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Smoke Seen Rising Near U.S. Embassy In Kuwait; Top Iranian Official - Tehran Will Not Negotiate With U.S.; Trump - War With Iran Could Last Four To Five Weeks; Kuwait - Several U.S. Military Aircraft Have Crashed Today; Iranian President - Revenge Is Country's Right And Duty; Iranian Deputy FM - Trump Crossed Very Dangerous Red Line; Saudi Def. Min. - 2 Drones Targeting Oil Refinery Intercepted; CNN Teams Report Explosions In Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha; Fighter Jet Crashes In Kuwait, Video Geolocated By CNN Shows; Sources: Trump Admin. To Brief Lawmakers On Iran Strikes. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. It is 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon here. The war with Iran rapidly escalating across this region. Here is the very latest new video obtained by Reuters and geolocated by CNN shows smoke rising from the area around the U.S. embassy in Kuwait today.

The embassy had earlier warned U.S. citizens to shelter in place. Tehran ramping up its retaliation and its rhetoric. Iran's Top Security Chief said earlier that Tehran will not negotiate with the United States. The Iranian Foreign Minister has also accused the U.S. and Israel of violating international law in a letter to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces escalating their attacks in Tehran and in Beirut, where Iranian backed Hezbollah militants have been targeted. Lebanese officials say at least 31 people have been killed and more than a 140 injured in what are these Israeli airstrikes across Southern Lebanon and on the capital, Beirut.

And on Sunday, President Trump told The New York Times that this conflict with Iran could last four to five weeks. That is the clearest indication yet of any possible time frame from the President. He now says operation epic furious, his administration is calling it, could last much longer and cost more lives than previously stated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And sadly, there will likely be more. Before it ends, that's the way it is. Likely be more, but we'll do everything possible where that won't be the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, we got teams covering this conflict across the regions. CNN's Oren Liebermann standing by in Tel Aviv for the perspective, from there. We've got Paula Hancocks who's in Dubai.

I want to get to Ivan Watson though first. And, Ivan, you've been monitoring what's been going on in Kuwait, and there are some key news lines out of that Gulf nation today, including the defense ministry. They're saying several U.S. military aircraft have crashed. They say all crews have survived. What is the very latest as we understand it?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We know what the Ministry of Defense has announced that several U.S. warplanes have crashed. We don't have a cause for that. And we assume that this must be connected to videos that CNN has been able to geolocate and verify showing, an F-15 fighter jet in a tailspin plunging from the sky and a separate video also geolocated to Kuwait showing a pilot descending in a parachute. We don't know if that's from one incident or more than one, but this is geolocated to be close to a U.S. airbase in Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti government is saying that all of the air crews from these multiple crashes, and again, we don't know the causes are accounted for. They've been rescued and are being treated in a hospital, and their condition is stable. CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command to try to learn more about just what could have taken place there.

The Iranian government vowing to carry out revenge attacks in response for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. The Iranian official Ali Larijani, who's one of the highest ranking officials surviving currently that we know of in the Iranian government has been defiant, and has taken aim with one post in English on acts saying, "Trump has betrayed America First to adopt Israel First."

Iranian government officials have talked about several hospitals being damaged in Tehran and other provinces. One of these hospitals, Gandhi Hospital in North Tehran, Iranian -- Iran's Ministry of Public Health saying all of the patients have been evacuated after it was damaged in an apparent bombardment.

The newest front in this expanding regional war is Lebanon with the Shiite militia Hezbollah announcing overnight going into the third day of this conflict that it was joining the fray, firing drones and projectiles at what it said was an Israeli military base south of the Israeli city of Haifa. This -- they said was in revenge for the killing of Iran's leader, Khamenei.

[04:05:00]

Israel, very quick to retaliate. The southern suburbs of Beirut were bombed before 3:00 a.m. local time, as was Southern Lebanon as well, triggering scenes of mass panic as people have been fleeing these areas. The Lebanese government, has criticized Hezbollah's attacks on Israel and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Becky?

