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Qatari Prime Minister Holds News Conference; Saudi FM Says Patience Toward Iran Is Not Unlimited; Iran Strikes Key Energy Sites in Gulf States; Omani FM Says Iran War is Trump Administration's "Greatest Miscalculation"; Tulsi Gabbard Dances around Senate Committee Questions; Nawaf Salam, Lebanese Prime Minister, Calls for Immediate Ceasefire; Iran War Pushes Stocks Lower. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 19, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome to the second hour of the show from our Gulf and Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky

Anderson in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 7:00 in the evening.

And we begin with U.S. Defense Secretary, praising America's Gulf allies as Iran steps up its attacks on energy facilities in the region, causing major

damage and disruption.

Pete Hegseth spoke at the Pentagon a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The Gulf states have stepped up incredibly. In fact, Iran's sort of reckless attempt to strike civilian

infrastructure and other things has brought countries, who maybe would have not been as all in as they are today, squarely into our orbit.

We're proud to be defending with them, standing with them, you name it; UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and others, who have been right

there. And we're grateful for that kind of support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Hegseth speaking amid the fallout from Qatar's foreign ministry, calling this a "dangerous escalation" in the war.

An Israeli attack on Iran's South Pars gas field, U.S. president Donald Trump claims the U.S. had no advance knowledge of that attack, although

sources who've spoken to CNN contradict that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): Well, Iran responding by targeting energy facilities across the Gulf, in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and here in the

UAE. This video shows an explosion near a Saudi oil facility as missiles flew over Riyadh during a meeting of regional foreign ministers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Iran's actions angering its Gulf neighbors -- and that's what they are across the Persian Gulf, of course. The Saudi foreign minister

spoke earlier today. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAISAL BIN FARHAN AL SAUD, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER: The targeting of Riyadh, while a number of diplomats are meeting, I cannot see as

coincidental. And I think that's the clearest signal of how Iran feels about diplomacy.

It doesn't believe in talking to its neighbors. Certainly, as we have stated quite clearly, we have reserved the right to take military actions

if deemed necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Qatar says that it is expelling Iranian diplomats after reporting extensive damage from Iranian strikes at a major oil hub. All the

while the death toll from the bombardments in Iran and in Lebanon, of course, is rising.

In Lebanon, nearly 1,000 people reported killed since the start of the war there. Let me get you to Nic Robertson. Let's start this out with Nic. He

is in Riyadh.

And we just heard from the foreign minister there, very blunt comments about the kingdom having the right to take military action against Iran if

deemed necessary.

What can we make of that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. He went on to say that both Saudi and the Gulf, the Gulf partners here, have substantial assets

available. His language was really tough.

And it was really -- and you heard him there responding to the ballistic missile strikes that Iran was timing right around the meeting of the

foreign ministers, quite literally was standing at the door of the hotel.

On the one hand, foreign ministers quite literally walking in the building and you can hear the intercepts going off. I could -- stepped out of the

doors as they were coming in and I could see debris falling.

And it was two oil facilities outside of Riyadh that the foreign minister said were hit last night, just on the outskirts of Riyadh. So it was an

incredible juxtaposition. And the language felt even stronger, potentially, because of that.

He said that Iran has to understand there will be consequences. Escalation will be met with escalation. On the question of whether or not Iran or when

-- or rather when or if Saudi might engage and turn up its military assets against Iran, on that, he wasn't giving a timeline for it. This is what he

said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL SAUD: The patience that is being exhibited is not unlimited.

Do they have a day, two, a week?

Does it -- you know. I'm not going to telegraph that.

I would hope that they understand the message of the meeting today and recalculate quickly and stop attacking their neighbors. But I am doubtful

that they have that wisdom. And I think the fact that, as I said, I think that they have attacked us is something that cannot be justified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:10]

ROBERTSON: It's fairly striking, Becky. Two things there, not just that he said that he doesn't think Iran is getting this and understanding what

could happen but you see there, he speaks very slowly.

