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IDF Says New Wave of Strikes Launched Against Iran; Gulf Nations Report New Strikes After Iran's Apology; Dignified Transfer Held for Six U.S. Troops Killed in Iran War; Israel Air Strikes Hit Beirut; International Reaction to Iran War; Israel Says It Will Target New Iranian Leader; China: Must Avoid "the Flames of War" Spreading. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 08, 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]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta.

Israel is moving to the next phase of its war with Iran, launching a new wave of strikes. The Israeli Defense Force says it's targeting military sites across the country. And we're just learning that Israel's Air Force hit a number of Iran's F-14 fighter jets at Isfahan Airport. A source tells CNN that Israel is also hitting energy resources in the country. Video shows a massive fire burning near a fuel storage facility in Tehran. We've also seen flames and smoke rising from an oil refinery in the capital.

U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to escalate attacks. He says he does not want to involve the Kurdish armed forces in the fight, but he's not ruling out the possibility of U.S. boots on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the circumstances where you'd send in ground troops? How are you thinking about that?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't even want to talk about it now. I don't think it's an appropriate question. You know, I'm not going to answer it. Could there be? Possibly, for very good reason. Have to be very good reason. And I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn't be able to fight at the ground level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: All of this comes as Iran's Gulf neighbors report a new wave of strikes after the Iranian president apologized. Kuwait says it's fending off drone and missile attacks that set fire to a fuel storage facility and a high-rise government building. Bahrain's interior ministry says falling missile fragments wounded three people and damaged a building at a university. We're also getting reports of attacks in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

And the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in Kuwait have now returned home to their families. The soldiers were part of an Army reserve unit from Iowa. They died when an Iranian drone struck their makeshift operations center last Sunday. The U.S. president, vice president and other top officials attended the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. During the somber and solemn event, Donald Trump wore a white hat with gold USA lettering. He called it a sad day but said he expects to attend more dignified transfers as, quote, "a part of the war."

Well, we are following this story from all over the Middle East, Paula Hancocks is joining us live from Dubai. But first I want to go to our Oren Lieberman in Tel Aviv. Good to have you both with us. Oren, Israel says it will keep hitting Iran with all of its might and will launch another broad-scale round of strikes inside of Iran. What can you tell us about this latest strike, especially when it comes to the targets?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Lynda, we're seeing the effects of Israel's latest strikes from these videos from Iran and from Tehran showing fuel storage facilities burning and oil refineries burning. That, according to an Israeli source, is Israel's next phase of the war.

Over the course of the first eight or nine days, we saw Israel, in coordination with the U.S., striking at the Iranian regime, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and effectively all of the power centers of the Iranian government, not only in Tehran but across the country. That, of course, on top of the assassinations at the beginning of the war last Saturday.

Now, we're seeing a new set of targets, that in going after, again, fuel storage facilities of Iran as well as oil refineries. After going after the power centers, it now appears as if Israel and the U.S. are going after the ability of the Iranian government, Iran itself, to make money and to finance its government, its military and everything it needs to keep on fighting and effectively to keep on holding the regime together. So, that, it seems, as this moves forward, is the new set of targets that Israel is going after and that Israel is targeting.

At the same time, we do still see them targeting ballistic missiles arrays and launchers. That has been a goal since the very beginning. We still do see Iran able to retaliate. We had a warning siren at about 7.30 this morning, warning of incoming missile fire, and that has frequently happened, or at least regularly happened, pretty much since the war began. So, Iran has retained at least some capability to fire back here on day nine, as we see Israel, of course, and the United States still going after in a very big way and hitting the targets in Iran.

[04:05:00]

KINKADE: And, of course, despite the six Americans already killed in this week's old war, President Trump says the U.S. is prepared to escalate and insists that there is no shortage of munitions. Oren, what can you tell us about Israel's capability and its readiness for a prolonged conflict?

LIEBERMANN: Well, Israel is, of course, and especially the government and the military are, of course, very careful in talking about their stockpiles, how many munitions they have, how many air interceptors they have, because those are so important here, not just in this war, but over the course of the past two and a half years. Still, from what we've seen on the defensive side first, Israel has been able to intercept the vast majority of Iranian ballistic missile launches.

We have also seen, as Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, as they have fired, we have seen interceptions of drones and missiles with what appears to be Iron Dome. That's the short-range interception system. So, at least from what we can observe on the ground now, Israel has the defensive capabilities in place to stay in this war, especially as the military says they have degraded the number of incoming missiles from Iran, so that helps to avoid the pressure on the interceptor missile stockpiles.

