Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN's Breaking News Coverage on the U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran and its Escalation throughout the Middle East. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR AND MANAGING EDITOR, ABU DHABI: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. You're watching CNN. Let's get straight to our breaking news.

The war with Iran rapidly escalating across this region. Here is the very latest.

A new video geolocated by CNN appears to show a pilot parachuting to the ground after a fighter jet crashed near a U.S. airbase in Kuwait. It is unclear why that 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.

More, of course, as we get it.

Meanwhile, Tehran 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 in the past hours.

Our teams across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha in Qatar have heard multiple explosions in recent hours. This comes as Iran's top national security official said earlier that Tehran will not negotiate with the U.S.

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, if their goal is to change the regime, that is a mission impossible. The demise of the leader doesn't mean that regime change or the change of the political system in Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON: Well meanwhile, Israeli forces are escalating their attacks in Tehran and Beirut. 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. 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 time frame from the 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 is also making an appeal to the Iranian people directly. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: 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: We've got teams covering this conflict across the region. CNN's Oren Liebermann is standing by in Tel Aviv and we will get to you momentarily.

I want to get to Ivan Watson first. For the very latest on the fighter jet crash in Kuwait, what are we learning at this point, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, well, we have confirmed and geolocated at least two videos now, one of them showing a fighter plane falling in a tailspin from the sky. Our experts say that it's either an F-A-18 or an F-15E fighter jet and we do know that the Kuwaiti Air Force has F-18, F-A-18s.

This happened within 10 miles from the U.S. Ali al-Salam base in Kuwait. But now we've gotten a statement from Kuwait's Minister of Defense -- Ministry of Defense, a spokesman who has announced that a number of U.S. military aircraft went down, confirming that all of the crews survived.

So according to Kuwaiti authorities, more than one U.S. warplane appears to have gone down in the vicinity of Kuwait and we've seen images of one fighter jet going down and of a parachute emerging from that as well.

This suggests something has happened. We don't know the circumstances of why. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense saying that an investigation has been launched into the reasoning behind this.

So we're going to have to wait and bring you up to date on what could have taken place. But again, the Kuwaiti authorities saying that all of the air crews are stable and have been taken for treatment at a hospital. Meanwhile, the war very much continues and the rhetoric from what is left of the Iranian government as a number of top officials, including the Supreme Leader, were killed in strikes on Saturday.

[03:05:06]

One of the most senior officials, Ali Larijani, has come out not only vowing revenge but also putting out this post saying, quote, "Trump has betrayed America first to adopt Israel first." Clearly trying to score some rhetorical points in his response to the U.S. We have had multiple reports that a hospital in North Tehran, Gandhi Hospital, was hit in some kind of strikes and that the hospital has been evacuated. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Chinese citizen has been killed in Iran as a result of the military activities in the capital, Tehran, and China saying that thousands of Chinese citizens have been evacuated in conjunction with this conflict.

The newest front in the war, Becky, is Lebanon. Hezbollah, the militia announcing that it launched drones and projectiles at what it said was an Israeli base south of the Israeli city of Haifa overnight from Sunday into Monday. And Israel retaliated with a series of strikes in southern Beirut as well as in southern Lebanon that according to the Lebanese government, at least 20 people in south Beirut, another 11 people in southern Lebanon, injuring more than 100 people and creating scenes of panic as before dawn roads and highways were clogged with people fleeing the areas that were targeted.

The Lebanese government, the President and Prime Minister, speaking out criticizing the rocket attacks from Hezbollah and vowing to bring those behind this to justice. The President saying he does not want Lebanon to be used as a platform for proxy wars. Schools in Lebanon closed down and Israel vowing to carry out additional strikes, ordering that more than 50 villages in southern Lebanon should be evacuated, warning of more intense actions.

This regional war is growing in the area that is being targeted and where people are being killed as a result of these hostilities. Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes. Ivan Watson reporting for you.

