Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

War Escalates and Expands Across Region; CNN Reports the Economic Impacts of War with Iran; Lebanon: At Least 31 Killed In Israeli Strikes; Fighter Jet Crashes In Kuwait, Video Geolocated By CNN Shows; Conflict In Midde East Disrupts International Travel. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE where it is 11 a.m. in the morning. We continue our breaking news coverage from the Middle East where the war with Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel over the weekend is quickly escalating and expanding across the region. Here are some of the very latest developments for you.

New video, G-located by CNN, shows a fighter jet crashing near a U.S. air base in Kuwait. It is unclear why the jet went down or to which air force it belongs. CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command and the government in Kuwait for comment.

Meanwhile, Tehran is ramping up its retaliation against Israel and striking countries across the Gulf region. Video captured by CNN shows the moment a projectile was intercepted above Dubai. Our teams across the UAE, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and indeed Doha, Qatar have heard multiple explosions in recent hours. The escalation comes as Iran's top national security official said earlier that Tehran will not negotiate with the United States.

The country's top diplomat has also accused the U.S. and Israel of violating international law in a letter to the United Nations. Here's what he said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: But if their goal is change the regime, that is a mission impossible. The demise of the leader doesn't mean that's, you know, regime change or the change of the political system in Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Meanwhile, Israeli forces escalating their attacks in Tehran and in Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese officials say at least 31 people have been killed and more than 140 injured in Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon and the capital, Beirut.

Well, on Sunday, President Trump told "The New York Times" that the conflict with Iran could last four to five weeks. It's the clearest indication yet of a possible timeframe from the U.S. president, who now says Operation Epic Fury, as his administration is calling it, could last much longer and cost more lives than previously stated. The president was also making an appeal to the Iranian people directly. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Julia Benbrook is standing by for us in Washington, CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Dubai, and Ivan Watson is standing by. I want to get to you first because you, Ivan, are following developments in Kuwait. What are you learning?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We're going to show you these images of a video that CNN has geolocated and verified. We're being very conservative about this to start with because there is such disinformation, but it shows a plane falling from the sky that CNN has been able to identify as either an F-15E or an F-18 fighter jet, a twin-engine jet. We've located it to about 10 miles, 6.2 kilometers from the U.S.'s Ali Al Salem base.

We don't know whose air force this would belong to, why the jet plunged from the sky. The Kuwaiti Air Force is also equipped with FA- 18 fighter jets. So that's part of our caution here. And we don't know what happened to the aircrew on board either, the circumstances of this.

But it is important because it demonstrates in the midst of these hostilities, this widening war, a fighter jet plunging from the sky as Kuwait has announced that in a single day, it has faced scores of missiles and drones fired by Iran at it that it has been able to shoot down with its own aerial defenses. And other GCC countries, Gulf countries also facing this type of onslaught that they've been shooting down.

[02:05:00]

Moving on to another front in this rapidly expanding regional war, Lebanon now very much engaged in the conflict after the Shiite militia Hezbollah based in Lebanon announced that it was firing drones and missiles at what it said was an Israeli base to the south of the Israeli city of Haifa. The Lebanese president and prime minister have both come out with statements protesting against Hezbollah's actions, saying they do not want Lebanon drawn into the conflict, warning that this will not be allowed to be repeated. It's unclear how much control the Lebanese State has over this powerful militia in Lebanon.

Israel, very quick to retaliate before three o'clock in the morning with a series of strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health, at least 20 people killed in that onslaught and some 91 people wounded. Also, airstrikes by Israel carried out in Southern Lebanon that killed at least 11 people and wounded scores.

Israel, the military, has sent out orders for Lebanon to evacuate at least 58 villages and towns in the south of Lebanon. And before dawn, we saw panicked scenes of people clogging highways and roads, trying to flee from South Beirut and from South Lebanon as well with Israel vowing there will be more strikes to come on suspected Hezbollah targets. This, of course, terrifying an exhausted and war-weary population in Lebanon.

And finally, I'll wrap up with Iran vowing revenge. The Iranian official, senior official, Ali Larijani, saying there will be no negotiations with the U.S., reports of serious damage to a hospital in North Tehran that eyewitnesses told Reuters was struck by missiles with that hospital, the Gandhi Hospital, being evacuated.