ANDERSON: Ivan Watson, reporting. Thank you, Ivan. Good to have you with us this morning. CNN's, Oren Liebman joining us live from Tel Aviv now. And, Oren, the Israeli military has just said, and I "Here, all options are on the table for a potential ground operation in Lebanon." What more are you hearing there?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, was a short time ago that the Israeli Military Spokesperson Brigadier General Effi Defrin, gave a press briefing, and he was asked specifically about the possibility of a ground operation, a ground invasion into Lebanon. This has been something that has been speculated about and that Israel has prepared for over the course of the past several months, and certainly since a ceasefire, a nominal ceasefire at least went into effect between Israel and Hezbollah back in 2024.

Israel has repeatedly attacked Southern Lebanon accusing Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire by trying to rebuild and rearm, and Israel has gone after on a near daily basis, individual Hezbollah targets. But this -- this is on a much broader scale after Hezbollah even admitted they launched projectiles into Northern Israel into the overnight hours early, early this morning. Israel began a furious campaign of strikes in Southern Beirut, as Ivan pointed out, and that is expected to expand into Southern Lebanon where is Israel has issued evacuation warnings for more than 50 villages.

With the call up yesterday of some 100,000 reservists into the Israeli military on all fronts, That has increased the speculation that Israel is preparing for the possibility of a ground invasion. And, Becky, as you pointed out, when the Israeli military spokesperson was asked about that, he said all options are on the table. The Israeli political leadership and military had prepared for the possibility that this would be more than a one front war, that it wouldn't just remain between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other.

And that's what we're seeing here with Hezbollah entering the fray saying that their strikes or their projectile launch -- launches into Northern Israel are in revenge for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader. Where this goes from here? Well, we are seeing the expansion on the Northern front. It is likely that the 100,000 reservists Israel called up are also preparing for the possibility of lone wolf style attacks in the occupied West Bank.

So at this point, Israel knows this may, well expand here. We are still only on day three. And at least as of right now from where we stand here in Tel Aviv, it doesn't seem there is an obvious off ramp at this point. There was also more incoming fire from Iran, whether ballistic missiles or drones that part remains unclear. Several hours ago, we heard those interceptions from our hotel here in Tel Aviv. So Israel preparing for the possibility of more incoming.

The streets of Tel Aviv here behind me on what should be a busy workday, very calm at this point. Becky, and I should tell you my IFB just cut out a moment ago.

ANDERSON: That's the way he and I communicate, which, basically means, he can't talk to me anymore, but he's done his job superbly as ever, Oren Liebermann in Tel Aviv. Paula Hancocks is in Dubai, which had several loud blasts earlier today. Paula, the UAE has shot down more than 90% of Iran's drones and missiles fired at it. It has, though, uniquely. It's been uniquely targeted by Iran more than other Gulf countries. What do we know at this point?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It has, Becky. If you look at the latest figures that we have from ministry -- ministries of defense across the Gulf. There are significantly more missiles and drones that have been targeting the UAE since this began. This -- these figures are from Sunday. This is the latest that we have heard at this point, so we know that they will be higher now because we've been seeing and hearing interceptions overhead. But here, there were a 165 ballistic missiles shot down, two cruise missiles, and 541 drones.

It is an unprecedented attack from Iran against the UAE and across the whole of the Gulf. The second is Kuwait, almost a 100 missiles with more than 280 drones being shot down, and we know that there are still more incoming. This is -- this has not quieted down at all this Monday. We're hearing, that in Bahrain, there's been one person killed, two seriously injured, when debris from an intercepted missile or drone, hits a foreign vessel in the industrial city.

[04:10:00]

It sparked a fire. And we know that here in the UAE, there have been three people killed, because of the falling debris, that comes from these interceptions in the air. And that's really the most dangerous part of it at this point.

When you say just how many of these projectiles are being intercepted and being shot down, the air defense systems are working across the Gulf. But, of course, this is why governments are saying shelter in place, stay inside. Everyone is doing online schooling. People are being advised to work from home. They don't want people out on the streets because of what is falling from the interceptions, of these missiles.

But there is anger here, among these leaders. We know that on Sunday, there was a meeting of the GCC leaders, discussing what is happening. It's been a unifying effect certainly on these leaders. They had a joint statement. I'll read you a couple of the quotes from it. They condemned the dangerous escalation, which they said violates sovereignty of multiple states. They also said what Iran is doing is, "reckless and destabilizing." So there is a level of anger that they have been brought into this.

