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Israel, Iran Trade Missile Attacks As Hostilities Escalate; Israel, Iran Trade Missile Attacks as Hostilities Escalate; China's Xi Jinping Making rare Trip to North Korea; British PM Hosts European Leaders to Discuss Ukraine; At Least 8 Dead after Earthquake in the Philippines. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired June 08, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:20]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi with the time is nine in the morning Monday. We are following breaking news here in the Middle East where we are watching a new escalation of tensions as Israel and Iran trade missile attacks in just the last hour.

The Israeli military says it has identified a new wave of missiles launched from Iran towards Israel. This follows Israeli strikes on Iran in the past couple of hours with the IDF saying it hit military targets in the country's western and central regions overnight.

This latest escalation began on Sunday after Israel intercepted missiles launched by Iran for the first time since early April. Iran claims it struck an air base in northern Israel and has launched threatened to launch further attacks if Israel continues its offensive in Lebanon. For more, we're joined by CNN's Fred Pleitgen live from the capital of Iran. And a reminder, CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government there, but maintains full editorial control of our reporting.

Fred, good to have you. What can you tell us?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. Well, it's certainly what we're gleaning here from the authorities and also from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is that apparently these Israeli strikes that happened on in various areas of Iran, at least here, as far as the capital is concerned, Tehran is concerned, appear to have happened shortly before 5:00 a.m. in the morning of this, they say around 4:45 a.m. and it appears as though the ones here were focused mostly on the western part of the city.

We certainly, as we are here in the central part of the city and you can see Tehran behind me, the skyline of Tehran behind me did not hear any explosions, but people in the west of Tehran certainly did. There are also some reports from a town called Karaj, which is also to the west of Tehran, could even be considered almost a satellite town of Tehran towards the west, that some explosions were heard there as well.

It's unclear whether or not those were the same that people also heard in the west of Tehran. The firefighting service here of the Iranian capital has come out and said so far, to their knowledge, no urban areas have been hit. Don't appear to be any casualties reported, at least so far. But of course, as we sit here and stand here right now and report about this, it is still fairly early going.

There are also some reports, unconfirmed so far coming out that possibly the Mehrabad airport, which is in the city limits of Iran, might also have been hit as well, but that so far hasn't been officially confirmed yet. The other places that the Iranians say also appear to have been targeted is the area around Tabriz in the north of Iran, which is also a place that does have some military industrial facilities there as well. And then also the area around Isfahan in the center of Iran.

And there from the local authorities, we are hearing that apparently also no casualties have been reported yet. And they're talking about Isfahan and a place called Najafabad, which is also to the west of Isfahan, but still can be considered to be in the general vicinity of Isfahan. Of course, as we've been speaking over the past couple of hours, Becky, the Iranians over the past days have been saying that if there is what they call any sort of aggression or retaliation from Israel, specifically to the ballistic missile strikes that the Iranians conducted last night, that there would be harsh retaliation coming back from the Iranians. So certainly the Iranians have said that, that is something that will happen.

ANDERSON: A couple of key questions here, Fred. Firstly, what do the reported targets in Iran tell you about Israeli tactics at this point?

PLEITGEN: Well, it's very difficult to say. The Iranians so far have not confirmed whether or not any military targets have been hit or what exactly was said. They simply defined the sort of wider areas. There are some reports, early reports coming out on some state affiliated media that possibly a petrochemical facility has been hit. That certainly would be a big blow to any sort of negotiations process.

The Iranians had been saying that if key critical infrastructure were hit that would induce a very harsh response from the Iranians, specifically with their drones and missiles. So we're waiting to see whether or not that happens. Another interesting report that we also got from the Iranians is that they say that air launched ballistic missiles were apparently used in these strikes.

So those obviously having been would have been launched from Israeli aircraft flying in the vicinity or over Iranian territory. That right now is not clear.

[01:05:05]

But in general, the Iranians had said that their latest ballistic missile attack on Israeli territory overnight last night needed to be seen as a warning to the Israelis to stop what the Iranians call the escalation in Lebanon. Of course, speaking specifically about Israel targeting areas of Lebanon's capital, Beirut.