And Iran issuing its own propaganda video of drones and missiles apparently in some kind of a tunnel, suggesting it has weapons to carry on this conflict as it vows revenge. Even as President Trump has said that this conflict, the U.S. aerial assault, could continue at least four weeks, it does not look like there is any off-ramp right now from this rapidly expanding regional war. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ivan, thank you. Paula is in Dubai. Get us up to speed on what you've been hearing and seeing there.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, Monday morning started with a number of missiles, drones entering into the airspace of a number of Gulf nations. Here in Dubai, as we were driving to this location, there were two interceptions overhead. We know similar in Abu Dhabi, there have been explosions heard of interceptions over the last hour or two. And we're seeing a very similar situation in Bahrain, in Kuwait, as well in Doha. We understand there have been a number of interceptions of incoming missiles and/or drones. So, certainly, there has been no let-up in the retaliation from Iran when it comes to these Gulf nations at this point.

Now, we have been collating some of the numbers that were being given by ministries of defense across the Gulf. And at this point, it does appear as though the UAE is receiving by far the most missiles from Tehran. We have the latest figures. I have to point out these are from Sunday. We're awaiting fresh figures. But they said that some 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles, 541 drones have been intercepted coming into the UAE. Now, we know it is higher than that as we have heard the interceptions over the recent hours. The second is Kuwait with almost 100 missiles, more than 280 drones. There is a significant amount of Iranian arsenal that is being fired at these Gulf nations at this point. There was a virtual meeting as well by the leaders of the GCC, the Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday. They issued a joint statement which said this is a dangerous escalation, it violates the sovereignty of multiple states. Also referring to what Iran was doing as -- quote -- "reckless and destabilizing behavior."

[02:09:56]

Now, what this is doing is this is unifying the Gulf states against Iran. These are nations that had told in many cases the U.S., they could not use their bases, their airspace in order to carry out any kind of attack against Iran. Many of these leaders have been lobbying President Trump not to carry out these strikes against Iran, feeling that that should in some way distance themselves from this decision. But the fact is there are U.S. military bases across the Gulf. These are considered Gulf allies. And as far as Tehran is concerned, what they have said publicly is that they are targeting those military targets.

Now, we have seen it go obviously far beyond that. We have seen a number of international hotels here in Dubai, the Fairmont behind me, that have been hit by missiles, drones, the debris of interceptions of these missiles and drones. We have seen Abu Dhabi Airport and Dubai Airport being affected as well. So, certainly, the effects are far beyond the U.S. military targets. Becky?

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you. Julia, let me bring you in. The U.S. alongside its Gulf allies then releasing that statement that Paula referenced, condemning these attacks on the Gulf region and reserving the right to respond outrage across this region, that not only U.S. bases, bad enough, have been targeted, but that the sort of fallout from these strikes is hitting non-military civilian infrastructure. No indication that a decision has been made as to what a change in position or a response from the Gulf might be. The U.S. president has been speaking to media. What are we learning and what are we expecting in the coming hours?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he has been speaking to media in these short phone call brief conversations, but we have not seen a formal press briefing. And then when he arrived back at the White House, he is in Washington tonight, he was traveling back from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which is where he monitored the joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, but as he arrived back, he declined the opportunity to speak to reporters. Reporters were shouting a lot of different questions, and he chose not to speak. And this is a president who does like to talk often. He'll go back in Air Force One, speak to the press sometimes for 30, 40 minutes at a time.

But there are so many questions here as he has said that this full operation, it could take place for two days through the week. Most recently, he told "The New York Times" it could be between four and five weeks. That's the most concrete number we've heard at this time, but it does seem to waver there.

And then we do know, of course, there are these calls in Congress for more information, and we expect the Trump administration to brief the Gang of Eight, those top congressional leaders, both from the House and the Senate, and representing both parties. We expect that to take place Monday afternoon, so just hours away now.

And the White House has said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he reached out to those Gang of Eight members prior to these strikes. He was able to speak with and brief seven of the eight of them. But sources have told us that there was not a full legal justification given at that time. So, no doubt there will be more questions there.

Then on Tuesday, we do expect all members of Congress to have the opportunity to be briefed here. And there is a stark split when it comes to how those lawmakers are seeing this. For the most part, Republicans are supporting this decision and praising Trump's actions here, while Democrats are questioning the legality and wondering why Trump did not seek congressional approval before going through with this.