In terms of the offensive side, the ability to keep on striking, we see that on a daily basis, and we've also seen cargo flights coming in, likely restocking Israel's munitions as they show no sign of letting up on those strikes in Iran.

KINKADE: All right. Oren Liebermann, staying across all those developments from Tel Aviv. Thanks to you. I want to go to you, Paula Hancocks, who's joining us live from Dubai. Paula, you know, 24 hours ago, we heard from Iran's president saying Tehran would stop targeting Gulf nations, but Iranian missiles and drones have continued striking across the region. What are officials saying there about the escalating threat?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda, if anything, we feel as though we're hearing more emergency alerts and more interceptions since the Iranian president said that on Saturday morning. Now, there was certainly some hope after the Iranian president said that Iran would not be targeting neighboring countries so long as attacks didn't come from those neighboring countries.

But then, fairly quickly, it was clear that the Iranian president was not speaking for the military, didn't appear to be speaking for those individuals who were in charge of the missiles and drones because they continued to come into the UAE and other Gulf nations. The UAE has by far been the hardest hit with Iran's retaliation.

Now, we saw just about an hour ago, we had an emergency alert here, we heard an interception. A couple of hours ago, down in Abu Dhabi, they had a similar situation. And on Saturday night here in Dubai, we know that one person was killed as debris from an interception fell onto a car that they were in. We know also Dubai Marina, a building was hit by debris there, residents being evacuated out of neighboring buildings.

So, it certainly doesn't feel as though there is any let-up in this Iranian retaliation. We did see a very rare sighting of the UAE leader having an actual interview, which is really quite unusual, Mohamed bin Zayed saying that even though the UAE is reacting this way, do not mistake it for weakness. The UAE is strong. And he also referred to Iran as the enemy.

Now, that's a significant shift in rhetoric from one of the Gulf nations, one of the Gulf nations that refused to let the U.S. use its military bases before this war started, or its airspace, one of the Gulf nations that was lobbying the U.S. President Donald Trump not to attack Iran. But we have heard increasing anger from these Gulf nations that they have come under this unprecedented level of attack from Iran, despite the fact that they were trying to distance themselves from what the U.S. and what Israel wanted to do. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Paula Hancock says stay safe there. We will check in with you again soon. Well, joining us now from London is Fawaz Gerges. He is a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He's also the author of "The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East." Professor, good to see you. Thanks for your time.

FAWAZ GERGES, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Thank you.

KINKADE: So, you've described this conflict as a war of choice launched by the United States and Israel. Now, one week into this conflict, both Washington and Tel Aviv say they are prepared to escalate. From your perspective, what factors are driving this rapid intensification, and what does it tell us about the strategic calculations on both sides?

[04:10:00]

GERGES: Well, I think what we are seeing now, and this is the second week of the war, is that the war is spiraling out of control. It's spreading out across the Middle East. It is escalating. Thousands of civilian casualties. Now, the war has turned economic.

Basically, last night, as we understand, Israel attacked Iran's economic infrastructure. Israeli prime minister said that the idea is to weaken the state's capacity and trigger change. What do you mean by regime change? What we have seen in the past two weeks is that the Iranian regime is much more resilient than the Americans and the Israelis had thought.

I mean, the underlying premises of the American-Israeli war have proven to be false. That somehow, once they kill the supreme leader and top leaders, the Iranian regime would collapse like a ripened fruit. The reality is the Iranian leadership has proven to be adaptive, dynamic. In fact, we have many reports from inside Iran that more and more Iranians are rallying around the flag. So, in fact, far from being weakened, the Iranian regime now seems to be stronger.

Last night, the de facto leader of Iran, Ali Larijani, was really running the government now. He was basically selected by the late supreme leader to run the war country. He made it very clear. He said, the people are with us. The leadership is united. And the people want us to defend and resist the American-Israeli war. On the American side, it's very difficult to keep up with President Trump's rhetoric on a daily basis. He is all over the map. He changes his mind on a daily basis, not only for the rationale for the war itself, but the endgame as well. And in fact, I don't envy, truly, the American military and political establishment trying to keep up with President Trump's shifting words on a daily basis. And this tells you a great deal, that there is no endgame, a defined, viable endgame on the part of the United States.