And just to repeat the very latest then just into CNN, Kuwait's Ministry of Defense saying a number of U.S. military aircraft crashed Monday, adding all crews have survived. More on that, of course, as we get it into CNN.

Let's get you to Oren Lieberman in Tel Aviv. And Oren, Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, has just posted that, quote, "Trump has betrayed America first to adopt Israel first." How's that going to go down locally?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I think largely Iran has not seen a difference in terms of at least their foreign policy between America and Israel. And they have viewed and, frankly, accused Israel of driving American foreign policy on this, on driving America's aggression, its rhetoric towards Iran.

And this is very much an extension of that, blaming Israel here. Remember back in June it was Israel unilaterally that launched that first wave of strikes and what they said were preemptive strikes against Iran. And only later, during that 12-day war, on day 10 or day 11, if I remember correctly, did the U.S. carry out one set of strikes.

Well, this now is, on Saturday morning, was a joint U.S.-Israel operation. And it continues to be so. And that's part of the reason, it seems, that Iran is blaming President Donald Trump for driving an Israel first foreign policy, for following the process and the playbook, frankly, that Israel drew up in June.

And since then there has been months of cooperation, weeks of planning for a complex operation that began on Saturday and continues at this point.

Yesterday the Israeli military said that in recent weeks the list of targets that they have prepared for this operation has increased multiple times. And an Israeli Air Force official saying they're at the beginning of this, not the end of this, clearly indicated that this not only is expected to continue, but also to intensify.

And on that note, let me pick up on what Ivan said. We are now seeing the expansion of that. Israel had prepared for this to be more than a one-front war, and now we're seeing that.

After Hezbollah launched a series of projectiles and drones at northern Israel, well, Israel was ready for that. Israel was ready for Hezbollah to step into the fight and began with a series of punishing strikes against what they say are Hezbollah targets in Beirut, and then ordering a warning of the evacuation of more than 50 villages in southern Lebanon.

[03:10:00]

So Israel is very much preparing for the campaign to grow in the north and in the east against Iran. It was the Israeli Air Force yesterday that said they have air superiority over Tehran, that they are hitting targets in the center, or in the heart, that was the word they used, of Tehran against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the security apparatus, the defense apparatus. So that target list that Israel is striking, that is very much expanding.

Meanwhile here in Tel Aviv there were sirens warning of incoming missile or drone fire several hours ago, so it seems we may very well see much more of that throughout the day. There was also shrapnel that rained down from intercepted missiles across central Israel yesterday, as well as a missile that hit in Jerusalem, and then a direct hit from an Iranian missile in the city of Beit Shemesh between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that killed at least nine people. Becky.

ANDERSON: Oren, thank you. You've been listening to reporting from Oren Liebermann and from Ivan Watson.

To both of you, for the time being, we'll move on. Thank you.

Joining me now is Yasmine Farouk. She's the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Project Director at the International Crisis Group. Having you on this morning, incredibly important to us. Your analysis will be hugely important for our viewers.

As we continue to look at the scope of what is going on now around this region, let's start with what we have seen out of Kuwait this morning. The MOD there confirming the downing of a number of U.S. aircraft. They say all crew are safe and these are dramatic pictures as we see the pilot and perhaps it is the crewman, at least from one of those planes, parachuting to safety.

We've also seen a hit, be that a hit or debris, affecting an oil refinery there in Kuwait. What do you make of these events and the wider sort of regional story here at this point?

YASMINE FAROUK, GULF AND ARABIAN PENINSULA PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Good morning, Becky. Thanks for having me.

I think we're going to see more and more of this. This war is escalating because it was expected.

The Iranian regime is fighting for its survival. But instead of targeting Israel and the U.S., it is also targeting its neighbors in the Gulf country that it sees as, I mean, at worst, not doing enough to prevent this war, despite months and months, Becky, of the Gulf countries leading on mediation between the U.S. and Iran. Iran is targeting also, as I'm sure you have seen this morning, there was a fire in the Ras Tanura terminal in Saudi Arabia as well.