Now, we saw several Republican lawmakers on the airwaves, on those Sunday shows, but we did not see a lot of administration officials. That is something that has been lacking as well. But we are expecting a briefing at the Pentagon at 8 a.m. Eastern to take place. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will be a part of that, speaking to reporters. That is a chance to get to see a top administration official hopefully fielding some questions that many have.

ANDERSON: Julia, good to have you. Thank you. All right, you are up- to-date on what is going on there in the U.S. and around this region of the Gulf and the wider region, Israel and Lebanon, of course.

[02:14:57]

Iran's deputy foreign minister says U.S. President Donald Trump has crossed -- quote -- "a very dangerous red line by killing Iran's supreme leader." In an exclusive interview with CNN, he adds that many Shiite followers across the world will react to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, adding this war was unnecessary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: President Trump didn't want to see Iran hitting back and pushing back. President Trump should have not started this war from the beginning. It was a war of choice. There was no necessity to start this aggression. That was act of aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Gregg Carlstrom is a Middle East correspondent for "The Economist." He has covered the region for more than a decade. He's also the author of the book "How Long Will Israel Survive? The Threat from Within." Carlstrom joins us now from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Good to have you this morning, Gregg. Thank you.

I want to start on what is this breaking news this hour out of Kuwait. A fighter jet crash and a major oil refinery there struck by shrapnel. Oil prices already surging on U.S. futures. Smoke scene rising near the U.S. embassy there. Your reaction to this moment as it fits into the broader regional picture, if you will.

GREGG CARLSTROM, AUTHOR, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDNT FOR THE ECONOMIST: And I think shrapnel falling near an oil refinery at a time when we're also hearing just in the past few minutes reports of a fire in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Ras Tanura, which is a major refinery and an oil terminal for Saudi Aramco.

I mean, one of the questions hanging over the war right now is, will Iran escalate its attacks on Gulf states beyond hitting airports and hotels and civilian targets? Will they start striking at energy infrastructure in these countries? That would obviously have a huge impact on oil prices which, as you say, are already up a few dollars and trading overnight. That presumably at some point will have an impact on Donald Trump's decision-making. I mean, we've seen him in the past often be responsive to swings in the oil prices. So, if the Iranians start striking at energy infrastructure in the Gulf, I think the consequences of that would be quite significant.

ANDERSON: The Gulf region making it absolutely clear that it reserves the right to respond. We saw that repeated in a statement supported by and signed by the United States alongside five of the six Gulf nations just overnight. What might that response look like?

CARLSTROM: Everyone in the Gulf is trying to figure that out right now. I mean, in speaking with GCC officials over the past few days, you get the sense that the air defense part of the military has a very clear mission right now and is working very hard to shoot down drones and missiles. But the rest of Gulf militaries just aren't sure what sort of political decision is going to come down.

I think the least aggressive or the least confrontational option for the Gulf would be to allow the American military to use bases in their countries to carry out strikes on Iran. That's something that they refused to allow in the run-up to the war. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE said publicly that they would not allow American bases to be used for attacks against Iran. But there is a growing feeling amongst some officials in the Gulf now that they have been dragged into this war, anyway. They're being targeted by Iran, and they should lift those strictures.

Now, they could go further, of course, and use their own warplanes to carry out strikes in Iran. Most countries in the Gulf spend billions of dollars on arms. They have advanced fighter jets and other equipment, so they could do that. But I think it's unclear at this point if they want to and if the Americans want them to, if they want this to be a larger coalition or if they would be happy with Gulf states playing more of a supportive role behind the scenes.

ANDERSON: Yes. And that is very unclear at this point, exactly what it is that the U.S. is intending or is hoping for.

We are looking at an Iranian video of its drones stored in underground tunnels. I want to bring that video up for our viewers. As we've heard, you know, renewed blasts here in Abu Dhabi and Dubai overnight. You made the point that the UAE, where I am, has been targeted by Iran with about as many missiles and drones, if not more, as Israel has. The latest official statement estimates 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles, and 541 Iranian drones targeting the UAE since Saturday across economic targets, non-military targets, tourist and residential areas and, of course, airports.