OK. It was late at night. It was almost 3:00 in the morning when he was speaking. But he's being so careful with his language because this is high-

stakes diplomacy. Saudi doesn't want to get drawn into this but really feels this is almost becoming an inevitable path.

ANDERSON: And this right to respond is now enshrined in international law following the U.N. Security Council resolution passing last week, giving

all these countries, the GCC and Jordan, the right to respond. That has been in self-defense to date.

But you're right, you know, very precise and determined language, as these countries, of course, try and stay within the body of international law as

they think about and calculate what their posture might be going forward.

How is Iran responding to this heightened rhetoric?

And it is a toughened rhetoric now from the region and beyond.

ROBERTSON: Look, there are two responses, aren't there, Becky. There's the one that you're seeing almost exploding quite literally outside the windows

where you are.

And the intercepts we saw here last night and the impact on the liquid natural gas facilities in Qatar, all of this, there's a language that Iran

is speaking with missiles. And that's being put down to the IRGC.

But there's also the politicians. And we heard today from the Iranian foreign minister. And here, perhaps, it appears to be giving a warning to

the United States allies, be they in the Gulf or be they in Europe.

And we've heard this joint statement from the British, the French, the Germans, the Japanese about ultimately a need after the war stops to secure

the Strait of Hormuz, giving a clear warning that these countries, if they join the United States, could become targets.

Let me just read you what the Iranian foreign minister says.

"Joining U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would," and I quote here, "constitute complicity in the aggression of the heinous crimes

committed by the aggressors."

So this is, again, incredibly tough diplomatic language. The military is speaking with weapons of war. And the diplomats in Iran are speaking with

the language of very clear and explicit warnings to the United States allies. Don't get involved or the same will come your way.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Nic. Thank you very much indeed.

Nic alluding to the fact that, just in the past hour, we have been on air and we've had two alerts of incoming projectiles, either ballistic missiles

or drones. I mean, we will learn what those projectiles were in the hours to come. But just a, you know, an indication of what the UAE is going

through and what is happening around this region.

Let's bring in Mohammad Ali Shabani, the editor of Amwaj.media.

Mohammad, Nic just reading out some of what the foreign minister, the Iranian foreign minister had just posted. And I want to just read further

here.

"Our response to Israel's attack on our infrastructure employed fraction of our power. The only reason for restraint" -- and he uses that term

"restraint" -- "was respect for requested de-escalation. Zero restraint if our infrastructures are struck again."

How does that bode for the region where I am?

As we are, it seems, climbing further and further up this escalation ladder at this point.

MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI, EDITOR, AMWAJ.MEDIA: Becky, it appears to me that the tweet by the foreign minister is a response to the tweet by Donald

Trump last night, essentially saying that he seeks an end to attacks specifically on South Pars, the world's largest gas field.

It's shared with the other and I think what the Iranians are trying to signal is that they are prepared for de-escalation, provided that it is

more broad than focused on a singular site.

So I think that Iran essentially is trying to lay out the line that, if attacks are concentrated on military sites, that could be an eventuality

they may consider.

Right now I think they're really focused on making sure that they sustain consistent pressure on both Israel and the U.S., mindful that the parties

which initiated this war were Israel and the U.S., right?

[10:10:05]

So they want to make sure that, ultimately, when this conflict ends, which it will at some point, and they return to the negotiating table, they're

not going to be back where they are today in, let's say, three or six months

ANDERSON: We see on a daily basis here the effect of what is Iranian capability that still exists after more than 15,000 strikes by the U.S. and

Israel. Many of those Israeli strikes, of course, had been had been on individual targets and infrastructure within Iran -- police headquarters,

intelligence, all the rest of it.

The Americans have been looking at degrading the missile capability, the industrial, the building of that missile capability and on the IRGC navy,

of course.