But then also if the Israelis struck back at Iran, that would elicit a very strong response, a regret inducing response, as the Iranians put it, from their side. So those are the threats that have been put out and they certainly are part of the messaging that we've been hearing here from Tehran as we've been on the ground here over the past couple of days. Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Fred, thank you very much indeed. And a reminder again, folks, CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but we maintain full editorial control of our reporting. Let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann who is live in Jerusalem.

We spoke this time last hour on sirens going off where you were and some explosions rocking the window behind you. What's the latest?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I want to pick up right where Fred left off. He had heard reports of a strike on a petrochemical facility. That is now confirmed from the Israelis and a local official, a local government official in Iran there. This is the petrochemical facility and I apologize for my pronunciation here.

Bandar-e Mahshahr in western Iran, the Israeli military put out a statement just about eight minutes ago saying a short while ago the Israeli air force struck several targets at the petrochemical complex there. So that is first, it's -- it's not a military target. The Israeli ambassador to the United States had said the first wave of strikes that Israel carried out were against surface to surface missiles and non-energy infrastructure.

This now gets into what Iran a petrochemical complex and what is a clear expansion of the target set there, which Iran may view as an escalation and I think which a target that Iran will almost certainly view as something it needs to respond to. So now we wait and see if that's how Iran views this.

Shortly before that, we did get a warning of incoming Iranian ballistic missile fire here in Jerusalem. That was the second round here in Jerusalem. The first was right before we spoke in the last hour. We did get a statement from Israel's Magen David Adom, that's one of its emergency response services, saying they were scanning the scene of an impact in the occupied West Bank. They released some video of damage to what appeared to be a home. It appears that's from the West Bank. We'll wait to see a bit more clarification on that.

As of right now, though, we do not have reports of injuries from any of the incoming Iranian ballistic missiles either from the first rounds, which were several hours ago, to the latest round here. But we are clearly, it seems, on an escalation ladder here. And added to -- add to that we was an incoming ballistic missile, or rather an incoming missile from the Houthis in Yemen. Iran had threatened that they could close the Bab-el-Mandeb. That's one of the other critical waterways in the Middle East here, effectively at the southern end of the Red Sea. It doesn't appear that they have moved to do that yet, that the Houthis have moved to close the Bab-el-Mandeb Strip, but that is a threat that Iran has put out there. Now we wait to see where this goes.

According to an Israeli official, the decision to strike Iran was made after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Israel Katz and other security officials with a vow that there would be a, quote, powerful response to continued attacks on Israel. Well, right now we are -- we're very much in a cycle of both Iran and Israel vowing to respond to each other. And it's unclear how this ends.

President Donald Trump has made it clear he doesn't want to see this go on for even an extended period of time. He wants this to end quickly. So, so we see if he's able to make that happen. In all likelihood, that would be forcing Israel to stop its attacks on Iran.

ANDERSON: It is just after 8 in the morning where you are, just after half past eight in the morning in Tehran. And given what we've witnessed over the past 100 days of this conflict, which began, of course, on February 28th, the potential for strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, given that we now understand there has been an Israeli strike on a petrochemical site in Iran. Clearly a risk at this point. You point out the risk to the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait as well.

Before I let you go, I think it's really important that we just ensure that we -- that our viewers understand why Lebanon is key in all of this.

[01:10:02]

Israeli strikes Sunday on Lebanon, on the capital of Beirut. That is key. Why?

LIEBERMANN: Absolutely. And let's take it back to the beginning of the weekend because we have seen an escalation there basically since the beginning of the weekend. On Friday, Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said Israeli strikes killed 21 people there. On Saturday, the Lebanese army said a Lebanese general and several other officers had been killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle there. Israel acknowledged that strike and said the vehicle had been moving suspiciously and in an area under an evacuation threat.

Then on Sunday morning, we saw Israel intercept Hezbollah attacks targeting northern Israel. That was the first we saw since the latest cease fire, which was just days before that. And Israel had vowed that any attack on northern Israel would be met with a strike on the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel carried out that threat and struck what it said was were Hezbollah targets in Dahieh. Now we take it back a little farther. Last week, Iran had said that any strike on Beirut would, would be met with a direct Iranian attack on Israel. And that's what we saw late on Sunday. Iran fired missiles at Israel and that has led us to where we are right now.