[02:19:56]

A significant number of these, of course, have been intercepted, more than 90 percent. So, clearly, the air defense system working extremely efficiently here in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But for our viewers' sake, can you just explain why Iran is focusing so much of its attention here, to your mind?

CARLSTROM: I think the logic for Iran is that these countries in the Gulf, first, many of them do host either American military bases or they allow American troops to use their bases. And so, at the beginning of the war, in the first hours on Saturday, we did see Iran shooting at, for example, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the naval base in Bahrain which is host to the American fifth fleet. There are American military targets in these countries.

But I think the bigger objective here for Iran and the reason they have moved beyond striking military targets and they're carrying out these wanton attacks on civilians is because these countries are all close American allies. They're very close to the Trump administration. And Iran hopes that if it inflicts enough pain on Gulf states, if it causes enough damage there, that Gulf leaders are going to lean on Donald Trump and tell him he needs to end the war. There's simply too much devastation being caused in the region.

The Gulf, obviously, is not used to being in the middle of a war. It's a region that for decades now has built a reputation as being an oasis for stability in a very turbulent region. So, having missiles and drones being intercepted overhead, that's bad for business, that's bad for tourism, that's bad for their reputation.

And so, the Iranians were banking on this idea that Gulf states would essentially bow to the pressure under these attacks and push Donald Trump to end the war. But we haven't seen that yet. Every conversation that I've had with both Gulf officials and the sources in Washington suggests that for now, they are not putting that sort of pressure on the administration, and then this strategy of the Iranians does not seem to be working.

ANDERSON: Finally and briefly, you've pointed out the progression of Trump's thinking here. He told "The Washington Post" his goal is the freedom of Iran. He told Axios this war could end in two to three days with a deal. Then he told "The New York Times" four to five weeks of fighting and that he has three very good choices of who might control Iran going forward. Then he told ABC the U.S. killed those choices. You say amounts to throwing spaghetti at the wall. Just briefly expand on that, if you will.

CARLSTROM: We've heard everything from regime change, as you say, to making a deal. The aims of this are unclear. I think Trump is doing what Trump often does, which is citing everything as a possible goal so that no matter what happens, he can say, this is what I wanted all along and I can declare victory.

I think, really, all he wants here is to be able to tell Americans Iran has been a problem since 1979. Every president since Jimmy Carter failed to deal with it. I dealt with it. And that could take many forms. The problem and the worry in this region is that many of the possible scenarios for post-war Iran are going to be a mess for the Gulf and for other countries in the neighborhood.

ANDERSON: Gregg, pleasure having you on. Stay with it. And we'll be, I'm sure, talking again in the near future. It's good to have you there from Saudi Arabia. The effects of the war with Iran are quickly being felt across the globe. Ahead, we're going to take a look at some of the economic impacts, oil prices and stock markets, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: The war with Iran launched by the U.S. and Israel just a couple of days ago is already having economic impact around the world. Oil futures, and let's have look at those, have surged in initial trading since the fighting began. You can see the Asian markets here. These are open, of course, ahead of the European and U.S. markets.

Back to oil, there's a lot of focus right now on the Strait of Hormuz, the major shipping route that passes through the territorial waters of both Iran and Oman. About a fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, obviously critical for global shipping. Within hours of the first strikes on Iran, Tehran warned no more ships would be allowed to pass through that waterway.

And let's bring those U.S. markets up again. These are the futures markets, of course. The trading day on Wall Street is hours away. Global markets are offering a preview of how the war with Iran could impact the financial week, and that is the picture as things stand. These are, you know, often a very good indication of how we will expect to see these markets open at 9:30 local time. Of course, it is 2:30 Eastern Time, New York Time as we speak.

Asia Pacific markets will be providing that steer. They are sharply in the red. Airline stocks in particular have been hit hard with airport closures and airport disruptions, leaving the industry in limbo. Airspace to confirm. Certainly, over the UAE and around this region, still closed.

Well, we are hearing explosions ring out this morning in cities across the Gulf, Iran's retaliation for ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes. Earlier, our team heard a huge blast here in Abu Dhabi, in Dubai. CNN team heard two back-to-back blasts and jets flying overhead.