What are you hearing from your sources in Iran about their strategy at this point and their capabilities at this point?

Just how degraded is Iran as we speak?

SHABANI: Becky, you know, they've had 30 years to prepare for this conflict. This is not something they woke up to last week.

They have employed for the past 20 years something called the Mosaic Defense strategy, which is about decentralized command, meaning that, even

if the center is struck, even if the top commanders are struck, there are preexisting directives for provincial command to proceed with attacks,

retaliation.

So that's the level of preparedness we're looking at. Obviously, there have been thousands of targets being struck. But ultimately, I think what Israel

is struggling with is striking knowledge, right?

You can't bomb knowledge away. You know, what I mean by knowledge is not just knowledge about nuclear technology. It's also knowledge about, for

instance, ballistic missiles. It's about knowledge about drones.

And in fact, if anything, this conflict has shown that it appears, based on credible reporting, that Russia has transferred advanced drone technology

to Iran. So it could very well be that Iran walks out of this conflict with degraded industrial capability, which can be rebuilt, but also access to

more technology than it had in the first place.

So that's a bigger problem for Israel and the United States. So I think what they're really looking at is they can hit buildings, they can hit

individuals, but what they're ultimately facing is a state, a state with institutions.

And most of all they're facing a situation where you cannot bomb away knowledge. And I think this is what ultimately is going to underpin any

kind of negotiation that follows this conflict.

ANDERSON: Treasury -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just told Bloomberg that the U.S. could sanction unsanctioned Iranian oil currently

on the water. Of course, the Iranians, in these erstwhile diplomatic talks, had been looking for a rollback on sanctions.

So what do you make of the timing of this?

SHABANI: So the U.S. administration is under severe pressure from rising oil prices. It's putting massive pressure on the U.S. government,

especially in a -- in an election year. I think the Iranians are calibrating their strategy accordingly.

The U.S. Treasury Secretary going out and stating that he's willing to allow Iranian seaborne oil, which amounts to about 140 million barrels, to

be sold, indicates to me, number one, a potential signal of de-escalation.

Number two, even if this conflict does go on, they want a semblance of stability in energy markets. So they're kind of allowing Iran to sell oil

while they continue fighting Iran, if that makes sense.

And C, it could very well be deception. We have seen that the United States tends to escalate late Fridays after energy markets close. Based on the

Saudi foreign minister's comments, we really don't know what they may have been planning but maybe planned for this weekend.

But so far, based on the foreign minister's tweet, based on the U.S. Treasury Secretary saying, some actors want to contain this conflict.

ANDERSON: Yes. I do think people will find it remarkable, if indeed Iranian oil and Russian oil, both unsanctioned during this conflict, if

indeed that is -- that is the upshot of all of this. Does seem remarkable.

And I've spoken to people today who track these oil markets. Certainly weren't, didn't see the idea of unsanctioning Iranian oil coming out of the

U.S. today. Hasn't affected the price of oil, I have to say, significantly. Anyway, all of this underscores, Mohammad, your in-depth reporting about

the negotiations leading up to this war.

[10:15:00]

That there was apparent progress toward a nuclear deal before the U.S. and Israel decided to strike Iran. I want to take a moment to read how --

something you describe in your article that I think captures that essence.

"When Iran's foreign minister told his U.S. counterpart, 'I am completely serious and have full authority to strike a deal, I even have the authority

to remain here for two weeks to finish the work.

"'But I do not see you as serious and we do not trust you,' Witkoff is said to have insisted that he and Kushner were also serious about negotiating a

deal, allegedly hinting at acceptance of Iranian enrichment for the first time."

Can you just break this down for us?

SHABANI: So one of the main sticking points in negotiation has been that president Trump has overtly called for the dismantling of Iran's nuclear

program of zero enrichment. So no kind of processing of uranium on Iranian soil.