ANDERSON: Oren, good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. I want to bring in Negar Mortazavi. She is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy and the host of the podcast and Iran expert. Negar, good to have you.

What's your assessment then, firstly of what has happened overnight, local time?

NEGAR MORTAZAVI, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY: Thanks for having me, Becky. So this is certainly another cycle of escalation after a period of certain calm, at least between Iran and the U.S. with the ceasefire being messy and chaotic, but somewhat standing. And I think this is two things are happening. One is Tehran is drawing a very clear red line, essentially, essentially saying that they're serious about folding Hezbollah and Lebanon into that final peace process or the peace deal.

As they had said from the beginning, they want this to be regional and that very much includes their allies. And they had been tolerating Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the back and forth. But they draw the red line at attacks on Beirut. Earlier this week we heard reporting that Israel was getting ready to attack Dahieh.

The Iranians sent a serious warning to the U.S. and then President Trump presumably stopped that attack. And then came the on Sunday night. And then the Iranians, I think, are drawing that red line with their attacks on Israel. And now Israel has decided to retaliate.

And that's the second part I wanted to talk about because just hours ago we heard from President Trump talking to the media, saying, I'm the one calling the shots, and it's not Israel, potentially, he's going to ask them to not attack Iran and just deescalate from here. So I think there's also probably some pushing of the envelope or testing the water from the Israeli side to see how much they can escalate and how much they can get away with as far as attacks on Beirut, more on Hezbollah, and potentially even engaging with Iran. But this is -- this is a risk for more escalation, for sure.

ANDERSON: So yes. So I think what's important at this stage is to nail whether or not, and this -- you're well sourced on this, whether or not we are in the final throes here of sort of tit for tat escalation. Call it what you will before a deal. A deal described by Donald Trump as a good deal. He says he's in the final stretch of nailing that. Is he?

MORTAZAVI: Well, I think this in itself is an indication that maybe that because we know the diplomatic process is also moving in parallel and Donald Trump wants to exit the war. It's not very clear if he wants to make enough concessions that are needed for a deal. Does he want a deal? Yes. Does he want a good deal? Yes, he wants to exit the war. He's done with this war. But at the same time, I just am not sure if the president is prepared to make enough concessions.

And one of them is this Iranian red line, you know, wanting to bring Hezbollah and Lebanon into that treaty process. And the Iranians are essentially signaling that they're very serious about that. And this is one thing that the U.S. has to accept as part of that. But we know that diplomatic path has been ongoing in parallel. The Pakistani mediator has been very active. Other regional have been pushing for an end to the war.

And this is also a pattern we've seen in the past. If the Israelis are not very happy with that whole peace process or with the potential deal, this is also their way of trying to sort of get in or sabotage or torpedo the process or also see a window of opportunity closing fast and try to seize that before that opportunity ends.

[01:15:05]

It's a little bit of, I think, all of these, but at the end of the day, I think Iran and the U.S. are interested in that diplomatic process, but each of them wants to exit the war on their own terms, and they're still sort of drawing that, those red lines. And of course, Israel is a very important component here. It won't happen without the U.S. bringing Israel into that process or putting enough pressure.

ANDERSON: And Negar, Donald Trump may very well be done with this war. We have a World Cup starting this Thursday. It's his birthday the week after. There's a big UFC fight the week after that. There is the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4. For some time, it seems like the sequencing has been such that Donald Trump, you know, could do without this war, you know, ahead of all of these important dates, as far as he is concerned. So he may be done with the war.

Most experts suggest Benjamin Netanyahu needs this to continue as much for domestic political purposes as anything else. What's your sense of where the decision makers in Iran, whoever they are, let's talk about who they, you know, what's your sense of where they are at with regard, you know, the sequencing of the end of this if that is where we are at this point?

MORTAZAVI: You're absolutely correct, Becky. Donald Trump, like I said, and you explained, is done with this war. You know, add to that the global energy crisis, which is showing very much here at the pump in the U.S. the summer months coming. This is putting pressure on the whole world, in the U.S., in Europe, among your U.S. allies in Asia.

