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Connect the World
British Prime Minister Gives Update on Middle East; Qatar's Role in the Global LNG Gas Market; U.S. Markets Open Amid Uncertainty Over Oil Supplies; U.S. Senate Blocks Bid to Curtail Trump's War Powers in Iran; UAE Billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor Writes Open Letter to Trump; Anti-War Protester Dragged Out of U.S. Senate Hearing. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired March 05, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, welcome to CNN's Breaking News coverage of the war with Iran. This is "Connect the World"
from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson for you in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after six in the evening in the UAE.
On this sixth day of an expanding Middle East war, Israel is launching an 11th wave of attacks in Iran. And also hitting what it says are more
Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including what the IDF describes as a command-and-control center. Iran firing at Gulf States and beyond.
This video shot by our CNN team in Doha showing Qatari air defenses intercepting an Iranian missile a few hours ago. Azerbaijan, the latest
country to find itself in the firing line, saying a suspected Iranian drone attack injured two people when at an airport, so was hit near the Iran-
Azerbaijan border.
Iran's military denies that attack. Inside Iran the death toll keeps rising. A state-run Iranian agency says more than 1200 people have been
killed since Saturday. The White House now acknowledging it may have been a U.S. attack that hit girls' elementary school in Iran at the weekend.
Tehran says 168 children were killed. Iran's Foreign Minister today describing the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine as an
atrocity. The ship was attacked in international waters on Wednesday, having left a port in India. While air travel in the Middle East is still
severely curtailed.
Evacuations of foreign nationals are finally ramping up. And we are seeing scenes like these, repatriated Portuguese nationals arriving home in
Lisbon. Well, the first U.S. evacuation flight has left the Middle East. The Trump Administration has faced criticism for not having an evacuation
plan ready.
Our Senior International Correspondent, Fred Pleitgen and his team have crossed the border into Iran. CNN is the first U.S. network allowed into
the country since the start of the war. We have to point out that CNN does operate in Iran only with government position. Here is Fred's report.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We just crossed the border and are now inside of Iran. The Iranian government has granted
us a visa to come here and to report from the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're now trying to make our way to the capital Tehran as fast as possible.
But of course, the distances in this huge country are immense, and we know it's going to take many, many hours for us to get there. We also don't know
what the situation on the road to Tehran is going to look like. How many checkpoints there's going to be, and of course, we know at the same time
there are massive combat operations also going on.
The United States and Israel are continuing their huge aerial campaign against targets inside of Iran. At the same time, the Iranians continue to
retaliate, not just with their ballistic missiles, but with their drones, mostly hitting Israel, but then also American military installations,
especially in the Gulf region, but in general, in the Middle East.
In total, the Iranians are saying that they can continue this campaign for a very long time. They say that their missile arsenal is still immense.
They haven't even used some of their most modern missiles. But we also, of course, know that the place that we aim to go to, Tehran, has been under
almost sustained attacks, with massive air strikes going on there, and also huge damage being caused, and of course, many people also having been
harmed.
ANDERSON: Fred Pleitgen on his way into Iran. Well, that country continues to target Gulf states here in Abu Dhabi. Officials say six people, some
Pakistani, others from Nepal, were injured by falling debris after air defenses intercepted an incoming drone. I want to get you to London now,
where Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, is holding a press conference. Let's listen in.
[09:05:00]
All right, we having some technical difficulties in getting the audio on Keir Starmer. So let me get to our reporters on the ground in the Gulf
here, and get you a sense of what's been happening in the past, sort of 24 hours here, and we'll get back to Keir Starmer.
CNN Producer Bijan Hosseini is in Doha polls in Dubai. Let's start with you, Bijan. What's the latest on those missile strikes that we reported on
just a couple of hours ago and you witnessed there in Doha?
BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yeah, Becky, as you said, we witnessed a very loud and a very long missile attack. And I'm calling it a missile
attack because that's how Qatar's Ministry of Defense referred to it after they confirmed that it was just after mid-day.
We've been live for six days from this location that was by far the loudest and the longest attack that we've witnessed personally. You know, this
comes after the Ministry of Interior started evacuating people near the U.S. Embassy last night. One of our CNN staff members caught up in that
evacuation at 03:00 a.m. getting a knock from police to leave his house.
