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Three Killed In Iranian Strike On Israeli Town Of Beer Sheva; Trump Announces Iran And Israel Agree To Staggered Ceasefire; Blasts Seen In Tehran After Trump Announces Ceasefire; No Casualties In Iranian Strikes On U.S. Base in Qatar; Iran Assessing Nuclear Site Damage After U.S. Airstrikes. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 24, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Well, thank you all for watching. Jim Sciutto picks up our breaking news coverage on the Middle East right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington.

We begin with a turn of events in the Middle East where U.S. President Donald Trump has announced what he says is a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. In a social media post six hours ago, the president said there would be a ceasefire in approximately six hours, which would be right about now. He says the truth will be staggered if Iran stops its attacks for a period of time. Israel will then follow suit. And after 24 hours, he says, "The war will be considered ended," end quote.

Iranian state media also announced a ceasefire. However, in just the past hour, an Iranian missile hit a residential building in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva. Authorities say there were at least three people killed. There were also fresh Israeli strikes on Iran overnight. That was before the ceasefire was expected to take place. This according to Iranian state media. Israel in advance warned residents in two neighborhoods to evacuate.

On Monday, Iran launched an attack on a U.S. air base in Qatar. No one was killed or injured. Tehran says the number of missiles it fired was the same number of bombs dropped by the U.S. on Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Sources tell CNN that Iran gave Qatar advance warning of the attack. And that warning then deliberately passed on to the United States to minimize casualties and also present the possibility of an off-ramp to the ongoing hostilities.

President Trump publicly thanked Iran for the early notice. The U.S. military says that U.S. and Qatari Patriot missile batteries intercepted all but one of the missiles in that Iranian strike.

Joining us now is CNN's Jeremy Diamond on the telephone.

And, Jeremy, can you tell us what's happening? Because a missile appears to have gotten through Israeli air defenses striking the southern city of Beer Sheva. First of all, what do we know about casualties and damage there? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Jim,

I'm joining you right now from a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv where, you know, over the course of the last two hours, we have had four separate air raid sirens going off with multiple barrages of Iranian ballistic missiles being fired towards all areas of Israel. In fact, right now there is a fifth siren underway in the northern part of the country, in the city of Haifa.

Reports still coming in about whether or not those missiles have been intercepted or not. What is clear is that in the southern city of Beer Sheva, as you were just mentioning, one of those ballistic missiles struck a residential building with very deadly impact. Three people have been killed. Multiple others injured and taken to hospital when a missile struck that building.

Some of the images that we've already seen from that scene show severe destruction to that building in question, as well as to vehicles parked right below and to, you know, more minor damage to other buildings in the area. And this is notable because it's been eight days now since the last fatalities in Israel as a result of any of these Iranian ballistic missiles. And of course, it is especially tragic knowing that this ceasefire had been announced.

And in the hour, it would seem, before it actually went into effect, three people killed, multiple others injured, and we're still getting additional reports, potentially of other casualties and impact across the country.

SCIUTTO: Yes. We're showing the images of the impact zone there. It is significant. And as you know, Jeremy, Israel usually is able to shoot down the vast majority of Iranian missiles. This one appears to have gotten through the multiple layers of air defenses and missile defenses in Israel.

I wonder, Jeremy, Israeli officials' silence on this ceasefire is notable.

[00:05:02]

Do you sense that they are questioning whether the ceasefire is in fact real, or is that a signal that Israel was not entirely on board for this ceasefire?

DIAMOND: No. So far we don't have any indication that the Israelis aren't on board. And I think, you know, as much as there had been somewhat of a question mark around the Iranian position, I think it's hard to believe that President Trump would announce the ceasefire and Israel's agreement to this ceasefire without prior coordination and agreements with the Israelis, in particular given the close coordination and communication that we've seen on display between the Israelis and the Americans over the course of the last 11 days of this Israeli military operation that ultimately culminated in those U.S. strikes on those three Iranian nuclear facilities.

And as we're getting the all clear here now in Tel Aviv, to be able to exit bomb shelters, you know, it's worth noting that we are now about six hours after President Trump's tweet. And we have, you know, we'll have to see. We're now in the first minutes, perhaps, it would seem, of this ceasefire between Israel and Iran. We will see whether or not that is in fact the actual start time, whether the ceasefire actually holds in the minutes and hours ahead -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Right. And whether Israel chooses to respond to a deadly strike now on a southern Israeli city, as you see there. Well, we're going to continue to follow the events there in southern Israel. Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond. And good to hear the relief that those air raid signals have now been lifted, at least for the moment.