Even though many of these nations said to the United States, you cannot use our air bases. You cannot use our airspace if you are going to carry out these attacks. And they were lobbying on -- they lobbying the U.S. President trying to convince him not to go ahead with this. So they felt that they had distanced themselves, from what was, unfortunately about to happen, but that's not the way that Tehran sees it.

And, certainly, we are seeing a significant amount of impact, and incoming when it comes to the UAE in particular, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Paula. Thank you. Paula is in Dubai. We will be right back. I'm Becky Anderson here at our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Back after this.

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[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Kuwait's Ministry of Defense says several U.S. military aircraft crashed on Monday. They have said that all crew have survived. This video appears to show a pilot parachuting to the ground after a fighter jet crashed, crashed near U.S. base in the area. CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command for comment. CENTCOM has said that its strikes on Iran continue.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he expects a war with Iran to last four to five weeks. Iran's top national security official says his country will not negotiate with the United States saying Donald Trump has plunged the region into chaos with false hopes and misleading negotiations.

Well, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister says U.S. President Trump has crossed, "A very dangerous red line by killing Iran's Supreme Leader." In an exclusive interview with CNN's Fred Pleitgen, he adds the many Shiite followers across the world will react to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: We are in national mourning. What happened was very unfortunate, and millions of people right now are marching through the streets. They are gathering in different religious sites, not only in Iran, but also across the region. On a very personal level, the leader was the man of dignity. He was very much insisting on dignity. So that was the reward that a man of almost 90-years-old, all of which trying to stand on the side -- right side of history could be awarded.

You have to know that he was a very great, religious leader, and millions of followers should decide about the reaction to that.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Who do you think that the successor to the Supreme Leader to Ali Ayatollah Khamenei could be at the as the next Supreme Leader?

KHATIBZADEH: This is a very transcendental, like, if I can use this word, a position. The position is not just political. It is religious, political, social. So it is not an easy job to find a person fit to that, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But the point is that there is no stop in governing the government or the society or the country. Our constitution is very much clear -- crystal clear about how we have to do it, and now this committee is going to run the country. PLEITGEN: President Trump has come out and warned Iran not to use harsh retaliation or the United States would respond with something that the world has never seen before. What do you say to that?

KHATIBZADEH: If 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, but there was no necessity to start this aggression. That was act of aggression. And that, you can ask those who were in the meeting in Geneva. You can ask Omani Foreign Minister or Mr. Grossi. That was a breakthrough meeting.

Kushner, Witkoff, and those people who were in the meeting. The terms and conditions of the agreements was there to the extent that we decided to meet on Monday in Vienna with Mr. Grossi to wrap up and nail it down. And then all of a sudden, again, Trump cheated. Again, they conspired behind the scene and they started act of aggression.

PLEITGEN: One of the things that we're seeing is that your forces are hitting a lot of targets in Gulf countries. Now I know that the Gulf countries were involved in trying to prevent this war. Why are you doing that?

[04:20:00]

KHATIBZADEH: We are not attacking any neighbors that we do have. We did our best to make an approach one with them. They know that. We communicated with them either to shut down those American bases that are constantly threatening Iran and are constantly using to offend on Iran, or we have no option just to push back. We cannot reach out to American soil, so we have no option just to attack any basis which is under U.S. jurisdiction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, for more, I want to bring in Dr. Majed al-Ansari, adviser to the Qatar Prime Minister and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You heard the Deputy Foreign Minister there saying our fight is not with the Gulf. The problem is, U.S. have, the Gulf countries around this region been taking significant incoming fire from Iran? Just get us up to speed on exactly the scope and scale of these attacks on Qatar Majed.

DR. MAJED AL-ANSARI, SPOKESPERSON, QATAR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Thank you, Becky. Right now, as it stands, we have had already more than a 100 missiles and squads of drones launched at our country. And contrary to what the Deputy Prime Minister was saying, a lot of them were targeting civilian infrastructure, were targeting our infrastructure.