And based on the reporting we have and based on the sources we have, is that basically the talks that were held in Muscat in Geneva, they were

premised on this notion that Iran eventually would be permitted to enrich uranium on its soil.

But what Iran was willing to do was to offer a multi-year halt to such activities as a trust and confidence-building measure. That was a huge

concession. Iran had not offered a halt enrichment to anybody in over 20 years, despite sanctions, despite being attacked by Israel several times.

So that in itself was a huge concession.

Another important part of the negotiations in Geneva was that Iran essentially argued that we are willing to give away or process rather than

give a process or stockpile of uranium. And what that means is that as long as you don't stockpile that material, there's nothing to build a bomb with.

So I think the technical elements for a deal were there but, unfortunately, it seems that the U.S. side didn't actually bring any technicals. The only

two main people from the Trump administration which were present were Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both of them working in property and real estate

as backgrounds. Right.

And that's where it gets quite interesting because the British national security advisor, who is very well versed in the technical dimensions of

the issue and also has good rapport with Witkoff, joined the kind of negotiations secretly on the sidelines.

And that was in collaboration with the Qataris, which we also kind of broke the story on. So we're seeing more and more now with the war the extent of

concessions Iran was willing to make at the negotiating table.

I think the Trump administration deemed those concessions not going -- as not going far enough. But I think the essence was that -- was that the

Iranian final bottom line probably not -- probably there was a lot more space to talk.

But for whatever reason, Trump decided to act. He decided to go ahead with this war. And I think the longer this goes on, the more signals we're

seeing that there was a massive miscalculation they didn't expect. They want to fight back, definitely not fight back this hard, this long.

ANDERSON: Yes. Witness the letter penned by Oman today in "The Economist," a very frustrated tone in that. Thank you.

Well, ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, as Iran takes aim at critical energy sites in the Gulf states, we are going to gauge response from across the

region. Stay with us

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ANDERSON: Well, the UAE minister and head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, calling for Tehran to stop targeting

infrastructure, writing, and I quote him here.

"These are civilian facilities operated by civilian engineers, sustaining economies and everyday life far beyond our region. This is an unjustified,

unprovoked and illegal attack on a peaceful nation. But it is not just a regional issue, it is global economic warfare."

Let's bring Mina Al-Oraibi, editor-in-chief of "The National," which is a daily newspaper here in Abu Dhabi. It goes out and can be read around the

world, of course.

Mina, we've just heard there Dr. Sultan's words and I think those are important to note. We've also been tracking what has been a remarkably

important meeting of regional foreign ministers yesterday and other ministers from Muslim countries.

We've been talking to our sources about the significant escalation of this past 24 hours, this region getting sucked deeper and deeper into an

escalation trap that I know those who you and I spoke -- speak to were hoping to avoid.

What are you hearing about the region's calculations at this point?

MINA AL-ORAIBI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE NATIONAL": Well, a number of points. You're right, Becky, what Doctor Sultan Al Jaber spoke about, that this

global economic warfare and the attacks that are happening on energy facilities should not be seen as just an Iranian retaliation.

After the attack yesterday on South Pars field, which is an inaccurate framing, Iran has been going after energy -- major energy positions, be it

Ras Tanura refinery for Aramco at the very beginning of this war, Bapco in Bahrain, LNG in Qatar. And, of course, here in the UAE, too.

So I think putting that framing is hugely important in terms of Iran has escalated and sought to widen this war.

Israel has also widened this war, as we see, of course, what's happening in Lebanon now. Now the meeting yesterday of the foreign ministers of the Arab

countries that are involved in this have been -- the war has been brought onto them, hugely important.

But we've also had movement from the International Maritime Organization, IMO, headquartered in London, based on an action from the UAE to demand

collective international action to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and to stop this global economic warfare.

Because the consequences, as you said, are getting more and more dire. Lives are being lost again in Tehran, also in Iran, but in Lebanon and in

different parts of the Gulf, due mainly, of course, to debris and drones and missiles from Iran onto the Gulf.