CNN's Brian Todd is live this hour here in Washington.

And can you help us understand the -- what we know about how this ceasefire agreement, at least how the president describes it, came to be?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, at this hour in the various capitals, it appears to be all about the battle over messaging and specifically over who -- the messaging over who gets credit for brokering the ceasefire. Just a short time ago, President Trump posted this message on Truth Social, quote, "Israel and Iran came to me almost simultaneously and said, peace. I knew the time was now. The world and the Middle East are the real winners. Both nations will see tremendous love, peace, prosperity in their futures."

Now we have reporting from CNN that's not necessarily contradictory but here's our reporting. And this comes from our colleagues, Kylie Atwood, Jennifer Hansler, Alayna Treene, Jeff Zeleny and Zachary Wolf. They are reporting that President Trump and his top security and diplomatic officials were working furiously behind the scenes to broker a peace deal and this was in the hours just after Iran launched that missile attack on that U.S. base in Qatar.

President Trump himself, according to our reporting and our sources, communicated directly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the same time Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff were working on the Iranians, communicating them both in direct and indirect channels. This is according to a senior White House official who spoke to our colleagues.

Also, we have to say that the government of Qatar played a key role as an intermediary here with President Trump himself speaking directly to the emir of Qatar, Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Now that's the messaging and the diplomatic maneuvering in Washington and the various capitals there.

The Iranians are saying something different. An anchor on Iranian state media just a short time ago said that President Trump, quote, "in a begging like manner of urging, Trump requested the initiation of a ceasefire in the imposed Zionist enemy war against our country."

So again, Jim, the messaging in Tehran, in Jerusalem, in Washington and in other capitals is really kind of taking hold here. And you're getting not necessarily -- well, you're getting contradictory messages from Tehran and Washington, but you're also getting some reporting from CNN that it was the Trump team, in fact, that worked very furiously behind the scenes after that Iranian strike at the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The key question, another key question here, Jim, is, you know, whether this fragile ceasefire will hold. Of course, we saw from our colleague Jeremy in Israel that it is indeed very fragile.

SCIUTTO: Right. There's the messaging and then there are the actual events on the ground.

Brian Todd, thanks so much.

TODD: Right.

SCIUTTO: Well, CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran, where he heard and felt the strikes launched by Israel on Monday and into the overnight hours there. He filed this report earlier from the Iranian capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing right now is extremely intense anti-aircraft fire over the skies of Tehran. If we look through here, you can see the tracer fire going up from those anti-aircraft guns.

[00:10:03]

We've also heard some blasts, but as you can see right now, the skies over the Iranian capital absolutely illuminated with anti-aircraft fire.

Now the Israelis have issued an evacuation order for the part of Tehran where we're seeing that anti-aircraft fire right now. It's unclear whether there's any strikes taking place. But we have also heard some thuds seemingly coming from that direction.

This comes after a day where we saw intense bombardment here of the Iranian capital, especially central areas of Tehran, right here in the location that we are. There was an airstrike very close to us that rocked the building that we were in. We took cover, then came back to film the aftermath, and there was a thick plume of smoke in the skies.

The Iranians also firing multiple missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar, saying that that was in response for the United States attacking several Iranian nuclear installations. And there, again, you can see the fire in the skies over Tehran, that is that anti-aircraft burst fire coming from Iranian air defenses.

And we've been seeing that happening over the past couple of minutes as clearly they are targeting something that is in the skies.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Well, joining us now is CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

First, I want to ask, Cedric, your read of what's happening right now because by the president's math, and let's be frank, the tweet announcing the ceasefire involves some math. The number of hours after which it was going to take place and who was going to start and who was going to come second. Regardless, it was supposed to take effect at midnight. There has now been a strike within minutes of that midnight deadline, though, prior, in southern Israel that has claimed the lives of at least three Israelis at this point.

Does the ceasefire hold in those circumstances?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it depends, Jim. It could, and I guess technically that strike occurred just before the ceasefire deadline, so there would be no direct reason from that standpoint to break things off. But the very fact that there was such an aggressive action and that three people were killed, of course, could change things very quickly. So it's possible that it won't hold.

But I think at this particular point in time, we just have to see what the Israelis end up doing. And of course, if they do something, what the Iranians do in response. So it's a -- it's one of those situations where it could go either way basically.