He was able to return two hours later, after they said the threat was neutralized and he was outside of that security parameter. No witnesses
experienced any interceptions last night, but obviously a different story today. This also comes after Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called
Qatari's Foreign Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Sorry, Qatari's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Araghchi on the phone call yesterday, reiterating some of these Iranian statements
we've seen for the last couple of days, saying this isn't an attack on our Gulf neighbors. We're merely, you know, attacking U.S. assets and U.S.
facilities to which Qatar's Prime Minister said, well, that's categorically false.
He cited incidents of Iran trying to hit commercial and residential units, including Doha's airport. And it comes out of time these last six days
really threatening that delicate relationship between Qatar and Iran. We know they don't have an amazing relationship, but they've always had a
pragmatic one.
They share the world's largest natural gas field. They conduct in trade. Qatar has even mediated on behalf of Iran with western countries in the
past, but obviously the last six days, and especially what we experienced earlier today, threatening that relationship.
ANDERSON: Bijan, thank you. And I think I'm being told we can get to the Keir Starmer press conference now. I know that he's making a statement. So,
let's get to London. This started moments ago. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: -- was deliberate. It was in the national interest, and I stand by it. But when Iran started attacking
countries around the Gulf and the wider region, the situation changed. Iran has now fired drones and missiles at 10 countries that did not attack them.
These are allies of the UK, where we have hundreds of thousands of British people as well as British military personnel. Our number one priority is
protecting our people. And that's why, long before the U.S. and Israeli action last weekend, we had already deployed additional military
capabilities to the region to defend our interests.
And I want to pay tribute to our brilliant armed forces. Throughout January and February, we were moving defensive assets to Cyprus and Qatar. Fighter
jets, air defense missiles, advanced radar and systems to take down drones, to ensure we were in a heightened state of readiness in advance of any
conflict beginning.
When the strikes began on Saturday, we immediately put those jets into the sky, on a mission to protect our people and our allies in the region, and
that is what they have done, flying over Cyprus and the wider region, shooting down multiple drones, at least one of which was heading towards
base housing British military personnel.
Our jets were in the sky again last night, over Jordan, Qatar and other partners, refueling in the air to prolong their mission.
[09:10:00]
And we are constantly resupplying our jets and our missile stores, and we are responding to requests from allies in the region for further help. I
can announce today that we are sending four additional typhoon jets to join our squadron in Qatar to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and
across the region.
Wildcat helicopters with anti-drone capabilities are arriving in Cyprus tomorrow. The defense secretary is on the ground in Cyprus right now,
coordinating our work and meeting our brave service, men and women. We're deploying HMS Dragon to the Mediterranean. And we have allowed the U.S. to
use British bases to conduct defensive operations to take out Iranian missiles before they're fired at our people and our allies.
We will maintain this shield over British people in the region and our allies. We are working to strengthen it every day, and we're working as
fast as possible to get our people out. As of today, over 140,000 individuals in the region have registered their presence, enabling us to
get them the information and the support that they need.
We have rapid deployment teams on the ground in Oman and Saudi Arabia. And our consulate teams are helping hundreds of the most vulnerable
individuals. Despite airspace closures, we are working around the clock with airlines, travel companies and governments to open safe routes home.
More than 4000 people have now arrived back in the United Kingdom on commercial flights from the UAE, including vulnerable Brits identified by
our teams. A further seven flights are due to leave the UAE for the UK today, and I can report that our first charter flight from Oman took off a
few minutes ago.
We will lay on additional charter flights in the coming days. British airways are putting on daily flights from Oman. And we will keep working
with all of our partners to increase the speed and capacity of this airlift. I want to be very clear. This is a huge undertaking.
It's one of the biggest operations of its kind, many times bigger than the evacuation from Afghanistan. It's not going to happen overnight, but we
will not stop until our people are safe. I also want to say a word about the economic impact. Iran is targeting oil and gas facilities in the Gulf
and tankers in the Straits of Hormuz, trying to inflict economic pain around the world.
So, we will continue to work with the industries affected and our allies to respond to any impact. This is where the long-term changes that we are
delivering for the British people are paying off. We have the right plan for defense, delivering the biggest increase in defense spending since the
Cold War to strengthen our armed forces and keep people safe.
We have the right plan for our economy. As the chancellor said on Tuesday, we are sticking to that plan so we can cut energy bills and help keeping
families with the cost of living and helping them. We also have the right plan for our energy supplies, building up clean British energy like never
before.
Decreasing our dependence on volatile international markets, and creating the energy security and independence that we need, faced with this new
geopolitical crisis, the sad fact is that some will try to use it to divide us. That is why the government is reaching out to communities across the
United Kingdom, Jewish and Muslim alive, making sure that communities and places of worship have appropriate, protective security in place.