And so as this widens, there is a need for political solutions. Hearing from the Omani foreign minister and his opinion piece in "The Economist,"

you hear his frustration of what could have happened.

But actually he speaks about the nuclear program. And what we're seeing here in the region is Iran's ballistic missile drone capability that is

putting the -- this part of the world, the Gulf, under so much strain and in so much danger. And that was always the point of the Arab countries,

that you can't just limit this to the nuclear file.

ANDERSON: I just want to read just some of that Omani -- the Omani FM's letter that was penned for "The Economist."

Quote, "The American administration's greatest miscalculation, of course, was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place. This is

not America's war and there is no likely scenario in which both Israel and America will get what they want from it."

You're right. His letter was penned very much around, you know, what he saw as the wasted diplomatic offramp and the conversations that were being had

around the nuclear program.

You're absolutely right to point out that, in this region, it is the ballistic missile program that is now clear for everybody to see as an

enormous threat to this region, that leaders here and around this region want to put on -- wanted on the table in any deal.

[10:25:06]

So where do we go from here, I think, given that we've heard this, you know, increasingly robust language from this region in the face of what is

this escalation in reckless and unprovoked attacks that is enshrined, language enshrined in international law now?

You know, what happens next from this region and for this region?

AL-ORAIBI: It's really important that the world understands that the Gulf's decision not to get into an offensive mode and retaliate against

Iran is not a sign of weakness.

The concern, I think, for many Gulf leaders, is that Iran might miscalculate and think that the fact that the Gulf is taking these attacks

and not responding in an offensive manner is seen as a sign of weakness.

But in reality, it's because they are trying to put every effort possible de-escalate to minimize this war, not to expand it further.

And so the offramp, what does that look like?

It has to be diplomacy. It is often seen as perhaps boring, you know, not enough action is being made but hugely important. And that diplomacy also

requires other actors. Europe has said that it does not want to be involved in, for example, policing the Strait of Hormuz.

But Europe can play an important role in diplomacy. And we've seen also President Emmanuel Macron being quite involved and seeking some solution.

Diplomacy will be important but also for the Arab countries to speak in one voice. It's hugely important. We've seen close coordination between the

different Gulf countries even though they might have differing positions. They are very much united in wanting to find a peaceful solution for this.

In terms of the Israeli and American aims from this war, that is quite different where -- we're hearing the sound of alarms.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: Yes. You're getting the same alert as I am, I think, Mina. Yes. I'm going to let you go. We are -- and I've said this before to our viewers

-- we're in a -- we're in a safe place here. We're away from the windows.

I can see a window by you. So for your own safety and security, I'm going to -- I'm going to let you go. Thank you very much indeed.

And as Mina and I speak here in Abu Dhabi, this is the third or fourth time in the past 1.5 hours that these alerts have gone off, signaling that there

are incoming attacks from Iran.

If you needed any clearer indication of how this region is being dragged into this war, a war that it didn't want, that is it. We are all living

through the ramifications of this.

Let's turn now to the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the media that the U.S. continues to dominate the battlefield against Iran.

Today he said the U.S. is still on plan to achieve its military objectives against Tehran.

He also said the U.S. has hit 7,000 targets to date but did not provide a definitive timeline of when the war would come to an end. Here is more from

the secretary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: We are very much on plan and that's what I -- that's why I want to speak to the American people here. You hear a lot of noise about

widening or new missions or speculation about what we should or should not be doing.

This is a clear set of objectives the president has given us every capability we need to accomplish that. We've got the best in the world in

uniform, executing it on the ground. They are -- believe in and are invested in this mission.

And it will be at the president's choosing, ultimately, where we say, hey, we've achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure

our security. So no time set on that. But we're very much on track.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: For more on this, let's bring in our senior reporter for politics at CNN, Stephen Collinson.