SCIUTTO: Now, typically in a ceasefire, there is communication about the ground rules. What we're working off now is a tweet from the president or a post to Truth Social, a statement from Iranian state media saying that they are going to join the ceasefire as well. We have not, though, heard public comment from Israeli officials. What's the significance of that?

LEIGHTON: Well, that is extremely significant because that may indicate that the Israelis may not be following the guidelines of the ceasefire, of the supposed ceasefire. But you're absolutely right. Under normal circumstances, there are some ground rules that are set up. There is a very intricate process in some cases where they, you know, have a demarcation line. If their troops in contact, in this case, there won't be troops in contact.

But what they would say is, you know, as of this point in time, you won't fly over our territory. And the other side won't send missiles and rockets and drones in the other direction. So those are the kinds of things that should have been agreed to. We don't know whether or not there were any, you know, type of ground rules like that set up. But it sounds like this was a very quickly done and that there might be some really ad hoc rules, if you will, put into place here, and there might not be, you know, a sufficient series of rules to keep this viable.

There's also no, as far as I can tell, at least no enforcement mechanism for any of this. And that's a significant shortfall, I would say.

SCIUTTO: Before you go, why? What's our best sense as to why the parties would sign on to a ceasefire now? It strikes me that Israel has gotten a lot of what it wanted, one, to do serious damage to Iran's nuclear program, along with U.S. strikes to nuclear sites, and extreme damage to missile installations, drone production facilities, you name it, as well as early warning systems. Iran might be calculating that it needs a pause, right? It needs a breather after suffering that damage.

[00:15:00]

Do those dynamics point to the possibility that perhaps a ceasefire holds, that Israel believes it has a win, something of win, and Iran needs a breather?

LEIGHTON: Well, that is possible. Of course the Iranians are going to do something to couch what they've done as somewhat of a victory so that they can sell it to their public. But I think when you look at it in objective -- in an objective way, it becomes pretty clear that the Israelis have achieved a lot of their goals, a lot of their, in essence, war aims that they set out to accomplish.

They have basically decimated the entire air defense structure of Iran on the western side of the country at least. They have rendered basically inoperable a lot of the air force of the Islamic Republic. And they have, in essence, proven that they can create air supremacy, at least if not air dominance, over a large portion of Iran.

So those are significant things. And then the other thing that the Israelis did was they accomplished a goal that they had for a very long time, and that is to get the United States to come in on their side to eliminate or at least ostensibly eliminate, the nuclear structures that Iran set up, especially the Fordow plant there, the Fordow installation.

So that's a significant aspect. So in that sense, it's very possible that it will hold, at least for a while, because these aims have been achieved on Israel's side. And the Iranians, they basically need that opportunity to regroup and figure out what they're going to do next.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it's a great point. Israel had been pushing the U.S. to join in strikes on Iran's nuclear program for some time.

Cedric Leighton, thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jim.

SCIUTTO: We continue to track the latest developments in the Middle East. Israel says Iran has still been launching deadly missile attacks hours after President Trump announced a ceasefire agreement. We're going to have the latest on the conflict. That's the scene right there of a missile strike, Iranian missile strike in southern Israel. Plus a partisan divide here in the U.S. as questions mount over just how much damage the U.S. and Israel have done to Iran's nuclear program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:46]

SCIUTTO: President Trump has declared that Iran and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, which he says will be staggered. In effect, Iran will stop firing first, and then Israel will stop six hours later. However, at this moment, it's not clear exactly how this ceasefire is unfolding. Iranian state media has announced a ceasefire had, quote, "been imposed on the enemy." Earlier, Israeli authorities say, however, that an Iranian missile struck a residential building in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva, killing at least three people.

This strike taking place just before the deadline, as we understand it, for the ceasefire to begin, at least for the ceasefire to begin from Iran's perspective. Lots of confusion.

CNN's Nada Bashir is following the latest developments. She joins me now from London.

And the image of this missile strike on the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva is just -- it's just shocking to see and the damage, the damage is remarkable.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Of course, Jim. And we've been hearing from the emergency services as they continue to carry out their search and rescue operations in this particular area of Beer Sheva, which was impacted by that Iranian missile strike just in the last few hours. And we've seen dramatic video emerging showing the actual moment of impact, a large explosion taking place, and of course, video of the aftermath, as well as local residents roam the streets around the debris surrounding them.