[09:15:00]
But look as a nation, we should come together in this moment, those citizens that are stuck in the region, scared and in need of help, come
from all backgrounds. The armed forces who protect them, come from all backgrounds too. We are united by our common humanity and our love of this
country, this conflict could continue for some time.
So, I want you to know that your government is resolute in our response at home and abroad. We will do everything we can to protect British lives,
uphold British values and safeguard the national interest. Thank you. Now take some questions. And I've got Chris BBC first, please.
CHRIS MASON, POLITICAL EDITOR OF BBC NEWS: Thank you, prime minister. Chris Mason BBC News. Can you address directly those at home and abroad who see
your response and see indecision, prevarication and a lack of preparedness. Thank you.
STARMER: Yes. Let me address that, because, as I said a moment ago, we started pre deploying to the region in January and February, particularly
to Cyprus and Qatar, and that was fighter jets, air defense missiles, advanced radar on anti-drone systems. Now we did that during the course of
eight or so weeks.
We did that in conjunction with the U.S. and with our allies, and we continue to bolster the capability that we have there to keep our people
safe. So, there's been a lot of pre planning gone into this, a lot of pre deployment that's gone into this. And I'm satisfied that we can keep our
people safe, and we're working very hard to make sure that wherever people have registered their presence.
We can help them with the information that they need and the support they need, and get them back to United Kingdom as quickly and as safely as
possible. Thank you, Chris. Robert Peston, ITV.
ROBERT PESTON, POLITICAL EDITOR OF ITV: Yeah -- Prime Minister, I was very struck by your choice of words. You said that you stand by what you called
your initial decision not to join the offensive operations of Israel and America against Iran. Does that mean that decision is subject to review?
You're concentrating at the moment on defensive military activity, but could it turn into offensive activity?
STARMER: Well, as you will understand, we're working with our allies and with the U.S. on this. We've been doing that for some time. The pre
deployment was done in conjunction and in discussion with our allies and with the U.S. And we have that capacity in the region that we pre deploy to
the region, and we're bolstering that in the way that I've set out today.
The U.S. are using the basis to do these strikes into Iran to take out the capability to launch the strikes in the first place. So that is the
configuration, that is the understanding of the arrangements that we've got in place. Thank you, Robert. Beth (ph) can I come to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Thank you. Prime Minister and this escalating war are really frightening. People that are watching today, President Trump says it
will go on for four to five weeks. You've just said it will be some time. Do you have any sense of how long it could go on for?
Do you agree with President Trump? What's your message to the British people worried about how it's going to affect their lives? Can you give
them any reassurance that you'll help them on energy prices. And just secondly, on military operations, there's much unhappiness that military
personnel and their families were left unprotected on the Cyprus air base that was struck at the weekend.
What went wrong? And do you apologize to them? Thank you.
STARMER: Well, Beth (ph), let me set up my number one message, which is that our absolute priority is the safety of our citizens, and that is the
focus for all the decisions that I have taken, including the decisions to pre deploy in the way that I've described.
And the decisions we're taking every day in order to deal with the situation on the ground in the region, the consular work to get people
safely back home, and also what we're doing within the country, obviously, in relation to the division that can arise in situations like this.
In relation to Cyprus, we've obviously had an air base there for a very long time. There are protective measures in place. Have always been in
place. It's always been a protected air base. It's not something new to protect the air base. We pre-deployed further assets to Cyprus in January
and February for that purpose, and we're bolstering that.
[09:20:00]
So, I want to be really clear to everybody in Cyprus that we're taking every measure that is needed to protect them, to protect the air base,
along with the other places in the region. Thank you very much, Beth (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you --
STARMER: I'm sorry, in relation to how long it will go on, I do know people are worried. They are going to be worried about the any escalation. I think
they can see what's unfolding on their television screens that will cause them anxiety understandably. They will be worried about the impact on their
own lives that this could have, and those with family and friends in the region will be extremely worried about their family and friends in the
region.
I absolutely understand that. We are doing everything we can to de-escalate this. I can't give you a time base for this. I don't think anybody can. My
strong view is that when you de-escalate, and ultimately, this will have to be a matter of negotiation when it comes to some of the core issues like
nuclear capability. Thank you, Beth (ph). Paul McNamara -- Paul.