And Israel -- even though Israel knows much better what it wants, it wants really to do as much damage and destroy as much as possible of Iran's state capacity. But at the end of the day now, what we are today, I don't see an end to this really dangerous and consequential war throughout the Middle East.

KINKADE: Yes, it's interesting, Professor, how you point out that the regime in Iran seems to be showing solidarity. I just want to play some sound from the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI LARIJANI, SECRETARY OF IRAN'S SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (through translator): I must express, I think the most important problem the Americans have is that their mentality is not one that understands the West Asia region, especially Iran. Imagine, for example, in Venezuela. They did something, then thought, for example, they could repeat it here, whereas here, there is another form of mentality that reigns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Did the U.S. overestimate the power of the protests, that massive protest movement that we saw in Iran?

GERGES: Let me give your viewers a glimpse of American strategy based not on President Trump's words and rhetoric, and we know that he basically speaks off the cuff. I mean, we should not take President's words very seriously because, first of all, he's unpredictable, he's temperamental, and I don't exaggerate.

Just a week before the war, a combined intelligence report by the American National Intelligence Council, which is the combined report of all American intelligence services, the finding of the report a week before the American-Israeli war on Iran, said, quote/unquote, "even a large-scale American war against Iran will unlikely topple the Iranian government."

This is the combined intelligence assessment of all intelligence services, more than a dozen American intelligence services. But obviously, President Trump, knowing who he is, the temperamental and the unpredictable, was convinced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the war will be easy, the war will be uncostly, the war will be a great victory.

[04:15:00] Iran was very vulnerable on its knees. All you need is to really deliver a fatal blow, kill the supreme leader and the top leaders, and everything will be fine, regime change.

Here we are now, major strategic miscalculation on the part of the United States. Thousands of people are being killed. Iran's neighbors are being terribly hurt. The world economy is suffering a great deal, oil, gas prices, inflation. This tells you a great deal, that in fact, in the United States itself, it's the American intelligence and political and geopolitical community that's keeping up with President Trump's words on a daily basis, and there's no strategy, no viable strategy.

KINKADE: Yes.

GERGES: And this war, this war of choice, would really go on for a long time and have devastating effects, not just on the Middle East and Iran's and Lebanon and the neighborhood, but the world economy as well.

KINKADE: Yes, you have to wonder whether President Trump, whether he read this intelligence report or whether he acknowledged it and just completely rejected it. Time will tell. We will find out, I'm sure. Professor Fawaz Gerges, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.

GERGES: Thanks.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, Israeli airstrikes are raining down on the Lebanese capital. We're going to go live to Beirut in just a moment. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

KINKADE: An Israeli airstrike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The location is unusual. Most strikes have targeted the southern suburbs, which is a Hezbollah stronghold. The Israeli defense forces say the attack was targeting a commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the country since Israel launched its bombing campaign on Monday.

Lebanon has seen the most intense violence outside of Iran, seen as Matthew Chance reports from the capital, Beirut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a city on edge, tensions quickly boil over. This anti-Israel rally in Beirut, anger over airstrikes on Lebanon and Iran, was soon directed at us.

CHANCE: We've just been told to get out because we're not welcome. We're going, we're going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) you. (INAUDIBLE) America. (INAUDIBLE) Trump.

RANIA, PROTESTER: I'm trying to tell them no, we need to deliver our message.

CHANCE: Yes.

RANIA: So, don't worry.

CHANCE: So, what message do you want to deliver here tonight?

RANIA: That Israel is all evil. We've been suffering from Israel since before 1948. We support all forms of resistance.

CHANCE (voice-over): For a week now, Lebanon has been pounded. Israel says it's targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah after the militia launched missiles and drones to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader. This is where it happened.

MAGUY CHEBLI, HOTEL OWNER: It started from the roof.

CHANCE (voice-over): But the owner of one wrecked Beirut hotel in an upscale Christian neighborhood told CNN just ordinary families were her guests. No Iranian citizens and definitely no Hezbollah, who she blames for the spiralling violence.

CHEBLI: And we are not that stupid to check them in. We are not that stupid. We live here. It's our home.

CHANCE: How angry are you --

CHEBLI: I am angry, of course.

CHANCE: -- with Hezbollah, right now?

CHEBLI: I am angry with Hezbollah and Israel and Iran, but Hezbollah more. You know why?

CHANCE: Why?

CHEBLI: Because they are Lebanese. They should be Lebanese. They are not. They are hurting us. They are hurting our homes, our children.