They were not only targeting American forces that operate out of the Qatari (inaudible). Thankfully, our men in uniform and women in uniform have been able to thwart most of these attacks. Almost all the missiles were downed with very minimal damage from those that have hit their targets, and we are right now engaged fully in protecting our country from that aggression. As the airport in Qatar had there were attempts multiple attempts at targeting the airport. Thankfully, all of them have failed, but this is a clear sign that the targeting is not only towards military infrastructure. It's targeting also civilian and commercial infrastructure. And, Qatar is a transit hub internationally. At the time of the attack when we were forced to close down our airspace, there were more than almost 8,000 transit passengers who are still here in in Doha.

The government has taken all precautions, put them in safety in hotels inside the Doha and vacated the airport. And, of course, we're monitoring the situation and the -- our military and our interior ministry are working around the clock to deal with any shrapnel that has fallen down and caused some damage. We had around 20 injuries till now. Most of them have been minor injuries, and our hospitals are dealing with them as we speak.

ANDERSON: And on Sunday, I just have to sort of underscore. Qatar announced that it had successfully repelled what was a large scale Iranian attack of 65 ballistic missiles and 12 drones. Those totals, and it seem at this point, may rise. And let's talk about what you're preparing for going forward. But I just wonder whether you can just detail more of these interception operations, if you will. I mean, is this evolving to include both surface to air and fighter jets at this point?

AL-ANSARI: Yes. I can confirm that both are in use right now. Our Patriot Defense Systems are operational, and most of the attacks have been repelled by them. But now also fighter jets have been involved. Our pilots have downed some drones and some incoming projectiles. And as I said, the whole army is ready to deal with it in every way possible.

And as you have seen in our statement, we reserve the right to retaliate, and it is with our leadership right now. But, obviously, this cannot go unanswered. A price has to be paid for this blatant attack on our people, on the safety of the people and residents from 140 different nationalities living here in Qatar.

We have always championed peace in the region. We've always championed peaceful means in solving conflict in the region, especially with Iran where we have, in the past, mediated between Iran and Western countries and the U.S. A number of times, we were heavily supporting the Omani led negotiations that were taking place until this escalation, but an attack like this cannot go unanswered and cannot be left without retaliation.

Last time we were attacked by Iran because of these escalations, we decided to opt for peace because there was a chance for peace at the time, but this cannot happen every time.

ANDERSON: Yeah. I just want to ask you, just how long can Qatar keep up this sort of rate of interception?

AL-ANSARI: We are ready to defend our country, as long as it takes. We have had these contingencies in place for a really long time, especially that our country was attacked two times, once by Iran, once by Israel, last year.

[04:25:00]

And therefore, all the contingencies are in place, and we're ready for the long on this. But, obviously, we are working also to make sure that, we are safe from a political and diplomatic point of view.

ANDERSON: I just want to -- as you are speaking, we're just getting into CNN some new news. Saudi Arabia has intercepted two drones at its, Ras Tanura refinery according to its Defense Ministry Spokesperson. It's one of Saudi Arabia's largest oil feed fields, of course, and of huge economic significance. I wonder if you can just give me your response to that breaking news and what steps Qatar is taking to protect its economic assets, its gas assets. You've said that you've as well join -- signed this joint statement which, with other Gulf partners and the United States, gives you the right to respond.

And I just want to know what that that self-defense or that response might look like. Let's just start with how you are securing your economic interests at this point and how concerned you are about these non-military targets?

AL-ANSARI: Becky, of course, we are gravely concerned because we have seen the pattern for the past couple of days of targeting civilian infrastructure and commercial infrastructure in Qatar and in the region. We stand in solidarity, of course, with our neighbors in the GCC countries and in Jordan who were attacked in the course of this escalation. Our leaders have been talking constantly for the past couple of days and coordinating between them along with the United States.

You have seen, of course, the joint statement that was announced. And yesterday, there was a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the GCC to coordinate a response to these blatant attacks. As I said, the response, the time, and the manner of responses with our leaders and the decision will be taken with them, but it cannot go unanswered.

When it comes to our economic facilities, the offshore facilities that we have and the onshore facilities, I can assure you that our military has taken all possible precautions in making sure that all these places are defended and that the people working over there are safe. We've mandated a work from home for everybody working in Qatar at the moment, and we're asking everybody to shelter in place for the time being.