And the Iranians are observing that very, very closely. But at the same time, there's an understanding in Tehran that if the status quo continue, a sort of a no war, no peace situation, the continuation of a messy ceasefire with more attacks on their allies in Lebanon, but also no direct conflict with the U.S. that this may be something that President Trump can tolerate for a little more. He doesn't want conflict to resume. This is understanding in Tehran.

And so Tehran is also having a little bit of a risk, a calculate risk here that, okay, if they increase the pain, it may actually push Donald Trump to move more seriously and faster towards the peace process. Because if he does pass, in fact, the summertime and all of those events that you mentioned and the market starts to stabilize, then the status quo may actually be to the detriment of the Iranian side as far as what they can get out of a peace process.

ANDERSON: Yes.

MORTAZAVI: So the longer it goes, it may actually not work to their benefit. That's why they're taking this risk to sort of increase the pain.

ANDERSON: Negar, always good to have you. The escalation, it will not surprise you. Weighing heavily on the financial markets today, let's bring up oil Brent crude trading more than four and a half percent higher. That's the global benchmark index, of course, at 97, spot 42 WTI. That's the U.S. benchmark trading just below four and a half percent higher.

The Asian markets down on the back of this escalation overnight Middle East time, all of those markets lower that we are covering here. The cost be in South Korea, the Seoul market, they're down more than 6 percent. The U.S. futures market looks like this.

We may assume for that to look quite different as we trot towards the opening of those markets on Monday. We'll keep a keen eye on those U.S. market futures, an indication of how U.S. stock markets will open some hours from now. Stay with CNN. More on our breaking news coverage after this.

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[01:22:43]

ANDERSON: Back to our breaking news coverage. Israel's military says Iran has launched a new wave of missiles in the past couple of hours. The IDF says defense systems are operating to intercept the threat. Now this after Iran first launched ballistic missiles against an air base in northern Israel late on Sunday. That's its first air assault on Israel since early April.

Israel says in retaliation for that, it has targeted Iranian military sites, including surface to surface missile launch strikes and other non-energy infrastructure. Over the weekend, NBC asked President Trump about his red line for resuming military action in Iran. U.S. Military action, of course. Take a listen to what he says. The decision ultimately hinges on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I want to know what your red line is. What would trigger you to restart military action? Would it be Iran killing more American citizens?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Certainly that would be something that I would think about very seriously. But my red line would be if I think I wasn't going to make a deal or if I wasn't going to make a deal fast enough. So we're having very good negotiations with the people that are leading the country now. It's the third group that we've been dealing with, and they are different. And you could say it's regime change, actually, because these are very different people. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: All right. So we're going to take a very short break. I have to say that in the past few minutes we have heard reports that a petrochemical site in Iran is amongst the Israeli targets there this morning. That will be a concern to the Gulf region where I am.

The attacks on this region's energy infrastructure have been explained away by Iran in the past as retaliation to attacks on its energy infrastructure. We continue our breaking news coverage out of the Middle East as we learn new details about the latest exchange of fire between Israel and Iran. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Back after this.

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[01:28:40]

ANDERSON: Well now in our breaking news, a fresh round of attacks between Israel and Iran. The first such missile strikes since the ceasefire began April 8. Here you see the Israel Defense Forces overseeing reported strikes on military targets in western and central Iran. This is overnight local time.

That came just hours after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have struck an air base in northern Israel. Iran said that attack was in retaliation for strikes against its proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon. Syrians. Paula Hancocks joining me now here in Abu Dhabi.

And Israel targeted Beirut on Sunday. Not clear what the IDF targets were, but likely key Hezbollah assets. And since then, we've seen this uptick between Iran and Israel. Lebanon, of course, key here. Let's remind our viewers why.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. What Iran has done is they have tied the Iran-U.S. deal to the offensive that's ongoing by Israel against Hezbollah. So they have put them in boat. So if one is not being pulled back, then the ceasefire will not continue or the deal will not be done on the other.

[01:30:00]

Now, we have seen just over the last few days that there has been significant Israeli strikes against southern Lebanon and in particular against the southern neighborhood in Beirut, which is the Hezbollah stronghold.

We've heard from Tehran, if you strike Beirut again, then we will strike you, saying to Israel. Israel saying it was -- it was striking Hezbollah. And so this is why we find ourselves in this escalation at this point.