CNN senior reporter Bijan Hosseini shows us what appears to be missiles being intercepted over Doha. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: It is day three here in Doha's west bay of Iran's retaliation of strikes. It's 8:05 in the morning local time, and we just heard what was maybe six or seven loud explosions happening all around us. You can see one right over there. There's one over there, one over there. Kind of happening around the city center. These are air defense missile systems.

[02:30:00]

Government uses Patriot missile defense systems that they bought from the U.S. So, that would have been these targeting those Iranian strikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Israel says it is targeting senior Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. That country's ministry of public health says at least 31 people have been killed and more than 140 injured in Israeli strikes earlier. Hezbollah says that it launched missiles and drones and Israeli army base in, quote, revenge for the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

CNN's Oren Liebermann, joining me now from Tel Aviv.

You can, if you will, just bring us up to date on what we understand to be that Israeli operation on Lebanon.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, Israel had made very clear that it had prepared from the beginning for the possibility of this campaign expanding to not just focusing on Iran. And that's what we saw happen in the overnight hours. Hezbollah said they launched a number of attacks towards northern Israel, and Israel began responding with an intense campaign, not only striking Dahia in Beirut, but also ordering the evacuation or warning of the evacuation of more than 50 villages in southern Lebanon, which Israel considers a Hezbollah stronghold. And that offensive has begun with airstrikes against what Israel says are Hezbollah targets.

Israel was, as I said prepared for this possibility that Hezbollah might join the campaign after the joint U.S. Israel strikes on Iran early on Saturday morning. And that is what we're seeing unfold now. It's also worth noting that yesterday the Israeli military said they're calling up 100,000 reservists. That's not just for Iran. That's now for what were seeing, which is the expansion of campaign. And it's very likely those reservists will not only reinforce the north, but also potentially reinforce the occupied West Bank with the potential for lone wolf style attacks there as well.

Israel has been ready for this campaign to go for days or more if needed. An Israeli official had told us back on Saturday. And that's what we're seeing here. A campaign against Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes against Iran. Late last night, they said they were targeting what they called the heart of Tehran, going after IRGC facilities, intelligence facilities security facilities, as well as what they've done since the beginning which is targeting ballistic missiles and missile launchers. Meanwhile, we have seen continued incoming from Iran. There were a number of sites yesterday across central Israel where shrapnel rained down and did a bit of damage, either damaging cars, buildings, roads. There was a missile that impacted in Jerusalem and severely damaged a road, as well as the missile that hit in a residential area, a direct hit in a residential area in the city of Beit Shemesh between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that killed at least nine people, according to Israel's emergency response service.

So as of right now, on the ground here, the area, the city, Tel Aviv normally a bustling metropolis is very quiet as almost the entire country, practically heeds Israel's home front commands orders and instructions to stay near a bomb shelter and by the looks of it, by the looks of how it started this morning with interceptions about two hours ago, this will be another day that could very well have sirens sounding across the city, and perhaps across the country as well.

ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Tel Aviv, thank you.

And we have just seen a post by Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, and let me read that to you. Quote, "Trump's wishful thinking has dragged the whole region into an unnecessary war. And now he is rightly worried about more American casualties. It is indeed very sad that he is sacrificing American blood to advance Netanyahu's illegitimate expansionist ambitions."

Still to come and more on that. Plus, the rapidly developing war with Iran. I'll speak with a military expert about the conflict so far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:37:12]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson, live for you in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East programming headquarters.

It is day three of Israel and the United States at war with Iran. And the conflict is spreading across the wider Gulf region. This video just in to our newsroom shows a fighter jet crashing in Kuwait. CNN was able to geolocate where the video was taken, unable, though, to determine which air force it belongs to or why it crashed.

CNN teams in Doha, in Abu Dhabi, in Dubai heard explosions just over two hours ago. In Dubai, witnesses heard what sounded like jets flying overhead, along with back to back blasts.

Mick Ryan joins me now. He's a retired major general in the Australian army and a senior fellow for military studies at the Lowy Institute, and also wrote "The War for Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation Under Fire".

Good to have you this morning.

