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Israel Struck Dozens of Targets Overnight in Iran; Trump to Decide on Iran Strikes Within Next Two Weeks; Iran to Meet with U.K., Germany, France, and E.U.; Explosions in the Skies Over Tehran; Russia Warns Against Strike on Iran's Nuclear Power Plant. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 20, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

MJ LEE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm MJ Lee, live in Washington.

Israel says it struck dozens of targets in Iran overnight, including missile production sites and a nuclear research facility in Tehran. The Israeli military reports more than 60 air force fighter jets were involved in the attack. Meanwhile, at least six people were injured when an Iranian missile hit near a business park in the Southern Israeli City of Be'er Sheva. That's the same area where an Iranian missile damaged a hospital on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump says he will decide within the next two weeks whether to carry out military strikes against Iran. Israel's Prime Minister thanked the U.S. for its help in the conflict and refused to rule out targeting Iran's supreme leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I instructed that no one in Iran will have immunity. I said, we will achieve all our goals, all their nuclear facilities, but the decision to join is President Trump's. If he wants to join or not, it's his decision. He'll do what's best for the United States, and I'll do what's best for Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Iran's Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet today with European representatives in Geneva to pursue a diplomatic solution. The British foreign secretary says a window exists now to end the escalating crisis. Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks live in Abu Dhabi with more. Paula, what are the latest developments on the ground?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, MJ, starting off with what we've seen in Israel in recent hours, we did see more Iranian missiles targeting Israeli territory. As you mentioned there, one of the areas that was affected was the Southern Israeli City of Be'er Sheva, the same as was affected on Thursday. This time a missile hitting just outside a technology park where Microsoft, among others has a presence. So, you can see that the thick black smoke of the impact there. According to officials six were likely injured. And at this point, we don't have any information of further missile impacts. When it comes to what the Israeli military is doing in Iran, they've given an update saying that overnight they targeted a number of military sites with about 60 fighter jets.

Now, among them specifically they say were the elements of missile production. So, to try and lessen the impact of retaliation from Iran to the strikes that Israel is carrying out. They say they also targeted a research and development site for the Iranian nuclear program. So, these strikes are continuing overnight, as we hear from the Israeli military.

What we've heard from the Iranian side though, is they're giving some updates on what the impact has been. We've heard on Iranian state media, an interview with the head of Iran's Red Crescent, and they have said that there are five hospitals so far that have been impacted. They say that glass windows have been shattered that a number of patients have had difficulty breathing due to smoke inhalation, pointing out though that the hospitals were not targeted directly, but they have decided to raise the issue with international prosecutors.

Now, of course, that does come a day after we did see that hospital in Be'er Sheva in Israel being impacted. Iran claimed that it was not a direct target, that it was going for a military target nearby that has been rejected by the Israeli side though.

So, at this point, we're not seeing any kind of de-escalation from either side. So, as both sides and certainly the rest of the region waits to see what the U.S. president, Donald Trump, decides to do, whether he decides within the next couple of weeks to get involved militarily, there is certainly a lot of apprehension and of concern in the wider region as to whether or not this could escalate, MJ.

LEE: All right. Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi, thank you for that update. A number of factors are in play as the U.S. president considers his decision on Iran. CNN's Kristen Holmes explains.

[04:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump in a statement saying that because of a substantial chance of negotiations that he would not be making a decision on whether or not the U.S. was going to get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran for two weeks.

Now, there are still a lot of questions about what exactly that means. This was announced by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a White House briefing. And we tried to get to the bottom of what does -- what happens at the end of two weeks if there is no deal, if Iran does not come to the table. And we still aren't entirely clear, does that mean that the U.S. will automatically get involved? What does U.S. involvement look like? Are we talking about strikes? Are we talking about something larger than that? But specifically, the other part of this is why two weeks? Why this extension? And that was something that I posed to the press secretary today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We have heard from a number of U.S. officials who say that Iran doesn't want to make a deal, that they are just stringing the United States along. What is to say that they are not going to continue to do so if we don't -- if we continue to give them extensions now two weeks, before 60 days?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, Iran is in a very weak and vulnerable position because of the strikes and the attacks from Israel. And with respect to the president's statement, I shared that with all of you. And he has been very direct and clear, Iran can and should make a deal. We sent a deal to them that was practical, that was realistic or they will face grave consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, you hear they're saying they believe that because Iran has been weakened by these missile strikes, that perhaps they're more likely to come to the table. There's another part of this as well, which is that the Middle Eastern envoy, Steve Witkoff, met today with his counterpart for the United Kingdom. That's important because that same counterpart is going to Geneva for talks with the Iranian counterpart to that job.