CHANCE (voice-over): It's dragged ordinary Lebanese, many ordered by Israel to evacuate their homes, into the Iran wall. Workers say they're now struggling to shelter hundreds of thousands on the move.

CHANCE: We've come to this school in the center of Beirut. You can see the children's murals on the wall. But it's no longer a school. It is a camp for people who have been displaced by the fighting in South Beirut and Southern Lebanon. And in each of these classrooms, there are families who are escaping the fighting and they've come to come here for safety.

CHANCE (voice-over): The children woke up screaming, says Ali Shams (ph), who fled the suburbs of South Beirut with his family. We just ran, carrying them through the night, he told me. Now, we're all homeless.

It's easy to see why they left.

CHANCE: We've come into what is the most dangerous part of the Lebanese capital, which is a very important stronghold of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group. It's the place where Israel has been focusing, and you can hear the gunshots outside there, that Israel has been focusing its activity, its intensive campaign of airstrikes against the Hezbollah group.

CHANCE (voice-over): The destruction is massive and plain to see. And Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah, as we found out, is still far from over.

CHANCE: OK. We've got to go because they said there's been a warning from the Israelis that there could be a strike coming in. So, we've got to get out of here, Alex.

CHANCE (voice-over): Matthew Chance, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: World leaders have been closely watching the latest events in the war with Iran. Just ahead, reaction from Europe and why Chinese officials fear the conflict could spread further.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

[04:25:00]

KINKADE: Hello and welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade live in Atlanta.

Iranian state media report that Tehran is close to choosing its next supreme leader. But Israel's military says it will target any successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as those involved in selecting that leader. The warning comes as Iranian drones and missiles have been raining down on its neighbors. An enormous fire raging at a government building in Kuwait after a wave of drone attacks.

The statement says two fuel depots at Kuwait's international airport were also targeted. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also reported new Iranian strikes. But in Tehran, multiple oil facilities caught on fire overnight after Israel said they would be among the next targets. Israel also says it hit Iranian F-14 fighter jets at an airport in central Iran.

In the U.S., President Trump said on Saturday there's only one endgame for Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's whether they cry uncle, or when they can't fight any longer, there's nobody around to cry uncle. Because, you know, we've wiped out their leadership numerous times already. So, it's -- if they surrender or if there is nobody around to surrender, but they're rendered useless in terms of military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, nearly 300 people have been killed in Lebanon since this conflict began a week ago.

[04:30:00]

For more, I want to bring in Maya Gebeily. She's the Reuters Bureau Chair for Lebanon. Syria and Jordan. And she joins us live from Beirut. Thanks so much for your time.

MAYA GEBEILY, REUTERS BUREAU CHIEF FOR LEBANON, SYRIA AND JORDAN: Good morning, Lynda.

KINKADE: So, Israel has warned that Lebanon could pay a very heavy price if it does not rein in the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. How would you describe the bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs? And how prepared is Hezbollah?

GEBEILY: Well, it's been particularly heavy the past couple of days. And what we've seen that's unprecedented, because unfortunately, Lebanon has gone through multiple rounds of fighting with Hezbollah pitted against Israel in the past several decades. But what's different about this week is that Israel has ordered evacuations for the entirety of Beirut's southern suburbs. And what that means is that hundreds of thousands of people have fled this densely populated area. But it also makes people feel like there's an intense wave of bombing ahead. It's already been very intense and very heavy in the past couple of days, but they're worried about what's to come.

In terms of what Hezbollah has been doing, we reported earlier this week that the group has spent months preparing itself for what it felt was going to be an inevitable rematch with Israel. It fought against Israel in 2024. It ended in a pretty big defeat for Hezbollah. And now, they've spent the last year preparing themselves for another round.

KINKADE: Our journalists in Lebanon have spoken to civilians who say they're frustrated with Iran, with Israel, with Hezbollah. Just talk to us about the human toll and the mass displacement we're seeing.

GEBEILY: That's one of the most devastating elements of this war, is that so many Lebanese had felt, especially the ones that were displaced and affected by the last round of fighting, they felt they'd barely gotten back up on their feet before another round of violence had started. Some of them had just rebuilt their homes in southern Lebanon only to be displaced again. Some of them barely made it out alive in the last round of fighting. And now, they've just found out that their homes have been destroyed.