I'm going to lean into your expertise, Mick, if I can. You saw that moment of a fighter jet crashing in Kuwait. Our analysis finds it looks consistent with an F-15 or an F/A-18. It's unclear which air force the plane belongs to. Based on what you are seeing, what can you tell us there?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), SENIOR FELLOW FOR MILITARY STUDIES, LOWY INSTITUTE: Well, that incident appears to have involved a U.S. Air Force F-15. There were two crew of that aircraft who appear to have safely ejected. Thank goodness and that is probably what we'd call friendly fire. Whilst its decidedly unfriendly, this was probably friendly fire over Kuwait at this point in time.

ANDERSON: Okay, and just to be absolutely clear, we at CNN are not identifying exactly who it is that we see there ejecting or exactly what happened. But it's good to get your analysis.

U.S. military is faced at this point. We're trying to destroy Iran's missile and drone forces as quickly as possible before it and frankly, the region runs out of interceptors to fend off Tehran's retaliation. I mean, the numbers here are pretty impressive. More than 90 percent of those, those incoming either missiles or drones have been intercepted keeping, of course, the residents of the UAE mostly safe.

According to U.S. officials, how long can the U.S. sustain this?

RYAN: Well, as we know from Ukraine, they are the best in the world. Intercepting drones and missiles. They can run pretty short at times. It's very unlikely. Most countries in the Middle East have the same depth of magazines for interceptors, for these missiles.

[02:40:05]

So they've probably got a few days of stocks when it comes to being able to intercept these things with air defense missiles. They'll need to also use fighter aircraft, helicopters.

And as we've seen in Israel in the last 24 hours a new laser weapon called Ion Beam has been deployed to intercept these weapons as well. It really is a race to time.

ANDERSON: And, Mick, can you just explain you brought up you know, they may need to use fighters jet fighters and helicopters. What do you mean by that? How would those aircraft be involved in intercepting incoming projectiles?

RYAN: Well, generally, drones fly at a speed and an altitude that either helicopters or fighter aircraft are able to intercept them. The Ukrainians in particular, have had a lot of success using helicopter based miniguns to intercept Shahed drones. So hopefully, countries in the Middle East have learned the lesson from Ukraine are able to use them. This also saves on using expensive and small numbers of the air defense interceptors that they might have in their stocks

ANDERSON: That's fascinating.

And the other key news moving this hour, this conflict has expanded into Lebanon, with Hezbollah launching attacks and the Israeli military responding.

I just wonder to your mind, how much does this further destabilize a broader Middle East region already, you know, clearly besieged by attacks, not least across all six Gulf countries now?

RYAN: Well, it was the Iranians who escalated by starting to fire missiles at lots of places. They fired between 1,000 and 2,000 missiles and drones in different countries. On the other hand, the Israelis clearly see a narrow window of opportunity to finish off the job. They started with Hezbollah over the last couple of years. They destroyed a lot of Hezbollah south of Litani. Now they're going north of Litani into the strategic leadership and logistics for Hezbollah.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Nick. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. Your analysis is hugely important.

As we continue to cover what is this roiling region, the conflict making international travel at major airports in the region sadly nearly impossible. Key airports in Dubai and here in Abu Dhabi have sustained damage from Iranian strike debris, leading to flight cancellations. The UAE will reportedly cover the cost of food and accommodations for tens of thousands of travelers. At this point, it will be hundreds of thousands, frankly stranded, and after this conflict.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joining me from Hong Kong with more on the travel implications.

Kristie, what have you got?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this ongoing conflict has triggered a global aviation shock that we haven't seen in years. You have major airports across the Middle East closed or restricted. You have a number of major airlines canceling or rerouting flights. And yes, Becky, hundreds of thousands of people are now stranded in airports and cities all around the world. In fact, earlier today, we learned from the Australian foreign minister who said that for her country, 115,000 Australian residents are now stuck overseas because of the ongoing travel chaos.

We've been monitoring social media, video coming into us from the Dubai international airport showing scenes of crowds, crowds of stranded travelers with nowhere to go and scenes of chaos after one reported Iranian strike resulted in injuries, four people injured and scenes of frantic evacuations by crew and passengers. In the Abu Dhabi international airport, a strike there a drone strike, resulted in the death of one person seven people injured. There have also been drone strikes on the main airport in Bahrain, as well as the airport in Kuwait passengers are expressing shock and dismay.