And we've done our airspace in anticipation of any such attacks, but we are confident in our abilities. With Iran, we've been working with them very closely on a lot of things, but we also had our disputes with them. For 14 years, we were at odds when it comes to the support of Bashar regimes -- Bashar's regime in Syria. We know the threat that that constituted to the region, and therefore, right now, we are defending our country against these attacks, but we will always opt for peace when there is a chance to have it.

ANDERSON: So the adviser to the President here, Anwar Gargash, has called on Iran to come to its senses. I mean, is Qatar's leadership in touch with Tehran? And if so, who do you have open lines with? I mean, it's not clear who is leading the country at present. Iran's Top Security Chief, Ali Larijani, has just said he will not negotiate with the United States. He said Trump's wishful thinking has dragged the whole nation into an unnecessary war with, "False hopes and misleading negotiations."

I mean, where does that leave Qatar and the region? And again, I put it to you. Are you speaking to Tehran? And if so, to whom at this point?

AL-ANSARI: As of this moment, we are not engaging with the government. We are busy as you might imagine defending our country and making sure that the people in Qatar are safe. And we will always have chance communication open, but at this moment, we are not contacting the Iranians. What we believe in right now is that however this drags on, at the end, solution will be made at the dialogue table. Solution will be made to negotiations, and that has to be done at one time or another when this escalation is over.

But right now, our focus is on keeping our people safe, keeping our region safe, coordinating with our partners in the region and beyond to make sure that all of these attacks do minimal damage to our people, to our economy, and that we are able to withstand these attacks. And to this point, I think the military has shown that we are more than capable in defending ourselves.

[04:30:02]

ANDERSON: I just must ask briefly, was Qatar given any heads up of these U.S.-Israel coordinated strikes on Iran Saturday morning?

AL ANSARI: We had not been aware of the attacks, but we are in close coordination with our strategic allies in the U.S. and working shoulder to shoulder with them on everything that's happening on the ground right now

ANDERSON: Majed al Ansari, it's good to have you on. Thank you very much indeed. And I wish you well.

A lot more on the war with Iran still to come, including a live report from Doha where our teams on the ground have been hearing explosions today as Iran ramps up its retaliation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:35:07]

ANDERSON: While you're watching CNN, this is our breaking news. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

Time is just after 1:30 in the afternoon here. It is day three of the Israeli and United States war with Iran. And this conflict is spreading across the wider Gulf region. Kuwait's ministry of defense this morning says that several United

States military aircraft crashed on Monday, and that all crews survived. Now, this video just into our newsroom shows what appears to be fighter jet pilots 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 is unable to verify which nation's military the pilot and the jet belong to, or what caused the aircraft to crash.

Meantime, in Lebanon, Israeli forces are ramping up their attacks there. So far, Lebanese officials say at least 31 people have died and over 140 more were injured by the Israeli strikes. And this comes as President Trump warns that this war could last weeks and that more U.S. service members lives may be lost.

On Sunday, he released a video in which he calls on Iranians to seize their government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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: Well, Bader Al-Saif is a history professor at Kuwait University, joins me now live from Kuwait City.

And I've just sort of gone through what are some remarkable developments where you are. So exactly what do we know about what you've seen and heard on the ground, Bader?

BADER AL-SAIF, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, KUWAIT UNIVERSITY: It's been a long night, Becky. And basically, the Iranians are raising the ante. This is way beyond U.S. installations and military bases.

We've seen them go at different facilities and infrastructures in the past day and a half to two days. And this just explains to you that this is an existential war to them. And they've made themselves clear on where they stand and where they want to go, forward. And so has the Israelis when it comes to the end of the regime in Iran.

What's interesting in all of this is where the U.S. stands. Confusion reigns supreme in the U.S. calculus. Now, is this done on purpose as part of a master strategy, or is this the lack of options or the lack of clarity? I seem to side with the latter because there needs to be some sort of understanding of what they're doing on the ground.

In the past two days, they've been very congratulatory across the U.S. about the elimination of Khamenei. But they need to understand that they've also helped the Iranians decentralize their power structures in the last two years, ever since the direct attacks between Iran and Israel started in 2024, you see lines of succession all cleared up. You see command and control structures upended. And that means that the regime will continue to operate in some form and shape.