PAUL MCNAMARA, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR CHANNEL 4 NEWS: Afternoon, prime minister, there are reports that you walked into a meeting
National Security Council on Friday with one opinion, and had your mind changed by Ed Miliband and others in your cabinet.
So, is it true that you wanted on Friday to give Americans a precautionary permission in the event of Iranian reprisals, choose British bases for
defensive action, but had your mind changed by Ed Miliband and other members of your cabinet?
STARMER: Let me be really clear about this, no request from the U.S. came in the specific terms that we exceeded until Saturday afternoon. Saturday
afternoon. Well, just to hear me and therefore on Friday, there was no concrete decision to be made. The decision had to be made when we had the
request that came in on Saturday during the course of the afternoon.
We're already taking measures in relation to our own capability that came in on Saturday afternoon, late in the afternoon. We then, as you would have
expected, went through the details with the U.S. over the next day, and ultimately reached a decision on Sunday, which I announced then on Sunday
evening, about 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening.
But actually, on Friday, we didn't have a request from the United States, and therefore no decision fell to be made. The decision fell to be made
when we had the request. That was Saturday afternoon, we then worked it through decision on Sunday, which was a decision of all ministers unanimous
that we should take the action that I then announced. Thank you very much indeed. Katherine from GB news.
KATHERINE FORSTER, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR GB NEWS: Thank you. Katherine Forster GB news. Prime Minister Cyprus, Bahrain, United Arab
Emirates and others are being critical of the speed of our response. Have we let our allies and our own people down in the Middle East?
We've still got a warship sitting in Portsmouth, and also, you said yesterday, how in Munich, you said we need to go further and faster on
defense spending, but getting to 3 percent let alone 3.5, seems to have been kicked way, way into the long grass. When is your rhetoric actually
going to be matched by the reality of when you're putting money into defense?
STARMER: Yeah, thank you, Katherine. I know you'll have heard me said a moment ago. We started pre deploying in January and February assets to the
region to make sure that we had the capability that we needed there. That wasn't an isolated set of decisions that was done in conjunction with the
U.S., in conjunction with our allies, but we're bolstering that again.
And therefore, I can say we're doing everything, and have done everything we can at speed to make sure that we are properly protecting our citizens,
which is my number one concern, and that's why it's very important that I set out the pre deployment measures that we took.
And can I also say on defense spend. We've obviously already increased our defense spend with the highest spending now on defense since the Cold War.
And I've set out, when I was at NATO somewhat last year and at Munich this year, that we need to go further and faster, and that's what we'll do.
Thank you very much, Katherine. I've got Stephen (ph) from the Time. Stephen (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister, Donald Trump has suggested that you've ruined the special relationship. You are no church hill on the special
relationship. Is he right on that? Have you ruined the special relationship?
STARMER: Look, the special relationship is in operation right now. We're working with the Americans in the deployment from our bases. We are working
together in the region, the U.S. and the British working together to protect both the U.S. and the British in joint basis, where we jointly
located, and we're sharing intelligence on 24/7 basis, in the usual way.
That is the special relationship. That is a special relationship in operation.
[09:25:00]
And clearly, it's for the president to take decisions that he considers in the national interest the right decisions for the U.S. I understand that I
respect that, but equally, it's for me, as the British Prime Minister, to take decisions that I consider to be in the best interest of the United
Kingdom.
There's nothing controversial about that the special relationship is operating right here at an important point. Thank you very much, Stephen.
Pippa from Guardian,
PIPPA CRERAR, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE GUARDIAN: Yes, Prime Minister, as you said, a lot of people are very concerned about this conflict
escalating. Has Donald Trump given you any insight into what his plan is for what comes next after the initial bombing phase.
And are you convinced he has a plan? And if I can just push on the defense spending point, because increasing in defense spending to -- 3 percent of
GDP by 2030 would take up all real terms' growth unless, of course, you're raising money elsewhere to pay for it. Are you going to raise money to pay
for it, or are you going to make cuts elsewhere?
STARMER: Well, firstly, on the risk of escalation, clearly, that is a concern for everybody. It will be concerned for everybody who is watching
and across the country, and that's why we've been absolutely clear that we need to de-escalate in relation to discussions with the Americans.
Obviously, they're happening at all levels. I've had discussions with President Trump, but all of my team are having discussions all the time
with the Americans about the operation in relation to defense spending. We've set out our plans for the increase that we've already put in place.
I've made commitments at the NATO summit last year and at the Munich conference, and I was clear then that we will need to go further and
faster. Thank you very much, Pippa and Sophie from the Mirror. Sophie.