So, it's really bearing down pretty heavily on this population that, again, has suffered multiple wars in the past several decades. But now they felt like it was such a short period of time between the last one and this new one that just erupted. KINKADE: Yes. And we've heard about the 150 Iranian nationals, including diplomats and their families, leaving Beirut on a Russian plane after Israel warned them to evacuate. What does that move tell you about what Israel is targeting and its strategy in Lebanon?

GEBEILY: Again, things have escalated pretty quickly over the past week. And one of the most notable things has been the direct threats that Israel has made to Iranian representatives of the regime, as they've called them in their statements, who are in Lebanon. We've seen at least one person that has links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who have been killed in Lebanon over the past week. There have been explicit statements by the Israelis. And the Lebanese government has started to make some moves, even if they're quite timid.

So, we heard that the Lebanese government was preparing to essentially expel Iranian diplomats from Lebanon. So, that's this big wave that we saw leave last night. And that they've also ordered authorities to arrest and deport any IRGC members that they find here in Lebanon. Now, it's not clear if they actually have found any, but for the Lebanese government to start to make those moves against representatives of Iran in Beirut is quite a big deal.

KINKADE: And given the bombardment you're seeing in Lebanon, just explain for us how businesses and critical infrastructure are coping right now.

GEBEILY: It's placed an additional strain on essentially everybody, on food services, on schools. Schools have now, hundreds of schools in Lebanon have now been turned into shelters. So, kids who would normally be attending those schools are being homeschooled and they're rapidly filling up. So, we've actually seen displaced people who are sleeping out in the streets. There's a huge outflux of cars that has come from Southern Lebanon up to Beirut as people have fled. So, that's created extra traffic jams.

There's thousands of cars parked in the city that wouldn't normally be here. So, you immediately feel the impact of the displacement, even in areas where people are still living in their own homes. And it's -- the problem is the Lebanese government is that they have no visibility on how long this is going to last. They don't know how long they have to think ahead about how to provide for these displaced families. It's caused an additional strain on severely underfunded U.N. agencies here as well.

So, everybody's donating. We've seen a lot of grassroots initiatives try to get mattresses, food, donations from abroad to help people out. But the problem is we don't know how sustainable that's going to be if we're in it for a long war.

KINKADE: Maya Gebeily, we appreciate your time today. Thanks so much for joining us.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, the world is watching and weighing in as this war continues. Nada Bashir is standing by in London with reactions from Europe.

[04:35:00]

First, I want to get to Steven Jiang in Beijing with China's reaction there. Steven, flames of war risk spreading across the region. That's the warning from China's foreign minister. I understand you had a chance to pose a question to him at a press conference. What was your takeaway from his message?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Lynda, before he addressed my question, he reiterated a lot of the government's key points and positions, including the line you just mentioned. Now, if you were an official sitting in Tehran, what you get from Beijing these days is diplomatic, rhetorical and moral support, but not too much in terms of concrete commitments other than them sending a special envoy to the region.

There is really nothing close to direct military assistance. That, of course, is being watched very closely, given China has been calling around a strategic partner for some time. And in recent years, of course, Beijing had been pulling Tehran closer and closer to its orbit. But ever since the war broke out, Beijing's response has been described to be very calculated.

Obviously, China's the biggest buyer of Iranian oil exports. But don't forget China has a lot more and more extensive investments and economic interests outside of Iran in the region. They also need safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz for its ships carrying imports from other Gulf nations.

So, at the end of the day, despite Beijing's growing clout and ambitions in the region, what their focus right now is protecting their existing economic assets and interests while not getting involved in terms of providing security guarantee to its partners, including Iran. And perhaps they're also correctly assessing that no matter who comes to power in Iran, they will still need Chinese money, investments, and know-how. Not to mention there is also this line of thinking that anytime U.S. strategic focus and military assets are tied down outside of China's backyard, it is a plus for Beijing.