Our fear in the Gulf is and the Gulf states are in a bind, Becky. Our fear is we're going to see a rendition or a repetition of the Iraq scenario during the Saddam years where you end up with a an isolated, paranoid neighbor. Not that they haven't been in the past few years, but then that would be even more upon us. And then we in the Gulf states would be bearing the brunt of all of that.

ANDERSON: So, I want to split the next question into two. I want you to talk to us about what you understand to be Kuwait's coordinate -- coordination with the U.S. and how Kuwait may be planning to handle more attacks there. Is there conversation being had about future action against Tehran? And on the other side, you know, what might Kuwait and the other Gulf nations want to hear from the U.S. today?

For example, we've got a press conference being held by Pete Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chairman Dan Caine at 8:00, which is about four hours or 3-1/2 hours from now. One assumes that we're going to hear a little bit more about strategy at that point.

[04:40:03]

Let's start with the first sort, Kuwait perspective, if you will.

AL-SAIF: Becky, Kuwait, more than any other Gulf states, knows what the cost of war is we've been, you know? We're part of that cycle for way too long and we are coordinating very closely with our fellow Gulf states. You saw that joint declaration or statement that came out with the U.S. as well.

And I would like to distinguish in that statement it's us working on countering Iranian threats and not the Gulf states explicitly joining U.S., Israeli attacks on Iran. I think that needs to be distinguished.

And the situation is fluid. I think there needs to be a clear plan on how to move forward beyond declarations, beyond recalling the ambassadors, as we saw yesterday in one of the Gulf states. I think there needs to be a coordinated action, and the Iranians are betting on the pressure swaying the Gulf states then to pressure the U.S. in their stead.

And that -- that's -- I mean, we've been there, we've done that prior to the war, and raising the cost is not going to translate to easy wins for Iran. So, they're heading a gamble here. And I think they are doing their best to push us into the U.S. Israeli camp, a position that we've been trying very hard not to be in because we see the long term and the long term is about stability. It's about prosperity.

We have our own agenda to move forward with and it's a very ambitious agenda and it doesn't mean that we can entertain this kind of chaos in the process.

ANDERSON: To your point and this joint statement signed with the United States, of course, overnight, and which reserves the right on the part of the Gulf states to respond, you're saying, if I'm clear about this, that that response should be in defense of those individual states rather than joining -- taking a sort of switching into a combat role in support of the U.S. and Israel, because that, of course, is an option at this point, isn't it?

AL-SAIF: It is an option. But I think if we understand how the Gulf states have operated in the past, they are very calculating. They're very careful in their options. And they go -- they tend to go into gradual steps. So that to me makes sense to spend more time on defending our own citizens, infrastructures.

I mean, look some have been enjoy -- they're being -- I mean, I'm hearing, you know, people who are critics of the Gulf states having the time of their life that were being attacked. And I tell them, look, this is a seasonal episode. It doesn't undermine the stability and the reputation and the brand that the Gulf states have built for themselves. We've been able to intercept almost all of those missiles and drones, and this will continue to be the process until we find a better way forward to defend ourselves against Israel -- against Iranian aggression that was spurred by the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran.

ANDERSON: Can I just ask you who -- given what you know about the sort of the lay of the land now in Iran, who's running the place? And who will the Gulf states if any -- if at all, be dealing with at this point?

Ali Larijani, for example, has said not interested in any negotiations with the U.S. He is the Iranian top security asset at present. I mean, to your mind, who's running the show at this point?

AL-SAIF: That's a good question. And it goes to my point earlier. And the resilience of the regime by decentralizing its command structure, we have to be very vigilant and cautious on how to move forward. What Larijani has said contradicts what President Trump has said yesterday concerning the willingness of the new leadership to talk. And I think you have strange elements of truth in both statements, and that's -- that's -- reinforces the confusion that we're living through.

And I think the gulf states continue to push for the diplomatic track. I know that that file has not stopped, regardless of the attacks that we've been sustaining by Iran. And that's the wise way forward. And I think that's where we need to put our bets on. And as you know, with President Trump, everything is expected. I mean, he declared a few days of operations when he announced it on Saturday. We can find ourselves in a few weeks long combat operation in the region or we can find ourselves in the next day with the Iranians and the Americans talking to one another.