And, Stephen, it's been a dramatic week in the U.S. intelligence community. I want our viewers, just to hear from the director of the national

intelligence group, Tulsi Gabbard, who says it is not her job to report imminent threats. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Was it the intelligence community's assessment that, nevertheless, despite this obliteration, there was a, quote,

"imminent nuclear threat" posed by the Iranian regime?

Yes or no?

TULSI GABBARD, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It is not the intelligence community's responsibility to determine what is and is not an

imminent threat. That is up to --

(CROSSTALK)

OSSOFF: Here's the problem.

No, it is. It is precisely -- it is precisely your responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, she pointed out that Iran could have ICBMs in many years' time. I think by 2035, she said. But what we do know and she pointed out is

that Russia, China and others all have that capability already. And these are -- these are missiles that could reach the U.S. with conventional or

nuclear warheads.

[10:30:04]

So how loud is the argument in the MAGA world against this war, based on the lack of intel, Stephen?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think the argument is loud on MAGA media. There is a real split between people like Tucker

Carlson, who is against this war as a long-term noninterventionist, is interventionist, is very hostile toward Israel.

And some other sectors of the president's base on MAGA media who are arguing, yes, this war was justified. But we need clear ends. And we don't

want to get sucked into a quagmire there. So that's MAGA media.

If you look at the polls, I think Trump is still strong within most of his base on this war. Those voters trust the president and they respond to his

shows of strength. How long that will last if we get gasoline prices at $4 a gallon, which is where they're headed right now and worse all through the

summer, I think that is another question.

The president is definitely losing support from outside that MAGA base. But I think a lot of what the messaging from Hegseth was about at the Pentagon

this morning was less to the outside world and more to president Trump's supporters, to assure them that we know what we're doing. And this is this

is going to turn out fine.

ANDERSON: Stephen, always good to have you. Thank you.

I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. This is our Gulf Middle East headquarters for CNN. Still ahead, at just about 6:30 in the evening here, oil and

natural gas prices surge as Gulf tensions escalate. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insists that the Pentagon's military campaign against Iran is on track.

In remarks to the media earlier today, he said, quote, "We are winning decisively and on our terms."

Hegseth did not provide a definitive timeline of when the war would come to an end.

Well, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says his country reserves the right to take military action against Iran if Iranian attacks on Gulf states

continue. He also says the kingdom's patience exhibited toward Iran is not unlimited.

His comments come a day after Iran launched missiles at Riyadh while regional ministers were meeting there.

Well, oil and natural gas prices climbing again after attacks on Iran's energy facilities and Tehran's retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.

[10:35:07]

Iranian attacks hit key energy assets, including Qatar's Ras Laffan, which is the world's largest facility for LNG, and an oil refinery in Kuwait.

Well, Richard Meade is the editor in chief of "Lloyd's List." He joins us now from London.

I want to talk about the Strait of Hormuz, absolutely crucial when we talk about energy security, energy safety, energy prices, their impact on the

global economy, of course.

It isn't just ships in the strait there are oil and LNG infrastructures, as you just heard me explaining there about the strike on one of the world's

most important liquefied natural gas fields, South Pars. Here's a map for our viewers. South Pars owned by Iran. The north part, notably owned by

Qatar.

How concerned are you about these strikes?

I know you're, you know, you want to talk very specifically, perhaps, about the maritime world. But I just want us to just consider the kind of wider

picture here.

RICHARD MEADE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "LLOYD'S LIST": Well, I think it is a step change in terms of the risk, not just a maritime but, as you say, the

energy infrastructure. I mean, this is a material development that affects all maritime security.

Every LNG terminal, every offshore platform, every pipeline corridor in the region is now effectively a potential target. So I think this is hugely

significant. It will have a detrimental effect in terms of the risk analysis that's being placed on ships. But I think this goes much further

than that now.