Now, Witkoff is not intended to go at this point to that meeting, but the question is whether or not this is going to open up some more diplomatic avenues. Right now, it does appear that Donald Trump, President Trump and his advisers are looking for an off-ramp or looking for anything other than U.S. involvement. We know he's been wary about that. Now, his language had gotten more aggressive. He started taking a more aggressive tone with Iran in recent days.

But clearly, with this two-week timeframe, they are taking a step back to try and get it to the table where there's not actual U.S. involvement, not actual U.S. strikes in the region.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: The heightened tensions have the U.S. military repositioning its assets in the Middle East. The red dots you see here mark U.S. bases. Defense officials say non-sheltered planes are being evacuated from the American Air Base in Qatar and Navy ships stationed in Bahrain have left port U.S. Central Command has also pre-positioned blood supplies in the region, which is standard procedure. Anytime there is a chance of an attack on U.S. forces.

And for more, we are joined by Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of U.S. and America's program at Chatham House. She's in Prague, in the Czech Republic. Leslie, thank you very much for being here. Let's talk about --

LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF U.S. AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you.

LEE: -- President Trump. Thank you, this -- President Trump and his considerations and his calculations right now. He is somebody, as you know, who campaigned on ending the ongoing wars in both Ukraine and in Gaza, and who also said that the U.S. just has to stop getting involved in additional conflicts. So, how remarkable is it to you that the president is now seriously contemplating direct U.S. involvement in a whole new conflict?

VINJAMURI: Well, first of all, let me say, I am back in London now. And -- but I was in Prague when this all sort of broke and it was an extraordinary moment at the Globe Set Conference. It is certainly, I think, for many people, transforming and surprising to see a U.S. president that has been so opposed to using military force that's wanted to fashion himself as a peace negotiator, having felt -- especially yesterday, coming so close to the brink of the U.S. actually using force directly against Iran, to take out that nuclear facility.

I think what we're seeing now aligns a little bit more with the Donald Trump, that many people understand and expect that is a president who, is in a sense, using coercive diplomacy, the threat to use military force, a very credible threat at this point in view -- a point of time, I would say, if Iran doesn't come to the table and deliver on a settlement that seemed to be agreeable to the United States.

But you know, really, the second thing I would say that's very interesting here. If you go back to the early months, the early weeks of Donald Trump's presidency, this is a U.S. president who was very much sidelining the Europeans when it came to the question of Russia and talks over Ukraine. And now, we have a president that's come to the brink, is still threatening to use force, but is relying on the Europeans to meet with their Iranian counterparts in Geneva today to have those talks to see if there can be a negotiated settlement to this conflict.

[04:10:00]

So, Europe, having been really on the hard edge on multiple dimensions when it comes to President Trump's use of threats, economic and militarily, has suddenly really is front and center at this particular moment. And that hearkens back again, if you go back to the JCPOA, that Iran nuclear deal that was initially negotiated by President Obama, the Europeans were really out in front leading in that moment too. So, this is on many dimensions a very significant moment.

LEE: Well, and he says that he wants to give it as long as maybe two weeks for diplomacy to be possible. I mean, is it possible, you call it coercive diplomacy. And what exactly do you think the president here is waiting to see during that time?

VINJAMURI: Well, first of all, he says two weeks. This is a president -- and clearly, any leader in this situation, but definitely Donald Trump can change his mind on what that means. And the Iranians undoubtedly, and also Israel will be trying to weigh up whether this is a clear and credible promise and commitment or whether this is a bluff. And they will be using all sorts of channels to try and decipher that, and that's difficult with this U.S. president.

But I think that, you know, Donald Trump, as I said, and as we all know, does not like to use military force and what he'd like to see is Iran come to an agreement on the question of uranium enrichment, which is somewhere between that initial U.S. demand to have, you know, zero enrichment, which is not something that the Iranians are willing to consider but a plausible deal that again is acceptable to the United States, to Israel, to the Europeans.