That's part of the, you know, mix that comes with the Trump administration.

ANDERSON: Bader, it's always good to have you on particularly important as we continue to watch these images coming out of Kuwait today, and continue to monitor what is going on there and around the region. It's important that we get your analysis. Thank you, sir. Bader Al-Saif out of Kuwait for you today.

And stay with CNN. We're going to have a lot more of our continuing coverage of the war with Iran just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:22]

ANDERSON: All right. You're watching CNN. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East program headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

The Trump administration expected to brief the congressional leaders known as the Gang of Eight, and other top lawmakers on these 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 but he did not offer a full legal justification for the military action. Sources also tell CNN that the full House and Senate will be briefed on Tuesday.

Lawmakers, including some Republicans, have denounced the Trump administration for launching what is a massive assault on Iran without seeking congressional approval.

Let's get you then back into region to our senior producer, Bijan Hosseini. He's live for us in Doha as this war has expanded across the region.

So, we have this hour heard from the adviser to the Qatar prime minister providing a message of reassurance for the people of Qatar, confident that the country's defenses are working against what has been a huge battery of strikes.

What did you make of what he said and what did you -- what were your key takeouts?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yeah. That conversation with Dr. Al Ansari, he said more than 100 missiles and drones have been launched at the country in three days of Iran's retaliation. We know on day one, there were 65 missiles, 12 drones, which they said they intercepted, 64 of those and 11 of those, just kind of showing the efficacy of those Patriot air defense missiles.

We also know that they have deployed Eurofighter Typhoon jets, and so has the Royal Air Force here. So they're also using fighter jets to intercept some of those strikes from Iran. Multiple attempts at targeting the airport, he said, all of which have failed. And it was interesting that he said that the total number of injuries up to 20 yesterday, we heard 16 from the ministry of interior, so adding four additional injuries to that list, we believe that's probably from debris or shrapnel from these interceptions.

And almost 8,000 transit passengers stranded in Doha. We just heard a little over an hour ago, Hamad international airport, Doha's main airport, on X, saying that the airport remains closed. They were asking people to avoid traveling to the airport at this time. Also in guidance with the emergency alert system, which has been asking people to stay inside until the danger has passed.

Schools are closed, as you know, businesses are operating in a very limited structure. We also know that there's two cruise ships in the gulf, at least from this German cruise line, Mein Schiff, one in Abu Dhabi, parked up next to you, and one in Doha's port, nearby us. They have said that passengers are staying on board and are being looked for and accounted for.

And we also heard from two German tourists who were on their way from New Zealand back to Germany, on the flight through Doha, through Hamad International Airport, who were stranded. They say they have been given hotels, they feel they've been looked after, but also a very scary time for them -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Bijan, good to have you. Bijan is in Doha monitoring the story there.

Right. People across the globe are taking to the streets after Israel and the U.S. launched this war with Iran, killing the country's supreme leader. There are those who are demonstrating against these strikes. The people of Yemen, Iraq, Seoul and Toronto are protesting the strikes. Many could be seen waving Iranian flags and carrying pictures of Tehran's late supreme leader.

And in Pakistan, violence Sunday at a U.S. consulate in Karachi. Ten people killed there after protesters breached the facilities barriers.

Others around the world are supporting this war, particularly much of the far-flung Iranian diaspora. In Istanbul, Iranian exiles handing out sweets and flowers whilst chanting you can see there against Iran's Islamic regime. In London, thousands marched through the streets, waving American and Israeli flags. And in Rome, we've seen Iranian demonstrators coming together waving pre-revolution Iranian flags. See some images there of people dancing on effigies of what is now the deceased supreme leader.

And across the U.S., officials are increasing law enforcement presence following these strikes, most notably in New York and Los Angeles.

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Officials say there's been no credible threat so far. But local and federal agencies are monitoring potential risks. Meanwhile, overseas, American officials are bracing for potential suicide attacks in addition to more retaliatory missile strikes. Sources say attackers could possibly use car bombs, warning Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Qatar are most at risk.

I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East programming headquarters. I will be right back with more of our breaking news coverage after this quick break. Wherever you are watching in the world, you are more than welcome.

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