ANDERSON: The International Maritime Organization is now considering a Black Sea-style safe corridor to allow stranded vessels, at least, to exit

the strait.

How realistic is such a corridor and whether it can be negotiated and enforced at this point?

MEADE: Not very, in my view. I think it's an interesting debate to be having within the U.N. agency. But the reality is, if there was a

diplomatic solution on offer, then it would have been done outside of the IMO by now already.

I think the reality is we're talking about two separate things here. One is the diplomatic proposals for a Black Sea corridor. But, you know, don't

forget that, when the Black Sea corridor was imposed, it was done through a negotiated settlement with Russia and various other people.

I think the reality is that you -- until you get some diplomatic detente between the U.S. and Iran and the Gulf states, you're not going to be able

to actually enforce that, with or without a naval escort system.

ANDERSON: All right. I'm just going to break in to you because we have got the prime minister of Qatar speaking now. This is out of Qatar, Doha in

Qatar. Let's have a listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): -- attack of yesterday, which was against the -- an

natural gas facility, which consider the source of living for the Qatari people.

And yesterday also that had affected millions of the people who are helped by the State of Qatar. Such a aggression and the continuation of this

aggression and also expanding the war will not lead on -- only for more stability in the region -- and the State of Qatar will always call for

diplomacy and dialogue and go back to wisdom.

However, unfortunately, it seems that we -- it is met with -- wisdom is missing those days. And this is something also we have witnessed in

disrupting the maritime navigation and hindering the trade in a very critical water passageway like Hormuz.

We confirmed that the security of the region is a collective responsibility. And it is a must that all the countries are committed and

uphold the responsibility. And also would like to confirm the importance of an immediate stop of those attacks of Iran on the region and de-escalate so

that this region will not get into more turmoil.

Your Excellency, the minister, I would like to emphasize the importance of continuous consultation with you and would like to thank you for supporting

us and supporting all the time.

[10:40:00]

And also the stability and safety in the region and the world. Turkiye has a strong position with the State of Qatar and we in the State of Qatar,

people and government, we appreciate those positions and this support by Turkiye.

And at the end, I would like just to say that this war need to stop immediately. The aggression need to stop immediately because everyone knows

who is the big beneficiary of this war and dragging the whole region into this conflict. And unfortunately was taking place now, it's easier for

those agendas.

Thank you very much.

HAKAN FIDAN, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Distinguished members of the press, as you know, we are now experiencing extraordinary

days. And during these extraordinary days, in order to show our solidarity with Qatar, today we are here in Qatar, together with our delegation.

Despite his busy agenda, he has shown us great hospitality. And for that, I'd like to thank my dear brother and the prime minister and minister of

foreign affairs, Mohammed Abdulrahman. So I'd like to thank him very much indeed.

He has always welcomed us very well. He is a very valuable person for Qatar and the region and he's been very humble so far and he has taken so many

mediator roles. And some of them are well known by the public. Some of them are not known by the public.

But for the region and for global peace, he's always putting an effort and I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate him once again.

But right now, this time, when they were a subject, when they were again mediating, they were subjected to an attack, which was not deserved at all.

And this attack is still ongoing.

Before all, I would like to bring the get-well wishes of the Turkish nation and our president to our Qatari brothers and sisters. We condemn and

denounce the attacks that disregard the lives of civilians and target civilian infrastructure.

These attacks can never and for no reason be legitimized. Turkiye always stands by the brotherly nation of Qatar and will always continue to stand

by Qatar.

Dear colleagues, the ongoing war is directly threatening the security of all our brothers and sisters in the region and deeply disrupts the peace

and tranquility within the framework of our solidarity with the countries of the region.

As you know, yesterday, we were in Riyadh. We went there upon the invitation of Saudi Arabia. Since the start of the war, this was the first

time that we got together under this format. And it was a meeting that was really needed.

And during the meeting we have affirmed in the strongest terms possible that we are in full solidarity with the brotherly countries, which are the

targets of the attacks.