So, ultimately, Iran just ranks below Chinese leader Xi Jinping's top priorities right now, which do include stabilizing relations with Washington. That's why I asked the Chinese foreign minister about the potential impact of the U.S. war with Iran on this highly anticipated visit by Donald Trump to Beijing later this month. And here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This year is indeed a big year for China-U.S. relations. The agenda for high-level exchanges with the U.S. is on the table. What is required is for both sides to make thorough preparations to create a conducive environment to manage existing differences and to remove unnecessary disruptions.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JIANG: So, even though he did not address my question directly, the underlying message, according to most analysts, is Xi Jinping still welcomes, anticipates Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, which, of course, is important given how tumultuous bilateral ties have been since Trump's return to the White House. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right. Steven Jiang, first, appreciate you. We will speak again very soon. I want to go now to Nada Bashir in London. Nada, the U.S. launched this conflict with Israel with little consultation with its transatlantic allies. The U.K. reportedly caught off guard, first restricting the use of military bases, then granting approval to support U.S. operations. Just describe for us how this is playing up politically in London and across Europe.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, what we've seen over the weekend here in London and across many other cities in Europe is protests taking place, many taking to the streets against government decisions in Europe to provide support, whether that is minimal or not, to the United States and Israel when it comes to what is being described as the collective self-defense of allies in the Middle East.

Now, as you mentioned, Lynda, the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, did backtrack and eventually agreed to allow the United States to use British military bases in the region to target Iran directly. According to the prime minister, this is purely for defensive purposes and is not within the scope of the U.S. and Israel's offensive operations targeting Iran, but rather focused on targeting Iran's missile launchers and depots in order to prevent any further attacks on regional allies, as we've seen playing out over the last week.

But this has drawn very stark criticism from many in the United Kingdom and others in Europe who have been protesting against any sort of government involvement in this war, which was, of course, launched by the U.S. and Israel.

Of course, there is the very still not too distant memory of the Iraq war and the U.K.'s involvement in that conflict at the pest of the United States. So, clearly a lot of strong feelings still around that. And we have seen various reactions from European leaders.

Both France and Germany have joined the U.K. in providing that defensive support as they've described it to the United States. But others have been more critical, including the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez.

[04:40:00]

We've heard also from the Italian Prime Minister of Georgia Maloney, who has said that while the Italy is focused on working with its European partners to diffuse the situation, to diffuse tensions in the region, they are not planning to be dragged into this war and rather are focused on diplomatic resolutions. And that certainly has been the sort of overarching perspective from the European Union.

Of course, there is concern over the potential for those attacks to come closer to home, and we've seen attacks from diplomatic missions in the Middle East. There are concerns over the security of the European diplomatic missions. We've heard from Iran's foreign minister threatening that if there is. Any involvement by European partners that they may see attacks coming closer to home. Of course, just early in the hours this morning, we've seen an attack, or rather, sorry, an explosion at the U.S. embassy also.

Now, it's unclear at this stage whether this was connected and no damage or injury was reported. But again, this really does raise the question of how involved the European Union and the United Kingdom is prepared to be in this conflict.

JACKSON: All right. Nada Bashir for us in London. We will check in with you again soon. Thanks very much.

Well, still to come here on CNN, we're going to unpack how the conflict in Iran is impacting our global economy. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The U.S. military campaign in Iran is taking a toll on the price at the gas pump. AAA reports that U.S. gas prices have surged to the highest national average since August of 2024. The average price for gallon is up 43 cents in just a week and is currently hovering around $3.41.

Many Americans remain anxious that more price hikes could be on the way. The price per barrel of crude oil is also soaring in value as Iran targets the world's largest exporters in the Middle East. And of course, the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut down.

[04:45:00]

Well, Kuwait is reportedly cutting back its oil production as tensions flare across the Persian Gulf. The country's national oil company claims the precautionary move is in direct response to the ongoing attacks by Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It did not specify the scope of reduction but noted that output levels could be restored once conditions allow. In February, Kuwait produced more than two and a half million barrels of crude oil each and every day.

Cornelia Meyer is an economist and energy expert and the CEO of Meyer Resources. She joins us now from Bern, Switzerland. Thanks so much for your time.

CORNELIA MEYER, ECONOMIST AND INDEPENDENT ENERGY EXPERT AND FOUNDER AND CEO, MEYER RESOURCES: Thank you very much, Lynda, for having me.

KINKADE: So, Cornelia, oil prices are already climbing amid this ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Just how significant are these spikes that we're seeing?

MEYER: These spikes are very significant. If I look at Brent, as of a few minutes ago, it's up since the beginning of the conflict by about 27 percent. Since the beginning of the year, a whopping 52 percent. So, that will get translated into obviously oil is in everything, right? Transport and products and so on. So, that will get translated into inflation.

KINKADE: And the Strait of Hormuz is a key choke point with about 20 percent of global oil passing through it. How vulnerable are global supply chains if tensions continue or if they escalate even further?