And I want you to listen to this next passenger who was on a flight from Qingdao, China, to Dubai when her flight was forced to go back to the origin city. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIYING ZHOU, FLIGHT TO CHINA TURNED BACK: And at first, I was just really shocked because I never thought things like this, like war, would be kind of so close to me. I always just thought it's something that it's just something you read in the news, but then actually getting on a long haul flight and almost made it like kind of halfway there and then started to turn around all the way. It was just really shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: You know, airspace across the Middle East remains closed. And if you look at FlightRadar24, you will see empty skies above Iran, Iraq, UAE, Bahrain and elsewhere as we continue to monitor the ongoing travel chaos for you.

[02:45:04]

Back to you, Becky.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you.

And Emirates as you speak, just releasing their latest advisory. And for those who may be traveling on emirates, do check in with the airline. They are saying now due to multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai up until 1500 hours UAE time on Tuesday, the 3rd of March. There are options to either rebook an alternative flight, request a refund but do if you're traveling with emirates, for example, and this will be a similar story for all of the airlines. Check in with that airline for the very latest advisories.

Iranian officials say over 100 people have died after an explosion hit a school. We'll bring you a report into exactly what we know about that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: At least 153 people, including several students, were killed in a strike on a girls school in the south of Iran, according to state media. Amid downed phone lines and internet outages in Iran, Isobel Yeung has this report of what we know at this stage about these reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As strikes unfold in the Middle East, Iranian state media broadcast images of what they say is a girls elementary school that was decimated this weekend. Footage from the scene shows the remnants of children's school bags and books, along with grieving parents. Iranian officials say over 100 students have been killed, with scores more injured and others still buried in the rubble.

YEUNG: Saturday is the first day of the school week in Iran. CNN has not been able to independently verify these reports. So, what do we actually know?

YEUNG (voice-over): CNN has geolocated and verified the location of the school.

[02:50:00] It's here in southern Minab. Footage here shows casualties being taken to a nearby hospital. The school sits about 200 feet from an Iranian Revolutionary Guards base. In this video, you can see smoke rising from that same base in the distance just after the school was hit, which you can see here.

2012 satellite imagery appears to show that this building may have been connected to that base, but it seems to have been separated since at least 2016 when this image shows the base walled off and a new entrance added. If we look at satellite images from December, we can see dozens of people in the courtyard in what appears to be a handball court.

YEUNG: There's also a lot we don't know. The Internet and phone lines are down so we haven't actually been able to speak to people on the ground to verify the civilian impact. We don't know who fired or the scale of the munitions that were used.

YEUNG (voice-over): Online, some are speculating that it was a failed missile launch by Iran and sharing this photo. But CNN and other experts have geolocated this photo to Zanjan, about 800 miles away.

A U.S. central command spokesperson has said that they're aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military actions and are looking into them.

Israeli Defense Forces have said they are checking reports of incidents and are not aware of a U.S. or Israeli strike at this location.

Isobel Yeung, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, celebrations, protests and deadly violence after the killing of Iran's supreme leader. After the break, we're going to get you some global reaction to the events going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:55:20]

ANDERSON: Taking to the streets after Israel and the U.S. launched the war with Iran, killing the country's supreme leader. Thousands of people in Yemen, Iraq, Seoul, Toronto protesting these strikes, many can be seen waving Iranian flags and carrying pictures of Tehran's late supreme leader. In Pakistan, violence erupted on Sunday at a U.S. consulate in Karachi. Ten people were killed after protesters breached the facility's barriers.

Others are supporting the war, particularly much of the far-flung Iranian diaspora in Istanbul. Iranian exiles handed out sweets and flowers whilst joyfully chanting against Iran's Islamic regime. And in London, thousands marched through the streets waving American and Israeli flags. In Rome, Iranian demonstrators came together waving pre-revolution Iranian flags, dancing on effigies of the now deceased supreme leader.

Well, the Trump administration is expected to brief what's known as the Gang of Eight, and other top lawmakers on the Iran strikes later today on Monday. Sources also tell CNN that the full House and Senate will be briefed on Tuesday. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is urging colleagues to back his war powers resolution, which would rein in president Trump's ability to launch military action without congressional approval.

More on that as we move through the coming hours, of course. Thank you for joining us for this hour. I'm Becky Anderson. Our breaking news coverage live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi continues after this short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)