And we've been hearing, as you mentioned, from the emergency services, confirming that at least three people have been killed as a result of this latest strike. Several others have also said to have been wounded. And of course, this really raises questions as to the status of the ceasefire. We've heard from the Iranian foreign minister saying that Iran continued to carry out its military response to Israel's initial attack on Iran until the very last minute in his words.

This coming just shortly after 4:00 a.m. local time. Of course, that was the prescribed deadline, according to officials, for which Iran said it would hope to not see any further attacks by Israel on its territory. But what we are hearing now from the Israeli military just in the last few moments, is a warning of potentially yet more Iranian missile strikes, with sirens sounding in parts of northern Israel with civilians there instructed to head to their shelters.

So, again, questions as to what this means for the ceasefire. The specifics of the timing. We haven't officially heard from the Israeli side with regards to the terms of that supposed ceasefire agreement as announced by the U.S. President Donald Trump. We haven't seen any further Israeli attacks on Iranian territory. But of course, this was the case overnight. But of course, questions as to whether we may see a response.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Notable because if there are more Iranian missiles coming towards Israel, as those alerts seem to indicate, that would be explicitly passed our understanding of the midnight Eastern Time deadline that the ceasefire, as President Trump described it, was set to begin. I do want to play that video I mentioned now. This is the moment

captured by a resident in the area as that Iranian missile came down.

[00:25:05]

Take a moment to watch here. I mean, you see the speed at which these missiles come in. It's a reminder of the power, the force of these strikes. And then, of course, the impact there, and the images we've been playing since then is the aftermath of that -- is the aftermath of that attack.

Do we know what the casualty count is there now?

BASHIR: Well, we've heard previously, of course, from the emergency services describing the situation on the ground, with at least said to have been critically wounded. We later received an update that three had been killed. They have specified in terms of those that were critically wounded, a 40-year-old man, a woman about 30 years old, and another man around 20 years old, they say, were critically wounded.

No exact details around the death toll just yet, aside from the fact that we understand at least three people have been killed. And again, several others said to have been lightly to moderately wounded as well according to the emergency services. So this is a devastating moment for the city of Beer Sheva, particularly as this missile attack happened just of course as we were learning that the ceasefire would be coming into effect, or at least hoping it would be coming into effect, whether this was in fact launched prior to the ceasefire terms coming into effect.

Of course, those finer details, there are still questions around that. And again, to reiterate, we haven't officially heard from the Israeli side just yet. We've certainly heard from Iranian state media. We've heard indications from the Iranian foreign minister and of course overarching all of this, that announcement by the U.S. President Donald Trump, that an agreement had been met by both sides through mediation by the United States and, of course, by Qatari officials as well. The Qatari prime minister mediating with the Iranian side.

But we will be waiting to hear more official statements from the Israeli government with regards to where things stand in terms of possible ceasefire or at least pause in hostilities. And again, if we are indeed to see yet more missile strikes in parts of northern Israel, as perhaps we may see in the coming hour or so, then that will certainly raise questions as to the durability of the ceasefire as well.

SCIUTTO: Right. And of course, the possibility that Israel responds to these latest Iranian missile strikes.

Nada Bashir, in London, thanks so much.

Well, President Trump has insisted that the U.S. strikes on Iran on the weekend, quote, "totally obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities." However, it's not clear that a battle damage assessment as it is known or rather a bomb damage assessment or BDA, has been conducted to back up that conclusion. In fact, I've been told by Israeli officials that Israel is still conducting its own BDA to determine the exact extent of damage to Iran's nuclear facilities, including since those U.S. strikes.

And that difference is putting Republicans and Democrats in this country at odds as to the outcome of the U.S. military intervention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know that they cannot build a nuclear weapon. Now, you asked about the highly enriched uranium --

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes, like 900 pounds of it.

VANCE: But what we know, Bret, is that uranium is something that exists in very large supply. Our goal was to bury the uranium, and I do think the uranium is buried, but our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): I knew when the president said it was obliterated, it is the hyperbole of the president on a typical basis that nothing is ever going to be maybe or halfway. It's going to be total. And that's just not the way these operations work. They're never completely successful. Again, it's difficult mobile target.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: My next guest is a nuclear expert, Mariana Budjeryn is a senior research associate at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

Thank you so much for joining.

