes, what do you say to that? That - I mean, that is the mission creep you speak of.

MCGURK: Yes, that ultimately - we all hope this regime with American blood in its hands will find its way in the dustbin of history, ultimately. But when it comes to military objectives, National Security objectives, strategy is aligning your ends and means. It is possible to align ends and means to ensure Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, to degrade the nuclear program, and to significantly degrade the missile program.

To declare an objective to overthrow the Iranian system, regime change, who's going to come next? That is an unlimited objective that we really cannot effectuate, particularly with the military instrument of power. I think we all hope that this Iranian regime will ultimately collapse. The Iranian people who take the streets every two years and are brutally repressed can ultimately have the determining say in their future.

We should support the Iranian people, help them communicate with Starlink or other means. But regime change, that is not a declared objective. The declared objective here is nuclear and missiles and degrading Iran's overall military capacity. I have been concerned about mission creep from the time this started 10 days ago. Given where we are right now, I think we can feel pretty good. But I just want to put that caveat, even after that Soleimani tit for tat, we had two Americans killed in Iraq, people forget about that. So, we've got to stay on this and keep our eye on it.

[15:25:01]

But overall, this is turn two. I think this is the end of the escalation ladder for now. That's good. And let's hope we get back to diplomacy here over the coming days and weeks.

COPPER: Brett McGurk, Brigadier General Steve Anderson, thank you so much. Our breaking news continues after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:46]

COPPER: And welcome back to our breaking news. Qatar says the security situation in the country remains stable after its air defenses intercepted Iranian missile attack on the Al Udeid U.S. Air Base, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East. No injuries or damage to the air base has been reported.

With me now is Jeffrey Lewis, nuclear policy analyst and professor at the Middlebury Institute.