SOPHIE HUSKISSON, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE MIRROR: So, the current situation in the Middle East could potentially lead to the displacement of
millions of people in the region. I am expecting this to pay out in more asylum claims, including small boat arrivals from the region.
And are you concerned that cuts to the international aid budget could impact the UK's ability to handle situations exactly like this? And if I
can also just ask, have you spoken to Donald Trump since his criticism view.
STARMER: Well, in relation to the situation that's developed, obviously, we do not yet know how long this will last. We do not know what the full
impact will be, and therefore we will have to address those considerations as we get to them. And we will, because we are planning both the immediate
day to day response, but also looking at the further scenarios into the future.
In relation to Donald Trump, I spoke to him on Saturday evening this last weekend. Thank you all very much indeed. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: All right, the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, denying that Britain was slow to respond with support to its regional allies after this
war in Iran began. He confirmed that Britain has deployed military assets to this region, where I am, of the Gulf and the wider Middle East, in the
past couple of months ahead of this war.
When strikes began Saturday, he said those assets were activated in Cyprus over Jordan and Qatar just last night in fact, he said. And he said that
the UK is sending for additional typhoon jets to Qatar to strengthen defenses, attack helicopters to Cyprus, where he said the UK Defense
Secretary is on the ground and a warship to the med.
And crucially, he said he stands by his initial decision not to join the U.S.-Israel action on Iran. Could that change? He was asked that question
directly. He did not directly answer that question. He does confirm that he has allowed the U.S. to use British bases as defensive positions to take
out missiles directed at UK allies.
Right, what do we make of the latest that we've heard from the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Nic Robertson has been listening, and he joins us
now from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, Becky, I think one of the big takeaways I took from that was the prime minister saying
that he couldn't really say how long this war was going to last, that he is in constant communication with allies in the United States.
But that's a very clear admission, I think, of where this war stands at the moment, that even a leader of a country who is as close as anyone can be to
the international allies, consensus about what is happening that the United States is leading doesn't have a sense of how quickly it's going to come to
a conclusion.
[09:30:00]
Look, I think very much that was a press conference, clearly aim for the British people, but it's an object lesson, if you will, for the domestic
pressures that the United States, allies like the UK, like France, like Spain, all under at home. Number one, not wanting to be seen to be joining
a war of perceived aggression in the Middle East, led by President Donald Trump or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, because it's become apparent to
the publics in those countries that a relationship with the United States can be hot one day and cold the next.
I mean, most British people remember very clearly just a month or so ago, President Trump berating their contribution to supporting U.S. forces,
whether it was Afghanistan or Iraq or other places, that stuff bites deep. And so too, the perception that the UK is not an equal partner in any way
in that association.
And therefore, I think when you hear Prime Minister Keir Starmer say that he'd taken the decision only to give support for defensive measures now to
the United States and face pressure on that point that comes through there. And the other thing, of course, the perception that he hadn't done enough
in advance, not just to build up military readiness in the region, but to prepare British citizens for potential evacuation.
Again, that plays very badly in the polls for any British Prime Minister at any time, and there are local elections coming up in a couple of months,
and that Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, is under extreme political pressure at home. These are the challenges that Europe's leaders all face in
different shapes and forms at the moment.
But they are, as we've seen today, the Spanish and the Italians sending warship, warship and defensive measures to Cyprus, because Cyprus has been
the target of Iranian missile threats and attempted strikes again, broadens out the conflict a little bit. We heard Mark Rutte NATO Secretary General,
earlier today, saying that Europe or Iran is close to drawing Europe, or drawing Europe closer to this conflict not involved yet, but that's the
picture that we see emerging.
And of course, pressure on the British Prime Minister is under a huge criticism at home for failing to have a significant enough defense spend,
for failing to sort of keep the military in a state of readiness. It appears most people would expect it to be in and then, of course, he wants
to send a frigate, the HMS Dragon, to Cyprus to help in the protection there.
But apparently it seems to be stuck in its port in the UK, still facing issues. All of that paints a picture of a prime minister and his government
and the country, frankly, not in tip top readiness for a large war.
ANDERSON: Yeah. It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed, Nic. So, the UK providing support for its allies in their self-defense, very
specifically here in the Gulf, the UK, France, Italy, very prepared to do that. I want to discuss all of this more with a guest from one of the
regional partners that Keir Starmer was referring to, and that is Qatar.