MARIANA BUDJERYN, SENIOR RESEARCH ADVOCATE, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL BELFER CENTER: Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: It's difficult for any of us from where we're sitting to know for certain the extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear program. And it seems to be clear that both the U.S. and Israel are still conducting their own assessments of that. But based on what you know and have seen of the satellite photos, the extent and number of targets hit, is it reasonable? Is the president's assessment that the program has been obliterated backed up by the facts?

BUDJERYN: Well, Jim, as you mentioned, we don't know the facts fully. I think what is fair to say is that the Iranian nuclear program has been seriously degraded. Whether it has been obliterated or somehow damaged irreversibly remains to be seen. We do know that Iran has been working very actively to build up a very extensive tunnel system, not just at the Fordow facility that is much talked about and that has been hit by the U.S. strikes of these, you know, massive ordnance penetrators, these 30,000 pound bombs that were dropped on this facility, but also at Natanz and other facilities that have been hit, but not with the same kind of ordnance. [00:30:10]

So, it is likely -- it is likely that Iran might have moved some of this or all of this material, the 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, the 60 percent uranium out of the facilities it knew, it expected that would be hit and damaged by the strikes, deeper into the mountain.

It is also likely that it might have moved some of its centrifuges, the equipment that's used for enrichment, into these deeper tunnels.

And that, unfortunately, is very difficult to ascertain when you don't have people on the ground to go in and take a look and take readings of isotopes, like the IAEA inspectors have been doing.

SCIUTTO: We often speak, regarding Iran's nuclear program, of a breakout period. And the perception had been, the Israeli officials had said the breakout period, the time from which where they stood today to building an actual nuclear bomb was days. It wasn't clear that that was the U.S.'s assessment. But U.S. officials had often said weeks or months.

Is it reasonable to conclude that, at a minimum, Iran's breakout period has been extended to months, perhaps years?

BUDJERYN: That is true, but even so -- yes, the breakout period has definitely been extended as a result of these operations.

But even before them, I think it was very misleading to judge this breakout period in weeks or days, as some leaders have said.

What Iran was very close to doing was to enrich that uranium, the 60 percent uranium, up to 90 percent, and that is weapons-grade enriched uranium.

Now, once you've got uranium hexafluoride, this gas that's enriched up to 90 percent, you still have to convert it into metal. So, there's a bit of alchemy happening there. You take gas, you convert it into metal, you make it into pits that then serve as fuel within the nuclear warhead.

Not to mention you have to design a nuclear warhead. You have to test the triggering mechanisms.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BUDJERYN: You know, to get to a weapon, there's still quite a lot of a wait -- a lot of time and effort left.

So, that's not -- that's not fair to say that Iran was that close to a nuclear bomb.

SCIUTTO: If, let's say, well, significant damage at a minimum to the facilities themselves.

The open question -- questions are, one, knowledge, right? And yes, Israel did kill several Iranian nuclear scientists, but there are others. And there's a knowledge base that has been built up over many years there.

And then the second piece is the fissile material that Iran has been building for years now, numbering in hundreds of kilograms, 400 kilograms.

If you have some of that surviving and the knowledge base, does that mean the program can be resurrected? And could Iran do it itself, or would it need outside help to do so?

BUDJERYN: So, that depends on what exactly has been eliminated and what exactly has been degraded.

So, if there's some centrifuge capacity left that has been moved or saved, there's several cascades of these centrifuges that Iran could presumably resume the enrichment process elsewhere.

It also pertains to the kinds of scientists that Israel was -- was able to assassinate, because not all nuclear scientists are created equal. Some are more closely connected to the work of weaponization.

And at this point, I don't know. And I'm not sure if there is information as to exactly what kinds of scientists have been -- have been killed in these strikes.

If there are the kinds of scientists that worked on the weaponization part of the program, then yes, it would be very difficult to replace these people quickly. You'd need very specialized training to do that.

So -- so certainly, sort of the tactical goal of delaying, at least very significantly, the Iranian nuclear program has been achieved by these strikes.

Now, you know, the adverse effect, however, might be that the resolve, the political will to pursue this program might be firmed up, might actually increase on the part of Iranians and Iranian government, you know, who have --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BUDJERYN: -- become the targets of such attacks.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable events in such a short period of time. Maria Budjeryn, help -- thanks so much for joining us and helping us understand.

BUDJERYN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: And we will be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:39:37]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but questions remain as to whether that ceasefire is holding. Missile strikes by both countries have continued over the past several hours into the last several minutes.

Israeli authorities say three people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a residential building in the city of Beersheba.