And President Trump himself said at the beginning of this war that there will be and there might be U.S. casualties. And I think this is a major escalation for both the U.S., Iran, and the Gulf. We have seen yesterday as well European countries coming on board in what they are very precisely dubbing a defensive role in this war to defend their allied partners in the Gulf.

We have seen an increase in tone from Saudi Arabia and the UAE saying that they will not stay, you know, stand by while Iran escalates its attacks against their civilian infrastructure. And today it's the energy infrastructure. So this war is escalating and is drawing in more and more parties, Becky.

ANDERSON: I want to just underscore the remarkable number of incoming attacks that the region is taking. We've just been talking about Kuwait. We are hearing reports of events in Saudi today, more on that as we get it.

With the UAE so far sustaining the most incoming, the Ministry of Defense here, in its latest estimate, and this is some hours ago, recording 165 ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles, 541 Iranian drones have been fired on the UAE since Saturday. The UAE, of course, has invested heavily in advanced and expensive defensive systems, and they are mostly holding up. The question will be how much longer can this sort of defense system infrastructure be sustained at this point?

FAROUK: Absolutely, Becky. It's not just a military effort. It's also an economic effort that Iran and an economic cost that Iran is betting on, not just when it comes to the defense system, but as I said, the civilian infrastructure, because crisis management is not just about military, it's also about communication, it's about the reputational cost.

[03:15:04]

And, you know, Becky, the UAE was one of the countries in the Gulf that has put Iran's missiles program on, let's say, the list of requirements for what it would see as a comprehensive deal. And now I think we are seeing why.

The expansion of these missiles and drone attacks, again, not only on civilian, on U.S. targets first and then military infrastructure and now energy infrastructure, is going and is backfiring against Iran. And as I said, the operations that the E3 have declared that they're going to involve in yesterday through a statement include destroying those launchers of drones and missiles.

And the U.S. and the U.K. has also declared yesterday that, you know, this threat cannot be ended without attacking it at the source. And so the Gulf countries so far, I think the decision has been taken, as we saw that they are not going to take more of this because they see this as escalation, so as escalating more and more. So I expect to see reactions.

ANDERSON: Yes, and we know that they have been very clear about their right to respond to this aggression across this region. We don't understand as of yet what that response might look like. There are varying degrees to which these countries could respond, as it were, in inverted commas, so we'll wait to see how that develops.

Yasmine, for the time being, I appreciate it. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, still to come here on CNN. Sources tell us that the Trump administration will soon face members of Congress who expect to hear an explanation and a plan for this war with Iran. More on that is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: 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. Sources tell CNN that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had notified the reachable Gang of Eight members in advance. He did not offer a full legal justification, as we understand it, for the major military action.

Sources also tell CNN that the full House and Senate will be briefed on Tuesday. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine urging colleagues to back his War Powers resolution, which would rein in President Trump's ability to launch military action without congressional approval. Democrats are in agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): Collectively, we as an intelligence committee, we as the Armed Services Committee, have not had any sort of informative briefings before or after that would allow us to understand what's happening, what's transpiring. And that is, in fact, part of the bigger problem here, which is what kind of country are we?

We should be a country that observes our own constitution, which means that the Congress should be engaged in these conversations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Meanwhile, Republican Senator Tom Cotton believes his party will fully back the Trump administration. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AK): I suspect you'll see overwhelming support from elected Republicans in the Congress who are answerable to our voters in places like Arkansas and states all across the country when we're back in the Capitol later this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Okay, CNN's Julia Benbrook joins me now live from Washington. What sort of support for kinetic action does President Trump have from the U.S. people? What's the latest polling?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are still a lot of questions here as Americans try to grasp exactly what these actions mean. And as President Donald Trump arrived back in Washington, he did not answer any of those questions.

There were opportunities as he was on Air Force One, also as he was entering the White House, and reporters were trying to get him to engage. He decided not to. And this is a President who does like to talk.

He will often, on Air Force One, speak for 30, 40 minutes with reporters. But that has not been the case since these joint U.S.- Israel strikes against Iran.