Alanoud Hamad Saud Al Thani is a Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, joining us from Doha. The UK Prime Minister, being very
clear there, in support of the self-defense of Qatar, the UK is sending an additional four typhoon jets. It could be that those jets were involved in
the interceptions this morning of more missiles coming in, raining down on Doha.
The trailing smoke that we see on this image, let me bring it up, is the result of a missile strike being intercepted earlier, and that's further
evidence that the air defense systems you know are working, which will include fighter jets of course, they're working. They're robust.
They're working overtime. Personally, how surprised are you at the intensity of these attacks from Iran, and are you confident the system in
Qatar is robust enough to continue these successful interceptions.
ALANOUD HAMAD SAUD AL THANI, FELLOW AT THE MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Thank you, Becky. So, we are quite confident here just sitting in
Qatar, the first day, we were able to hear a lot of the interceptions, because they were intercepted via some of our on the ground defense
systems.
However, as the days went by, the majority of the interceptions are happening over the Gulf Sea, and so for the majority of the day, despite
the ongoing onslaught, we're not able to really hear much here on the ground.
[09:35:00]
However, it's also appearing that there has been a shift in the strategy from Iran for not just military attrition but economic attrition, which can
be far more deadly, not just for the region, just long term, for the entire international community.
ANDERSON: And that has been made abundantly clear by the prime minister who is also the foreign minister, who spoke to his Iranian counterpart, the
foreign minister just yesterday in a phone call and roundly rejected the idea from Tehran that these attacks are purely on U.S. assets, making it
abundantly clear that that is absolutely not accepted by Qatar.
My colleague, Mostafa Salem with a CNN exclusive reporting that Iranian SU- 24 bombers were just two minutes from the Al Udeid U.S. Air Base before Qatari F-15 shot them down. That is a significant escalation, and the first
Air to Air Combat for Qatar's Air Force.
Is this a clear example of calibrated deterrence combined at present, at least with strategic restraint? And at what point could Qatar switch into
an offensive, deeper operational alignment with Washington? Do you expect that?
THANI: So, in terms of going on the offensive, I think that generally in the GCC, the GCC countries have no appetite for bloodshed, for warfare, for
attrition, where we're very economic countries, which is why the primary issue for us right now is the economic attrition that is going on.
I mean, everyone knows about the LNG but it's not just the LNG. A lot of people don't know that Qatar is responsible for 30 to 35 percent of all the
helium internationally, which is included in MRI machineries, included in semiconductors. We also produce a lot of the urea, the fertilizers.
But even more than that, cargo, a lot of cargo is coming out of this region, and is managed by Qatar Airways and then as well, by Emirates
Airlines, who are both being impacted around 15 percent of the international cargo. But if we're just talking LNG, I mean really, we're
talking about over 100 billion in cubic meters of LNG.
That's it's quite impossible to be replaced by anyone else. I mean, we look at the USA, we look at Australia, Norway, they are all at near full
capacity.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
THANI: And we see the first countries that are going to get impacted by this, Europe, India, China, Japan, South Korea. But how far this is going
to reverberate throughout it's difficult to overstate.
ANDERSON: And Qatar energy has now declared force majeure, of course, after halting that LNG production following a drone strike on the energy
infrastructure. And as you rightly point out, I mean, Qatar is a massive LNG exporter, about 20 percent global energy much of it into Europe and
Asia, as you point out.
So, I wonder two questions, how serious is this for global energy markets? Keir Starmer, just earlier in that press conference, in assuring or
reassuring UK citizens that he was across what was going on with these energy markets that they you know, that they would watch very carefully
what was going on as far as energy prices are concerned.
But of course, it was a massive impact in 2022 when the Ukraine war first broke out. So, I wonder what you think the impact is going to be on these
energy markets. And going forward, how long can Qatar itself sustain this sort of onslaught? What's your sense of how, you know, how long this could
go on and how long you can sustain this yourselves in Qatar?
THANI: So just a couple of things to try to cover everything. First of all, earlier you had mentioned, is there any chance of, you know, retaliation
and whatnot, just from simply analyzing what's going on right now, retaliation doesn't seem like it will have make any kind of a difference,
because what we're seeing is it's impossible to completely remove Iran's ability to apply this economic pressure at the moment.
And again, as I mentioned, it is difficult to overstate the kind of impact this is going to have on the international markets.