Oil prices are falling at this hour, as the claimed ceasefire has calmed fears of a disruption to major oil supplies. There were fears Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz, which is the opening to the Persian Gulf and through which 20 percent of the world's oil travel -- travels, in retaliation for U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities.

As world leaders prepare for the NATO summit in the Netherlands, which starts on Tuesday, Russia is further expanding its aerial attacks across Ukraine.

The Ukrainian air force says Moscow launched more than 350 drones and at least 16 missiles over the course of the last day. Officials say those strikes killed at least 17 people, including a child.

More now on our top story: the newly claimed ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Joining us now is Danny Citrinowicz. He's a senior researcher in the Iran and Shiite Access Program at the Institute for National Security Studies. Also, former head of Iran research within the Israeli defense intelligence.

Thanks so much for joining this evening.

DANNY CITRINOWICZ, SENIOR RESEARCHER, IRAN AND SHIITE ACCESS PROGRAM, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So, Danny, what is your best assessment as to whether this ceasefire is a ceasefire? It appears that what Iran did is fire missiles right up to the point, midnight Eastern Time, that the ceasefire took effect, and that it took some time for those missiles to then travel from Israel -- from Iran to Israel. And that's why we're seeing, you know, the impacts now.

But now, as I understand it, Israel is not beholden to the ceasefire for another six hours, during which I imagine it might strike Iran again. I mean, is this a ceasefire only in name?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, definitely, the Iranians want to say the last word, given the fact that they really suffered tremendously since the war started.

They want to make sure that Israel and the international community will understand that actually, they didn't capitulate. They didn't surrender.

So, for them, this barrage of missiles was extremely important to say the last word of this campaign.

Now, that's, of course, complex -- a complex thing, because obviously, Israel has to retaliate. And then we have to wait and see how and whether this ceasefire will continue.

But I think, even more importantly, we have to remember that, even if the cease fire will continue, will hold, it does not solve anything.

Because at the end of the day we all know that the Iranians plan to rebuild their capabilities: the nuclear one, the conventional one. And without the political agreement, then Israel has to retaliate again, as it mentioned and declared before.

So, I think that ceasefire, the ceasefire may be important, but it does not solve the problem and the current conflict between Israel and Iran.

SCIUTTO: Is it clear to you that Israel supports this ceasefire? Because the silence of Israeli officials on this ceasefire is notable. President Trump announced the ceasefire. Even Iranian state media is saying it is now part of the ceasefire. We have not heard any similar official statement from the Israeli government.

CITRINOWICZ: Well, I can say, unfortunately, as an Israeli citizen, it's not the first time. We had the same issues with the previous conflict that we had with Hezbollah and Hamas, that there is a declaration of ceasefire, but for some reason, Israeli government did not declare it in front of their own population.

So, I think that we do not need to rely on President Trump, understanding that he got the approval from the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli cabinet.

So, this is a major problem. Again, I'm talking about this as an Israeli citizen, that we're not hearing anything regarding or coming from our government. So, that's one problem.

But I think even more importantly, again, it's very hard to understand the strategy of the state of Israel. We had an amazing achievement at the beginning of the war, probationally (ph), but strategically, nobody knows what really Israel intends.

We talked about regime change. We talked about killing Khamenei. Now we're agreeing to a ceasefire. And again, I think this is caused by the fact that we have -- really understand how we can finish this war while preserving our achievements.

So, I think this is something that we'll have to tackle in a couple -- in the days and weeks to come, because at the end of the day, Israel will stand a dilemma.

If the Iranians will rebuild their capabilities even after the ceasefire, Israel maybe will strike that. They will try to do some what we call short-of-war campaign. What we did in Syria, now in Iran.

But then Iran will retaliate, and we find ourself in a war of attrition.

So, again, regardless of whether Israel agreed or not, assuming they agreed, it's not ending the story with Iran, because Iran rebuild its capabilities.

SCIUTTO: Is it -- does Israel have a sense at this point as to the actual damage to Iran's nuclear program?

I know President Trump has claimed it's obliterated. U.S. military officials have said publicly it's too early to say the exact extent of the damage.

Does Israel have a better sense of the extent of the damage from -- from its own strikes and from -- from the U.S. strikes?

[00:45:05]

CITRINOWICZ: Well, I think that we have to understand that one cannot destroy an enrichment program that lasts for the last 25 years. The Iranians have the capability to rebuild it.