Trump has primarily been communicating on social media. We saw him announce these strikes in an eight-minute video. At that time, he encouraged the Iranian people to try and seize control of their government after U.S. military operations have been completed.

He also announced that Iran's supreme leader had been killed in a social media post. And he's been warning Iran not to escalate things further, promising that as they do, that they will be met with force from the United States.

In one of these seemingly scripted, preplanned videos that he has put out, the most recent one just hours ago, he said that this combat action would take place for as long as it needed to until they could achieve the objectives. But he didn't really go into specific details on what those objectives are. I want you to take a listen to how he framed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And Trump is not the only one that people are waiting to hear from. There have also not been a lot of access to administration officials.

Typically, they would be on some of the Sunday morning shows. Notably, they were not.

But we do expect there to be a Pentagon briefing at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, so just a few hours away now, featuring Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as he briefs reporters there.

[03:25:00]

And it could be interesting to see, because we do have some reporting from our colleagues, that Pentagon briefers, as they spoke to congressional staff, acknowledged that Iran did not have specific plans to attack U.S. assets there unless Israel was striking Iran first. So that contradicts some of the claims that the administration has made that there was an imminent threat from Iran.

Lots of questions here, potentially, could be getting a lot of answers in the next few hours.

ANDERSON: And crucially, thank you, we will watch that Pentagon news conference at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs of Chairman Caine will be watching that closely. The first time the U.S. military has spoken publicly and directly to the American public on camera since it launched this Operation Epic Fury.

Julia, I appreciate it. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, the war with Iran is already having economic impacts around the world. Oil futures have surged in initial trading since the fighting began.

Let's have a look at what those are up to on the Brent and WTI crude numbers at present. And it's a clear picture there of significant gains, nearly 10 percent up in WTI, Brent up some near 8 percent.

Of course, 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 that strait, I'll remind you. So obviously critical for global shipping within hours of the first

strikes on Iran's Saturday. Tehran warned no more ships would be allowed to pass through that waterway.

Well, the trading day on Wall Street is still some hours away, but we're getting an indication of where we think those markets might start. Global markets offering that preview. Here's a look at the U.S. futures markets with European markets there indicating a story.

The futures there down nearly some 2 percent on the Dow. The Asia- Pacific markets providing a steer sharply in the red. Airline stocks in particular have been hit hard with airport closures and airspace disruptions, leaving the industry in limbo.

Alright, CNN business and economic reporter, Anna Cooban, joining me now live. Anna?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes, Becky, you've really painted that picture.

Stocks are down across the board today with both financial markets but also commodities. This was to be very much expected over the weekend. But I do want to point to some Asia falls -- falls of Asia.

The Hang Seng Index is down over 2 percent, it closed down. And I think this might be a reflection of the fears around the supply of Iranian oil.

Now, China is a massive buyer of Iranian oil. And when we look at oil markets, as you've highlighted there, up around 8 percent is the global oil benchmark, Brent.

Now, this is a very narrow waterway through which a huge amount, about a fifth of the world's global oil, the daily production of that, goes through every single day.

And looking at what analysts are saying, speaking to analysts, they're saying that a prolonged disruption of this route, even if Iran doesn't formally close it off, there are still ships that are avoiding it, they're idling by, that this can potentially push the price of oil up to $100 a barrel. We are currently at the highest level since June last year. We had that 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.

And so if this continues, Becky, even if Iran doesn't formally close off the strait, we could see oil prices skyrocket yet further. And that will have a knock-on impact to gasoline prices, with consumers feeling the issue at the pump.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Anna.

Alright, still to come. Air defense systems are hard at work in the Middle East as Iran's retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes expands across the Gulf. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson, in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East Programming Headquarters and it is day three of the Israeli and United States war with Iran and the conflict is spreading across the wider Gulf region.

Kuwait's Ministry of Defense now says several United States military aircraft crashed on Monday and that all crews survived. This video just into our newsroom shows what appears to be a fighter jet pilot parachuting to the ground in Kuwait.