This is going to be difficult especially in light of just the last week of Israel's attacks on Iran and the back and forth there, which is volatile, destabilizing, but demonstrates that Israel, in particular, wants to see that threat of Iran getting a nuclear weapon just taken away, removed as a possibility, and that's very difficult to achieve.

LEE: And, Leslie, what does this new Israel-Iran conflict do to the war in Gaza and the possibility of Israel and Hamas reaching a deal? You know very well how much President Trump would like that conflict to be over.

VINJAMURI: There is -- you know, this is a president, again, who came in wanting to solve what at the time were two -- the two major wars on his agenda. And he's had -- he came into office with a ceasefire that was going to be a staged and sequence ceasefire in Gaza. And it really fell apart, it unraveled very quickly. Israel does not look like it's interested in a ceasefire. And this -- the current situation between Israel and Iran, if anything, is distracting, removing the attention on the destructive and devastating humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Gaza right now. And with the world very much focused on Iran and Israel.

So, right now, it does not feel like we're any closer to any kind of deal or really addressing this extraordinary crisis for the people, the Palestinians in Gaza, and the focus for the next several days, hours and possibly as much as two weeks, but well beyond going to be on the question of Iran and Israel and what the United States will bring to the table to try and force some sort of agreement, either with the direct use of military force or through negotiations.

LEE: Yes, a lot to watch in this space in the coming days. Leslie Vinjamuri in London, thank you very much.

VINJAMURI: Thank you.

LEE: You're watching CNN Newsroom live from Washington. Still ahead, explosions light up the skies over Tehran. We get a sense of what it was like overnight from our Fred Pleitgen.

Plus, Russia is warning of a nuclear danger comparable to Chernobyl if this Iranian power plant is targeted. Details ahead. Stay with us,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:00]

LEE: Iran is holding what it calls marches of wrath and victory today following Friday prayers. Iranians are being urged to take part in nationwide demonstrations to show their anger over the Israeli strikes. Iran's supreme leader often takes part in the prayers, but any public appearance by the ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, could be risky after Israel refused to rule out the possibility of targeting him.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no one in Iran should have immunity. The Israeli military says it struck dozens of targets in Iran overnight, including missile production sites and a nuclear research facility. And Israel says at least six people were injured today by an Iranian strike on the City of Be'er Sheva. Emergency crews are searching damage buildings for casualties.

[04:20:00]

CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen and Photojournalist Claudia Otto are the first Western media team to arrive in Iran since the Israeli bombing started. And here they give us a sense of what things were like overnight in the Iranian capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, what we've been hearing tonight is really an increase in aerial activity over the skies of a Tehran. There's been a lot of outgoing anti- aircraft fires seemingly coming from Iranian anti-aircraft guns. We've seen in the skies the sort of burst of those munitions exploding in the skies.

It's unclear what the air defense forces here are firing at, whether or not there's drones or planes or something else that they're trying to intercept. We're also hearing quite a few thuds that seem to be coming from the ground or could also be from that outgoing anti- aircraft fire or even from outgoing anti-aircraft missiles. But it is definitely something that we're noticing. There's a lot of noise tonight over Tehran. It's unclear whether or not that means that there's a big attack going on. But if we listen, we can hear the fire coming out.

So, you can see those are the things that we've been hearing. Those are the things that we've been seeing as this evening has been progressing. There certainly is a lot going on in the skies over Tehran.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Russia is warning of the dangers that could come with a possible strike on another nuclear facility in Iran. The Bushehr nuclear power plant sits on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Russia says any strike on the plant, quote, "will be a catastrophe comparable to Chernobyl." The facility is Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, and Russia helped build it. Many Gulf Arab states and nuclear experts are concerned that if the plant is hit radiation could spread across the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNEST MONIZ, FORMER U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, NEGOTIATED 2025 IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL AND CO-CHAIR AND CEO, NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE: There are various radiation risks involved in a combat zone, but clearly, the Bushehr reactor in Iran is the only place where you have irradiated fuel which was, of course, the source of the Chernobyl disaster.

Now, I have to say there's a certain irony in Russia saying that, given that they're the ones who have for the first-time landed weapons on a nuclear power plant, namely in Ukraine. And we've been very concerned, as has the international agency, in terms of the sanctity, if you like, of highly radiological sources in combat zones.