[09:40:00]
I mean, most countries at the maximum, they have around 90 days of stockpile. The impacts for this are going to last much longer if we're not
able to find an off ramp and really just looking at all of our options, it does appear to be that the only possible off ramp would be for successful
negotiations.
However, the problem is it's not clear that there's anyone left to negotiate with in Iran. And so that is going to be the primary issue that
we are facing -- forward if we're not able to negotiate an end to this conflict very soon. It's not clear that we have any other solution to be
able to get our gas, our helium, our urea, our cargo moving.
And there is no clear or obvious replacement for it in the international community at the moment.
ANDERSON: Alanoud, it's good to have you. Thank you. Very important to get your analysis from a country.
THANI: Thank you for having me.
ANDERSON: Which is frankly, must feel very shocked, as people do here in the UAE about these attacks, these continued attacks, what feel like
sustained attacks, even though numbers of missiles perhaps significantly lower than in the first couple of days, these drone attacks significantly
continue.
All right. Thank you. We will be back after this short break folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: U.S. stock markets opened about 13 minutes ago. Let's see how they are doing today. Not a significant decrease, but a decrease
nonetheless. These markets did not follow what happened, at least in the Asian market today, where in its fourth day of trading, Asia actually
traded significantly higher today, but there may have just been some picking up of cheaper stock after significant declines over the past three
trading sessions.
It's Thursday of course, there is continuing market uncertainty, with oil prices again rising today. Wednesday saw a rebound in U.S. stocks, of
course, after President Trump said his government would provide guarantees to shipping using the Gulf but there is skepticism exactly how that would
work and no immediate end in sight to this conflict.
Well, the struggle to reign in Donald Trump's ability to wage war unilaterally is raging in Washington. Today, the U.S. House will vote on a
resolution that would limit President Donald Trump's military campaign against Iran, but a vote on the same issue failed in the Senate.
On Wednesday, 53 to 47 with just one Republican. Kentucky's Rand Paul voting with Democrats to reign in the president's war powers. Let's get the
very latest from our Senior White House Reporter, Kevin Liptak.
[09:45:00]
Kevin, Speaker Mike Johnson had this to say ahead of today's House vote. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I think passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea that would empower our enemies. It
would knee cap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander-in-chief away from completing this critical
mission to keep everybody safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is his position. What are we expecting to happen in the House today, Kevin?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, there's no expectation that this is going to pass in the House, just as it failed in the Senate,
and it has led to this somewhat confusing semantic debate in Washington about whether what the president has ordered up in Iran is actually a war.
You know you had Mike Johnson yesterday saying that it was not. And of course, if he calls it a war, that would mean that Congress had to
authorize it. But in the same breath, President Trump called it a war twice in this event that he held at the White House yesterday.
And so you do see at least the Republicans that are closest to the president and that are in leadership in the House, kind of tying themselves
into knots to try and insist that what is happening in the Middle East right now is not, in fact, a war, in order to sort of shirk their own
responsibility for authorizing it and for declaring it to be what it is.
You know, the Constitution says that Congress has the authority to declare war, but it hasn't actually been declared as such for many, many years. You
know, I think for all of this debate that's happening in Washington, there are very few Republicans or Democrats who want to go on the record
supporting this or not supporting it, because they don't actually know where it is headed.
You know, history has shown that these war votes, particularly the Iraq war vote, has become very politically precarious for the people, who's come out
in support of it. And so, you do see this effort, I think, on Republicans to both support the president, but to also sort of shrug off what is,
according to the Constitution, their very responsibility.
ANDERSON: I want to just run one thing past you. The UAE businessman Khalaf Al Habtoor wrote an open letter today to President Trump saying, and I
quote the following, before the ink has dried on the Board of Peace initiative that you announced in the name of peace and stability, we in the
region find ourselves facing a military escalation that endangers the entire region.
So where did those initiatives go? He asks. And look, Kevin, he's not an official spokesperson. This is a guy who's made billions out of
hospitality, leisure, real estate here, and is, you know, he's very influential. He's not an official spokesman, though, in any way.
How is the White House responding to criticism like that from people in this region like Khalaf Al Habtoor, that the administration has, frankly,
dragged the region where I am, the Gulf, into this war.
LIPTAK: Yeah, I think that their response is twofold. One, they're trying to insist, you know, despite all of the fallout from this war so far, that
in the end, that ultimately the region will be more secure by, you know, getting rid of Iran's missile and nuclear programs by taking out its
leadership.