Now, interestingly, CNN's Christiane Amanpour actually spoke to the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday, and he was pushing back against Tehran for trying to link the two issues. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH AOUN, LEBANESE PRESIDENT: Our people being killed, our people being -- our houses being destroyed, they are using Lebanon as a chip -- bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It's unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And that's quite unusual to hear that from a Lebanese president. Now, of course, this does come as well, just as we have seen yet another ceasefire that the U.S. has mediated between Israel and Lebanon. This was just last week.

Of course, there was some skepticism at the time because Hezbollah was not part of that. Hezbollah rejected that ceasefire, saying that it was a farce and an insult, and effectively amounted to surrender. It called for Hezbollah to hold its fire, but didn't call on Israel to give any concessions.

So at this point, it really is integral to this whole process to the U.S.-Iran deal.

President Trump is well aware that he needs to try and rectify things in Lebanon if he has any chance of convincing Tehran to make a deal.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Tehran has said these are, you know, intrinsically linked, these two datelines. The U.S. has, to a degree, tried to keep these as a sort of twin track. Its Israel-Lebanon track, and its U.S.-Iran track.

Let's see how this develops as the -- as the week moves on.

It is early morning in Tehran. Of course, it is 9:30 in the morning, early morning -- it's 9:00 in Tehran. Its 9:30 here in Abu Dhabi, 8:30 in Jerusalem.

Paula, thank you.

And we will take a very short break at this point.

Still to come, the U.S. president told Israel's prime minister not to retaliate for Iranian airstrikes on Sunday. But it appears he was outright ignored. The latest on the escalation in the Middle East is just ahead.

[01:32:44]

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BECKY: Back to our breaking news coverage.

Iran and Israel trading new strikes, escalating a war that the U.S. president had a part in starting but says he wants to end. A U.S. official says Donald Trump urged Israel's prime minister to hold off on launching retaliatory strikes after -- against Iran, after Tehran targeted an air base in northern Israel on Sunday, they say in response to Israel's attacks on Beirut.

Well, the Trump administration is trying to salvage the faltering peace talks with Iran, it seems.

In an interview with "The Financial Times", President Trump said Mr. Netanyahu would have to accept any deal that the U.S. reaches with Iran because the Israeli prime minister, quote, "doesn't call the shots".

Well, joining me now is CNN senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist Ron Brownstein. Good to have you this morning, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: My please.

ANDERSON: I know it's early, so thank you very much indeed.

Donald Trump then says he's calling the shots. He says very specifically, Benjamin Netanyahu is not calling the shots. You got to wonder whether the events of the past 24 hours, though, as one expert points out, have demonstrated that it's neither Trump nor Netanyahu calling the shots But the current Iranian leadership at this point.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, it is absolutely essential to Trump's political image. And I think without putting him on the couch, his self-image, for him to assert that he is in control of any situation or confrontation that he finds himself in.

And certainly the U.S. has a lot of economic and military and diplomatic leverage in any confrontation it finds itself in. But his belief that he is the one who has what the military planners call escalation dominance, he is the one who decides how hot the conflict runs, when to dial it back when it ends. You know, events continually prove that simply is not true.

And it was over three months ago that Steve Witkoff, his ally, the business executive, who he's tasked with negotiating many of these situations, basically said he was mystified as to why Iran has not capitulated.

And, you know, here we are. And I think Iran continues to demonstrate that it believes it has ways to strike back, obviously, most notably by asserting more control over the Strait of Hormuz and causing all sorts of international economic upheaval.

And to deny Trump what he is demanding, the president often just simply seems surprised when others won't do what he demands.

ANDERSON: A frozen conflict, Ron, is frankly the worst-case scenario for the Gulf region, and I'm broadcasting here from the CNN headquarters in the Gulf in Abu Dhabi, which of course, has taken the brunt of Iranian assault since this conflict began just over 100 days ago.

What is your understanding of Gulf influence at this point? I note, just for our viewers that in the past couple of minutes, I've seen a statement, just reporting that the Qatari foreign minister has been in touch with the Iranian foreign minister in the past couple of hours.