So, clearly, we have to avoid a Bushehr strike. So far, certainly Israel has respected that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And Adel Abdel Ghafar is director of the Foreign Policy Program for the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He joins us now from Doha. It is great to have you for this discussion. First of all, President Trump says he wants to give it as long as two weeks for diplomacy to work. How likely do you think all of this gets resolved via diplomacy at this point? And what does that even look like given that what President Trump is demanding is for Iran to give unconditional surrender?

ADEL ABDEL GHAFAR, MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Well, these two weeks are good -- great actually, because they give some breathing space for everybody involved. Also highlights how the White House has still not made up its mind, you know. There are competing viewpoints within the White House. There are more MAGA crowds who do not want to be involved in war overseas. You know, President Trump himself was elected on platform of ending forever wars. So, there lots of calls within the MAGA movement not to engage in this war.

And on the other hand, you have more Iran (INAUDIBLE), the pro-Israel voices that want to attack Iran. I think the president has not made up his mind. And these two weeks actually gives the breathing space and also gives the opportunity for the Iranians to potentially come back to the table.

It also gives an opportunity for the Israelis to achieve some more of their military objectives and a potential off-ramp for Netanyahu to go back to his own people and highlight to them that they degraded Iranian capability. And now, Iran will not enrich any uranium. So, just give some breathing space that is much needed now.

LEE: And one of Tehran's top priorities right now is just survival, regime survival. How does the current regime survive, especially in a scenario where there is potential major escalation, including perhaps the direct involvement of the U.S.?

GHAFAR: Well, the Iran have been a very tight line. On one hand, they have to retaliate forcefully against Israel because it attacked its military facilities, attacked the nuclear program and also killed many of its leaders, military and civilian as well.

[04:25:00]

But at the same time, the Iranians have been very careful not to escalate against the U.S. because they understand that if they do, then the U.S. will be dragged into the war. I think if the U.S. comes in and attacks, for example, the Fordow nuclear facility with the B-2 bombers and the bunker busters, then the Iranians would have no choice but to retaliate against U.S. assets in the region, in Iraq, also the fleet in Bahrain and also in Kuwait.

Actually, Iranian supersonic missiles travel some of them at speed of Mach 5. So, they take about 12 minutes to get to Israel, but if they decide to launch against U.S. assets in the Gulf, these missiles will be in the Gulf here within two minutes to three minutes. This is going to be a catastrophic situation here. And as your earlier report indicated is also the nuclear facility at the coast, if that is struck and then there's radiation seeping into the water of the Gulf, this is also going to be disastrous for Gulf countries.

And finally, if the Iranians decide to block the Straits of Hormuz, attacking shipping or mining, this is also going to really raise the cost of energy, wreak havoc on the global markets and so on. So, I think there's going to be a potential impact on the U.S. economy, which Donald Trump was elected on a platform to revive. So, I think all of these calculations now are in the president's head as he makes his decision.

LEE: Yes, that, that's certainly true. And you know, without knowing, obviously, exactly how the next coming days are going to unfold. Just step back for us and talk to us about the bigger redrawing of the regional power dynamics here that we are likely to see. Do you think we've already started to see the beginnings of a redrawn new Middle East?

GHAFAR: Well, I think attacks of October 7th, Israel has used the attacks to really attempt to redraw the map of the region. And we've seen them succeed in that. We've seen the Assad regime out of power in Syria. We've seen Hezbollah's capability degraded. And now, the final nemesis is really the Iranians. So, I think from an Iranian perspective they're really firmly in the crosshairs now. And if the U.S. join, it would be disastrous for them.

So, the final sticking point has always been the enrichment. So, Iran wants to continue enrich for civilian purposes. And this has been the sticking point with the U.S. So, there's some sort of compromise by which the enrichment happens outside of Iran. This will give the Iranians some potential of off-ramp. But indeed the region that we live in right now is very different from two years ago. LEE: All right. Adel Abdel Ghafar, thank you very much for joining us.

GHAFAR: Thank you.

LEE: Israeli officials are still assessing the damage from Iranian strikes on a major medical center in Southern Israel. Details after the break.

Plus, how the Israel-Iran conflict could impact the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices around the world. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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