So, yes, we have to say that Israel has some major achievements. Now, whether the American allies, the -- the damage that caused to the centrifuges in Fordow, in Natanz, the conversion line in Isfahan, the production line in Karaj, and of course, the decapitating of the scientists that deal with militarization (ph). This will probably push Iran back -- again, it's very hard to calculate, but it's very -- it's obviously pushing Iran back in its nuclear ambition.

The main problem that we have here is actually the fact that Iran has the ability to rebuild it. It is indeed a program, so they will build it if they can.

And even more importantly, we don't know where, of course, the enriched uranium is, especially the 400 kilos of 60 percent. So, assuming that Iran empathetically (ph) will have centrifuges that it stuck somewhere and enrich now to 90 percent, then I'm not sure that all of the achievements were worthwhile.

So, we have to wait and see and to understand where the Iranian nuclear strategy is going. We have to understand also that Iran's supreme leader, Khamenei, didn't actually decide to build the bomb after 2003.

But if Iran will assume that this is like the end of the Iran-Iraq war, then probably they will assume they will have to have some sort of nuclear deterrence.

So, maybe we'll see them rushing to a bomb. Maybe we'll see them talking with North Korea to buying a bomb. So, I would be very cautious in saying Israel has destroyed the program.

Yes, we have achievements, but I think we have to wait and see how things develop to really understand the magnitude of our achievements regarding the Iranian nuclear program. SCIUTTO: Final question before we go. President Trump is again talking

about a peace process here. Now, we should note that just a few days ago, President Trump seems to have admitted to a ruse, claiming that he was invested in peace negotiations while making final preparations for a U.S. military strike.

From the Israeli perspective, is there -- are these the ingredients here to -- to negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program, a more lasting peace?

CITRINOWICZ: Well, definitely, I don't see a lasting peace. I think that Israel sees this regime as an evil regime. And despite the willingness of President Trump, there won't be any peace between Israel and Iran, as long as the Iran regime stays as it is.

And this is why Israeli intention was to topple this regime.

So -- but the main problem that we have, as mentioned before, is the fact that without a political agreement that will have to give something, some sort of save face to the Iranians, I don't see any ability to force the Iranians, stopping the force buildup, because otherwise we find ourselves in a war of attrition.

The main other question that we have is how it's going to influence other conflicts in the Middle East, like the conflict in Gaza. And here, I'm not the bearer of good news.

I think there are two separate lines. I think Israel hoping that weakening Iran will change the Middle East. But I don't see the Saudis are rushing to normalization with Israel without solving the Palestinian issue. The same thing goes to Hamas.

So, unfortunately, yes, Israel has achievements, but I don't think it changed the Middle East. I don't think there's something broader happening. And definitely, I don't see some sort of a peace agreement in the future between Israel and Iran, as things stay as it is.

SCIUTTO: Danny Citrinowicz, thanks so much for joining us.

CITRINOWICZ: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, in Gaza, health officials say 21 people were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food at an aid distribution site.

A warning: the video we're showing you here is shocking. It appears to show the aftermath of the incident that took place at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

The GHF program, backed by Israel and the U.S., has been mired in controversy since it began operating last month. Earlier this month, a CNN investigation pointed to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they simply made their way to the site to get food.

Sad scenes there yet again.

And we will be right back with more news.

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[00:53:46]

SCIUTTO: U.S. lawmakers are divided over the president's actions in the military -- in the Middle East. While many Republicans continue to show their support, some leading members of the MAGA movement are openly criticizing the president. Here's a range of reactions from Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): What happens in the next few days is going to determine the course of history for the state of Israel and the region for decades to come.

To our friends in Israel, finish the job. Do what you have to do to bring about the regime change that will allow your children to sleep through the night.

To the American people, wake up. Understand what we're fighting.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Well, I got elected on the exact same campaign promises that President Trump got elected on. We promised no more foreign wars, no more regime change. We promised an "America first" agenda where we're solving America's problems and trying to claw our way out of this $37 trillion debt.

And I've been very vocal. We don't belong in foreign wars. This is not our war. And it's perfectly OK for me to say that.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I believe that a president bombing and bringing this country into direct conflict with another nation state without notifying -- full notification of Congress, without congressional approval; endangering service members, U.S. military bases; not providing intelligence, is reckless.

I think the serious decision of entering the United States into direct conflict without any legal approval, unconstitutionally, is the grave decision that we need to be talking about right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Thanks so much for watching this hour. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. Our breaking news coverage continues right after a short break.

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