That's the argument that they've been making over and over again here at the White House. Because, to be sure, many Americans also want to know why
the country has been dragged in towards not just the Gulf who is wondering what the point of all of this is? I think their other argument is a little
more questionable.
You know, President Trump himself said that he was surprised that Iran had retaliated on some of these Gulf nations. He seems to be arguing that he
didn't realize that the fallout would be so great, and I think that has contributed to the effect of the U.S. had no plan for evacuating Americans
out of the Middle East, out of these very wealthy Gulf state nations, suggesting that they had no idea that this is what would happen if the U.S.
went to war with Iran.
I think that is questionable. You know, ahead of this, you had many Gulf countries, the leaders of many Gulf countries, lobbying the U.S. against
lobbying this attack, questioning whether it would degrade the entire security of the region on which they have built their entire nations that
they have, you know, sold to the world as sort of oases of security, but certainly American intelligence as well.
And from the General Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who warns the President about what the fallout of this conflict might be.
And so, you know, the administration has been scrambling over the last several days to sort of reiterate what the point of this war was. But as
this underscores a lot of questions about the fallout.
[09:50:00]
ANDERSON: Good to have you Kevin, thank you. A man protesting the U.S. military action in Iran was forcibly removed from a Senate hearing on
Wednesday. Have a look at how that played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is wrong -- and nobody wants to fight for Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A reminder --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- please stand up as a Marine, stand up scope for America. Ouch. No one wants to fight for Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His hand, his hand. Oh, his hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Capitol police say the protests and several officers were injured during that chaotic scene. Brian McGinnis is a Green Party Senate candidate
whose campaign website identifies him as a Marine Corps veteran. He now faces several counts of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
Well, you're watching "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson from our middle -- We'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, governments around the world are scrambling to evacuate thousands of people stranded in the Middle East as the war between the
U.S., Israel and Iran escalates. Travelers who were stuck in airports for days are now beginning to leave as airlines add flights and governments
organize charter evacuations.
Those countries include the UK, India, Japan, Spain and others increasing flights and safe border crossings from the region. Ramping up repatriation
flights amid widening chaos, of course, in the Middle East, some are finally returning home to emotional reunions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO LOURENCO, EVACUATED PORTUGUESE: The main fear is not seeing the family again, and we're in a country where there's an imminent danger of
war between these countries, but honestly, credit where it's due to the surrounding countries. They are prepared for this kind of situation, and
unfortunately, we got caught up in this process.
CRISTINA CORDERO, EVACUATED SPANIARD: We just hope that the rest of the people can also come soon and that there is peace. We need peace. It has
been rough, but we are here now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the first U.S. evacuation flight left the Middle East on Wednesday. Five days into the U.S. Israel war in Iran. That is after the
Trump Administration faced significant backlash for not having an evacuation plan ready. The U.S. State Department says additional flights
will now be surged through the region.
My colleague Paula Hancocks spoke with a couple in Dubai, navigating the travel chaos they are facing, leaving their home and jobs to get away from
this spillover.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Watching the news to find out about a conflict they're in the middle of Cathy, from Michigan, moved
to Dubai just two weeks ago to join her husband, now her government has told her to leave.
HANCOCKS: How did you feel when you saw that directive that you should depart now from the Middle East?
[09:55:00]
CATHY, AMERICAN CITIZEN LIVING IN DUBAI: I felt well, I better get looking on flights, but I knew that the airport was closed, so I thought, how am I
-- how am I meant to depart?
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Michael is a school principal in Dubai. Schooling in the UAE is virtual all week. He has managed to secure them a flight to his
home country, Australia, in a few days, to reunite with their children.
HANCOCKS: Your children are older 18 and 21 they know they understand what's going on. What have they been saying to you?
CATHY: They have been keeping in contact daily and wondering, you know, when are we coming out? And they're planning to meet me at the airport, and
they're waiting.
HANCOCKS: They're worried?
CATHY: They -- yes, they're worried.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Dubai Airport is prioritizing passengers whose flights were canceled over the past five days. Even then, it's a lottery to
find out if they are assigned to one of the very few flights actually taking off. Many hone a cycle of booking, hoping them being canceled.
There are some in Dubai, though, who appear to be taking the turmoil in stride, sunning by the pool in between alerts and interceptions. Paula
Hancocks, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I have to say, here in Abu Dhabi, life does go on. It is difficult, and for those who want to get out, it is very frustrating at
times, but I can assure you that life does continue here. My team is in and we are through the first hour of "Connect the World". We will be back at
the top of the hour with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