CNN also obtained this video that we geolocated to Kuwait. It shows a fighter jet crashing after catching fire. CNN unable at this point to verify which nation's military the pilot and the jet that we are showing you there belong to or what caused the aircraft to crash.

Meanwhile, CNN teams in Doha in Qatar and in Abu Dhabi in the UAE heard explosions just over two hours ago. This comes as President Trump warns that the war could last weeks and that more U.S. service members' lives may be lost.

I want to get you some breaking news just coming into us from Kuwait now. Video obtained by Reuters and geolocated by CNN shows smoke rising from the area around the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait city today, the embassy has released a warning to U.S. citizens urging them to shelter in place amid continuing threats of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks over the region. Kuwait state media reporting that air defenses had successfully intercepted the majority of drones near the governorate where the embassy is located.

And more, of course, from Kuwait as we get it. Some key news lines coming in as we speak there.

Let's bring you to Doha in Qatar now. Our senior producer Bijan Hosseini is there live with us with the very latest from there. Bijan?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SR. PRODUCER: Hi, Becky.

We experienced and saw what is day three of Iran's retaliation earlier a little over three hours ago around six or seven loud explosions above us. What were interceptions possibly fired from Qatar's Patriot missile defense system.

Shortly after that, we got another emergency alert to our phone. This is one that residents here have been getting three days in a row now urging people to remain indoors until danger has passed.

[03:35:02]

We've heard from Bahrain, we've heard from Qatar that they reserve the right to respond. But last night on X, Qatar's former prime minister taking to Twitter writing in Arabic, and if you'll excuse me, Becky, I'm just going to look down and read what he said. He was cautioning Gulf countries to not be drawn into a direct confrontation with Iran arguing while Iran has violated sovereignty, a regional escalation would drain resources and open the door to outside powers to exploit the crisis. That's the latest that we've heard from an official here.

Overnight, the U.S. embassy changing their level alert system to a level three meaning for American travelers outside the region to avoid traveling to the Middle East. They also said the State Department will begin evacuating non-essential military personnel.

Things here are still very quiet. Schools are shut down, most businesses are closed, the airspace is still closed.

And there's a lot of international tourists here, a lot of tourists that are stranded. Two ships belonging to Mein Schiff, a German cruise line, are stuck in the Gulf. There's one here in Doha's port, another near you in Abu Dhabi.

That company issued a statement saying guests are still on board and being looked after and cared for and that all operations are running normally.

I also spoke to a German couple just a few minutes ago who were transiting from New Zealand back to Germany. They got stuck here while transiting through Doha. They say they've been looked after, they've been given hotels, but obviously they're worrying, they're unable to know what is coming next.

So some fear from international tourists stranded here, Becky.

ANDERSON: And just as you and I talk, I'm just noting the updated advisory from Emirates Airline. I mean, look, sources telling me there are at least 300,000 Brits, for example, stranded in the UAE at the moment.

Emirates, Bijan, just advising their clients that due to, and I read here, multiple regional airspace closures, Emirates has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai up until 3:00, 1500 hours UAE time on Tuesday the 3rd of March, (inaudible) and I'm being told now 6:00 a.m. in my ear from the producer. Is that Tuesday the 3rd of March until 6 a.m.?

All right, we'll get you a clarification on that as I get it. But Bijan, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Explosions have been heard in the area near Erbil Airport in Iraq. The airport there, home to a U.S. airbase. The source of the explosions are currently unclear, as CNN's chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward now explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay, so you can see there flames and black smoke that is inside the perimeter of the Erbil Airport, which is one of the very few places in Iraq where you can still find U.S. service members. There appears to be some kind or have been some kind of a direct impact there.

What the cause of it was potentially rockets. We have seen a big uptick in the last few hours with not just Iran striking Iraqi Kurdistan and here in Erbil, but also Iran backed militias inside Iraq, which have significantly escalated their attacks. You can smell that very distinctive smoky kind of cordite smell.