[01:39:47]

ANDERSON: What's your understanding of where things stand and the Gulf's influence on Donald Trump's decision making at this point?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I can't -- I don't I don't know at this point really, Becky, I think it's the key phrase, right? Because I think the influences on Donald Trump's decision-making wax and wane, and kind of rise and fall. And I don't think anyone in any in any corner of this conflict feels entirely certain about where he will go next.

Now, you know, they portray -- the administration often tries to portray that as an asset, kind of the Nixon Madman theory that, you know, if your adversaries and even your allies don't know what you are going to do next, that gives you a kind of leverage.

But that unpredictability, I think, you know, leaves everyone in the world uncertain how they can rely on the U.S. and whether they can rely on the U.S.

But I do think the overriding point is that this war, which other U.S. president's refrained from entering, despite entreaties from Netanyahu, I think Trump clearly intended it to demonstrate the magnitude of U.S. leverage, and that when he brought to bear that military force, he could bend others to his will.

And I think -- I think unequivocally, here we are, it has demonstrated instead the limits of U.S. leverage. And everyone in the region, I think, is having to recalculate around that, you know, proof point.

ANDERSON: Ron, if we believe that Donald Trump wants shot of this war, and that is certainly what, on balance, the facts suggest --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- he says he is in the sort of final throes of what he describes as a good deal, whatever that means. Let's -- well, perhaps that's what I should ask. What does that mean?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

ANDERSON: Is it clear at this point what this memorandum of understanding, this MOU, this framework for a deal which will, you know, kick the can down the road, to all intents and purposes, on the nuclear file, possibly on the Strait of Hormuz, and certainly on ballistic and drone missile capability.

Do we have any real understanding of what that framework, what that MOU looks like?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, you know, again, like the other things we've been discussing, it's a -- you know, it's a moving target. It's a work -- it's a work in progress.

But, you know, it is -- it is hard to see a path forward for the president that allows him to achieve anything close to what he set out when he started this war.

You know, overthrowing the regime, degrading their capability in the region, ending their nuclear threat.

More military force seems unlikely to achieve those goals. And it's not clear that he has enough leverage over Iran through the blockade to achieve them diplomatically, you know.

And you know, and in addition to all of that, unless you believe that Iran wanted someday to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike in the region, what was the point of the nuclear program.

The point of the nuclear program for Iran was deterrence against the kind of attack they have experienced in these last few months. Well, they have now found a new form of deterrence, which is their ability, as we've talked about, to squeeze the strait and with it, the global economy.

So, you know, in the long run, they may be willing to accept some limits on, you know, even severe -- significant limits on their nuclear program out of the confidence that the role they had assigned to it in their -- you know, international relations is now being filled by another tool that really wasn't there or was only there in theory when this conflict began, which is their ability to control the strait.

ANDERSON: It's 9:45 here in Abu Dhabi, in the Gulf. It is 9:15 in Tehran. 8:45 in Jerusalem. It has been busy, worrying escalatory overnight.

Ron, it's good to have you.

We will continue to monitor what happens next. Israel and Iran effectively trading strikes. We will report as we get the information in and we will provide expert analysis on what is happening and what happens next.

Thank you.

Over to Ben Hunte in Atlanta for some other stories that we are following for you today.

Ok. I think we may not have Ben. Let me tell you what's coming up.

Still to come, North Korea hosts Chinese leader Xi Jinping. More on that after this.

[01:44:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, is making a rare trip to Pyongyang for diplomatic talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He is expected to spend two days in North Korea on his first trip there since 2019. It is also Mr. Xi's first trip abroad this year.

The Chinese leader has hosted more than a dozen world leaders in Beijing so far this year, but this trip is an important opportunity to strengthen relations and to highlight the importance of ties to Beijing amid all of the conflicts all around the world.

Let's go live now to Beijing, where CNN bureau chief Steven Jiang is standing by for us.

Tell me, Steven, how significant is this visit for the relationship between China and North Korea?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Ben. It's very significant, both symbolically, but also geopolitically.

And we have now seen videos being shown by state television here of Kim Jong-un and his wife personally at the airport tarmac in Pyongyang, greeting and welcoming Xi Jinping and his wife with all the pomp and pageantry you can imagine.

[01:49:50]

JIANG: Now, as you mentioned, this is -- this comes just a few weeks after Xi actually received both President Trump and President Putin of Russia in Beijing.