MEYER: Well, it's very vulnerable. And what we should be worried about is also that, as you have rightly reported, that both Kuwait and Abu Dhabi have started to shut in some of the production because there's no more storage left. It's nowhere to go, the oil. The same holds true for LNG production in Qatar, which has been shut in.

So, yes, it will be released once the hostilities are over. However, it's not a light switch. We also have to look at where does the oil through the Straits of Hormuz go? 28 percent of -- sorry, 38 percent of it goes to China and the vast majority goes to the rest of Asia.

KINKADE: And of course, Cornelia, rising oil prices typically feed into inflation worldwide. What kind of impact could this conflict have on inflation and growth in major economies like the US, like Europe and Asia?

MEYER: It will have an impact. And whereas obviously the U.S. is insulated because they have their own oil production, but the oil is globally traded. So, you see the prices going up there as well. So, it will have an impact. People will feel it in their pockets. What worries me most is that also fertilizer is affected because gas becomes urea, becomes fertilizer, and about 30 percent of global fertilizer consumption has to pass through the Straits of Hormuz. This is spring in the northern hemisphere. This is when the crops get sown, when they need it. And I'm really worried what that will do, especially to developing countries.

KINKADE: And what other sectors are you worried about? Because we have seen the crisis, the chaos in the aviation industry over the past week. Should this war continue for many more weeks? What impact could that have on that sector?

MEYER: It will have a big impact. It will -- once the hostilities stop, aviation tends to swing back pretty quickly. But if you look at it, Dubai and Qatar, Doha are some of the major hubs for aviation. Emirates, Qatar, Etihad are big, big players in the aviation industry. And it's not just going from anywhere to the Middle East. You pass through there because it's a hub. So, this has a big impact. This will also have an impact on those economies.

KINKADE: And, you know, how might it affect big picture, long-term investor confidence, capital flows, long-term investment, especially in the energy sector?

MEYER: Well, in the energy sector, there will be an increased sense of urgency on investing in the energy sector. But I'm looking at money flows and I'm looking at the way the Gulf economies have been marketing themselves. It's like, look, we are an island of stability and we are safe places to invest. Especially Dubai is sort of the influencer haven and a lot of people who want tax breaks move there. I'm worried about the business model. You know, we can't say now how quickly things will swing back. But at this time, the sentiment is not too good.

KINKADE: Yes, it certainly isn't. Cornelia Meyer, great to have your analysis. Thanks for joining us.

MEYER: Thank you very much, Lynda.

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KINKADE: Well, Donald Trump once again predicts the downfall of the Cuban regime. Still to come, how the intense pressure campaigned by the U.S. is impacting the Cuban government.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. President Donald Trump is once again suggesting Cuba is next on his administration's agenda after he predicts, quote, "a great change is coming to the island nation very soon." Trump made his prediction while speaking to a group of leaders at the Shield of America's conference in Florida. He said the U.S. will stand against hostile foreign influences like Cuba in the region.

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TRUMP: As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we're also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba. Cuba is at the end of the line. They're very much at the end of the line. They have no money. They have no oil.

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KINKADE: The U.S. has been carrying out an intense pressure campaign against Cuba in recent weeks. It includes an oil embargo, which is plunging the island into a dire energy crisis, resulting in hours long blackouts nearly every day. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has the latest from Havana as the Cuban government weighs its options.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Saturday once again taking aim at Cuba's government, saying that the country is going to collapse, that the communist government here is in its final days, and that there are behind-the-scenes negotiations going on led by Marco Rubio that he is involved in, and that he thinks there will be a deal to open up this country economically and politically very soon. It would seem like the kind of Cold War air bluster that so many U.S. administrations have engaged in with very little effect over the years.

But President Trump has brought the economy here already beleaguered to a crashing halt by blocking any oil, first from Venezuela and then from Cuba's ally Mexico, to coming into this island. That has caused the economy here to essentially grind to a halt. You see less cars on the road. The lights are off across Cuba more often than they are on these days. We are seeing blackouts that before lasted hours, now lasting days. People are increasingly upset, often at their government, because life just cannot continue on under these circumstances. People's food is beginning to spoil. Many people have been sent home from their workplaces, hotels are closed down, and tourism has dried up.

So, while the Cuban government has said they will not negotiate in a position where they are being pressured, where they essentially have a gun to their head, obviously at this point time is running out. They may not have any choice but to make a deal, any deal they can get.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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KINKADE: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with much more breaking news coverage in just a moment.

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