Again, we don't know exactly what was hit. We don't know if there were any casualties, but certainly we have been hearing regular booms. We also heard air defenses going off, and we're trying to find out more details as to what the exact target was and whether anyone was hurt as a result.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Clarissa reporting there from Erbil, and we are learning more about the planning that took place before these targeted strikes against Iran over the weekend.

Let's remind ourselves these targeted strikes during the day on Saturday morning local time around about 9:00 local time in Iran was the first time that we got reports of these strikes. They are responsible for the deaths of the country's supreme leader and other top officials. CNN's Katie Poglase has more details on how the plans were carried out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): With Iran very much still under attack, we've been using videos and satellite images, like this one of the strike on the supreme leader's office, to analyze how the senior leadership was dismantled by U.S. and Israeli strikes and where exactly they've hit.

[03:40:05]

POLGLASE: We now know from U.S. and Israeli sources that the CIA, along with Israeli intelligence, had been tracking Iran's senior leadership for months. Then came intelligence about a perfect opportunity to strike in broad daylight, when many of Iran's top officials would be in the same place at once.

POLGLASE (voice-over): And that place was here, the leadership house and the hub of Iran's power. It's also the office of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now confirmed dead. It's in a very old, traditional Tehran neighborhood, surrounded by government offices, scientific institutions and museums.

Khamenei was known to not leave this compound much. He was seen here in this video just last week, addressing crowds at a mosque.

The Israelis say they hit three sites on the compound simultaneously. We've found several locations that have damage. You can see a central building, completely flattened.

You can also see two theaters here. This one appeared to have been targeting an underground structure, according to a former U.S. special operations tactical advisor, Wes Bryant.

Over here you can see crowds and emergency and construction vehicles.

But this wasn't the only location hit. The intelligence ministry headquarters was also up in smoke yesterday.

And then there's this strike, right outside the house of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has today been reported dead by some Iranian outlets, CNN has not been able to confirm his death.

Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to the supreme leader, has also been reported dead by the Iranian authorities. He narrowly escaped death last June, when Israel struck his home in this precise targeting of a top floor apartment. Almost miraculously, he emerged from the rubble days later.

This time he was not so lucky. But others have been.

The Iranian foreign minister here, Abbas Araghchi, was away in Geneva this week. The Oman foreign ministry posted this picture of him meeting his counterpart just four days ago. That trip may have saved his life.

But Iran is very much still under attack. This IDF footage from Sunday morning shows a strike on the headquarters of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the notoriously brutal elite wing of Iran's military.

What happens next remains to be seen. But Iran is aggressively fighting back.

Striking multiple U.S. allies across the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, fires visible here over Dubai's port area, alongside Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Katie Polglase, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Katie Polglase reporting there.

Still to come, travel in the Middle East gets thrown into chaos, as you can imagine how flight cancellations and delays are affecting travelers. That is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, international travel from Dubai has been crippled amid the conflict here in the region with travelers unable to enter or leave key airports in Dubai and here in Abu Dhabi have sustained some damage from falling debris after the Iranian strikes, leading to major flight cancellations. The UAE will reportedly cover the cost of food and accommodations for tens of thousands of stranded travelers.

CNN's Lynda Kinkade has more now on what travelers are facing as they try to reach their destinations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Canceled, delayed, diverted. Words few travelers want to hear.

But it's a reality for many airline passengers around the globe after several major travel hubs closed or heavily restricted their airspace because of missile and drone strikes across the Middle East. That conflict resulting in travel chaos, long lines and long waits, upending many trips.

UNKNOWN: Unfortunately, our whole trip, our school canceled it, so we're no longer going to Dubai.

KINKADE (voice-over): Commercial flights in and out of Dubai have been suspended. Airports in Abu Dhabi, Doha and other regional hubs were also either shut down or subject to severe restrictions. All are popular transit points for long-haul travel.

And without these key connections, the flow of aircraft and flight crews has been disrupted. Many passengers left stranded.