And remember, after Trump's visit to Beijing, the White House put out a fact sheet saying Xi and Trump have confirmed their shared goal of denuclearizing North Korea. So there has been some chatter about Xi actually pressing Kim on this issue during the visit.

But I think that expectation is overstated or misplaced because if anything, China has all but recognized North Korea as a de facto nuclear power.

Beijing has been non-supportive, even opposing, U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons program, which, of course, Kim has repeatedly said is irreversible. If anything, he's been doubling down on its further development.

The other aspect of this trip, of course, is given North Koreas growing ties with Russia, there has been this narrative that that comes at the expense of the special bond between China and North Korea.

But really, even though there had been some periods of frosty ties between the two neighbors, things have not only been stabilized, but also improving. Bilateral trade between China and North Korea, for example, has been restored to pre-pandemic levels.

China, of course, continues to provide the regime with an economic lifeline. So it's very confident in its position as North Korea's most important ally in the world.

And of course, all of this -- this trip, from Beijing's perspective, is also very much reinforcing this image of Xi and China playing an increasingly leading role on the world stage, at a time when U.S. influence globally is seen as to be in decline, Ben.

HUNTE: Ok. Steven Jiang in Beijing, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany say they support a proposal for direct ceasefire talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. They released a joint statement on Sunday. That was after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that happened in London.

They are also calling on both the U.S. and Europe to have an active role in diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

This all comes as some in Europe are now worried that President Trump is becoming too easily distracted by the war with Iran to focus fully on the war in Ukraine.

Thousands of Albanians flooded the streets of the capital on Sunday, continuing their protest against a development project that is linked to President Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Kushner's investment firm is now developing a resort with a whopping $1.6 billion price tag. That's on an island off the coast of Albania.

Demonstrators say it threatens a protected wetland, and they're calling for political resignations and further transparency about that project.

Others do worry that this is just an example of Albanians being pushed off of their own lands, or potentially a sign of government corruption, too.

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NADIA QESJA, PROTESTER: Of course, I'm totally against it. Why would I want somebody, a foreigner, to come and buy my island? The land where we've been here 2,500 years.

So how can somebody, you know, claim that she found an island all of a sudden and pretend to be her home?

LEDIAN LLAHA, PROTESTER: I think that the investments are a good thing in Albania, but they should be thoughtful about the nature and for the people that live there.

In principle, they are a very good thing. But they should be invested, and in a legal and legitimate way.

Peru is set for another lengthy vote count with its presidential election runoff that's currently too close to call. An early tally by the pollster Ipsos showed leftist lawmaker Roberto Sanchez and conservative Keiko Fujimori are separated by less than a percentage point.

Peru's electoral authority says the full official tally probably won't be completed until around mid-July now.

At least eight people are reported dead after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southern part of the Philippines. That happened just a few hours ago. Experts there report the quake hit off the coast of General Santos City on the island of Mindanao. Local video shows damaged roads and crumbling buildings.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has now deployed government agencies to act immediately to help evacuate residents and to begin rescue work there.

Tsunami warnings have also been issued across the Philippines and the surrounding region, and that's due to the strength of that quake in the photos and videos that you are seeing right there. Gosh.

[01:54:53]

HUNTE: In the coming hours, Pope Leo will meet with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and he's going to make an address to members of parliament there. Part of his week-long tour of Spain we've been covering on CNN.

On Sunday, more than a million people that included members of the royal family did attend a public mass held by the Pontiff in one of Madrid's plazas.

During the service, Pope Leo preached unity, peace and support for society's poor and forsaken.

The Pope also attended a gathering of Spain's cultural representatives and that took place on Sunday evening. The man you see there, actor Antonio Banderas, spoke at that engagement, and he highlighted the church's very long history as a patron and producer of the arts.

Ok. There's been a lot on our show, but thank you so much for being with us. We really do appreciate it.

Thank you so much for joining me and the team. That is all I have for you for now.

I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta and I will see you in two weeks' time.

But of course, whilst there is so much going on in the world, there is more coverage on CNN of our breaking news coverage ahead with Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi and Rosemary Church in Atlanta. Do stay with CNN.

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