UNKNOWN: We don't have any information, no one's telling us anything. We cannot get into contact with anyone. We're trying to go home, that's the only thing that we want.

KINKADE (voice-over): In one popular tourist destination, authorities in Bali, Indonesia, say more than 1600 tourists were stranded at the airport Sunday after flights to the Middle East were canceled or postponed. It's a headache all round. The new routes will likely be longer for passengers and the fuel costs higher for airlines.

At the Frankfurt airport in Germany, one passenger bound for Australia says she's trying to rebook after her flight was canceled. But it hasn't been easy.

UNKNOWN (through translator): The phone hotline is completely overloaded. We can't reach anyone, actually. It's not going so well at the moment.

KINKADE (voice-over): The disruptions are also a serious concern for people who work in the Middle East but live in different countries, like these migrant workers in Bangladesh, who say they're afraid they'll lose their jobs if they don't return soon.

Airlines are scrambling to reroute flights with some headed over Saudi Arabia, but it's unclear how long the disruptions could last. Right now, officials are urging people to check their flights and pack a lot of patience.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well one person has been killed and two others seriously injured after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a vessel in Bahrain's Salman Industrial City. This news just coming to CNN and this is from Bahraini state media.

The Bahrain News Agency reports the fire is under control and fully extinguished. The U.S. Navy base in Bahrain was targeted by an Iranian missile attack previously. Videos obtained by Reuters showed large plumes of smoke rising over a U.S. naval base on Sunday.

CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment on that, getting you the very latest breaking news here on CNN.

Well, celebrations, protests and deadly violence after the killing of Iran's supreme leader. I'm going to get you some global reaction to what is this war on Iran and how people around the world perceive it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Fresh explosions in Iran this morning as the U.S. and Israel continue their airstrikes there. Iranian state media say three people killed in strikes on a residential area in the west of the city, in the western city. U.S. Central Command released a video on social media saying its strikes on Iran do continue.

President Donald Trump says he expects the war with Iran to last four to five weeks. The conflict expanding further into the region as we have been extensively reporting. Israel saying it is targeting senior Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles and drones at an Israeli air base, Lebanese officials say 31 people have been killed in those Israeli strikes.

Well, across the globe there are people taking to the streets after Israel and the U.S. launched this war with Iran which of course killed the country's supreme leader on Saturday morning. Thousands of people in Yemen, in Iraq, Seoul, Toronto, protesting the strikes. Many can be seen waving Iranian flags and carrying pictures of Tehran's late supreme leader.

And 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 around the world supporting the war, particularly much of the far-flung Iranian diaspora in Istanbul. Iranian exiles handing out sweets and flowers while chanting against Iran's Islamic regime.

In London, thousands marched through the streets waving American and Israeli flags. In Rome, Iranian demonstrators came together waving pre-revolution Iranian flags, even dancing on effigies of the now- deceased supreme leader. [03:55:08]

(VIDEO PLAYING)

And a large crowd in New York chanting in support of President Trump and calling for regime change in Iran.

This, as polling shows, Americans do remain divided over Donald Trump's military actions. According to Reuters-Ipsos poll, 43 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the strikes while 29 percent support them. It is important to note those figures came in before the deaths of American service members were announced.

And Pope Leo says he is following events following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran with, and I quote him here, "with deep concern." Speaking as part of his weekly address in Vatican City, the Pope called on leaders to assume moral responsibility to prevent further conflict. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): I am following with deep concern what is happening in the Middle East and Iran at this dramatic time. Stability and peace cannot be built through mutual threats or with weapons that sow destruction, pain, and death. They can only be achieved through reasonable, genuine, and responsible dialogue.

Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I address a heartfelt appeal to the parties involved to assume moral responsibility to stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And later today, Monday, we are going to hear from the Pentagon for what will be its first public news conference since it launched Operation Fury. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine are scheduled to address reporters at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, that's just about four hours from now. And of course, we will bring you that when it happens.

I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi from our Middle East Programming Headquarters. I'll be right back with more of CNN's breaking news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)