And during our consultations in Riyadh, we have also agreed to undertake joint efforts in line with the targets of immediate cessation of the

attacks and ensuring ceasefire, preventing the spread of conflicts and bringing the crisis to resolution through diplomatic methods.

It should be expressly indicated that the primary responsible party for this war that has drawn our region to an unprecedented crisis is Israel. In

an era when the diplomatic negotiations are ongoing, these attacks have started with the provocations of Israel and expanded in terms of their

targets.

Did not only turn our region into a massive war zone but also staggered global stability in this sensitive conjuncture. We need to also openly --

ANDERSON: All right. Well, you're listening there to the Turkish foreign minister, who is alongside the Qatari foreign minister, who is also the

prime minister in Doha, and the Turkish foreign minister.

I must just note, they're blaming Israel for dragging, as he put it, everybody in the region into a war. This has become a massive war zone and

has a huge impact on the global economy.

And this followed comments from the Qatar prime minister, foreign minister, who condemned the attacks on QatarEnergy infrastructure overnight,

significant damage. And this press conference following QatarEnergy's CEO just earlier saying that the Iranian attacks overnight damaged 17 percent

of its LNG production capacity.

And he said it would take 3-5 years to repair the damage. And it may have to declare force majeure for up to five years on long-term contracts for

LNG supplies to the likes of Italy, Belgium, Korea and China.

[10:45:04]

Let me bring back Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of "Lloyd's List."

And I think what we've just heard there and the detail that I provided from an interview with QatarEnergy, with the Reuters News Agency, just goes to

underscore the enormity of what we are seeing here.

The Turkish foreign minister saying that this is a region that has been dragged into war. It's a war zone to -- those were his words, not mine --

and the impact on energy infrastructure here and the consequent fallout for the world economy is just dramatic at this point.

MEADE: Absolutely. I mean, you know, Qatar supplies close to 20 percent of global LNG and roughly a quarter of all liquefaction capacity is under

construction there. It's -- it is huge but it's, of course, not just LNG. It's not just crude.

There are supply chain ripples that are going to be felt for years as a result of what we have seen over the last three weeks.

Immediate problems developing in the shipping industry, where the shipping industry is slowing down up to about 20 percent to 30 percent in some cases

across fleets.

Simply because they cannot guarantee that they're going to get bunker fuel in order to actually get the ships moving when they get to the next port

because availability and cost is being massively disrupted.

But all of this goes back to the strait being open. And, you know, to your original question around, you know, a safe passage, there's a diplomatic

suggestion that we might get one. I would question whether or not that is going to be, you know, practical.

But we also already have a de facto Iranian-agreed safe passage corridor. We've seen India, Pakistan, Iraq, Malaysia, now China all negotiating

directly with Tehran. And we are seeing ships move into Iranian territorial waters, effectively at the behest of the Iranians.

They have allowed ships to go through. Now we know of at least one case where we think there are payments being made and there are suggestions that

there will be more. Some of this is done on national affiliation but there is payments as well. So you're essentially putting up an Iranian toll booth

for global trade under this system.

ANDERSON: And it may be that Iranian oil unsanctioned will be on the move if what's Scott Bessent said this morning before the markets open come good

-- comes good. The U.S. considering unsanctioning Iranian oil that is already on the waters.

Was an effort to move the oil price. Well, it certainly didn't help much. For the time being, it's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed.

We will be right back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ANDERSON: I want to turn to Lebanon at this point, where at least 45 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in just the past two days. CNN's

Nick Paton Walsh is in Beirut and he's been speaking to the country's prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAWAF SALAM, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: Ceasefire.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Immediately?

SALAM: If you could, yesterday, not tomorrow.

WALSH: If you could deliver a message to president Trump now, directly, for one thing for him to do today, what would it be?

SALAM: To help put an end to the Lebanese conflict.

And I would like to reaffirm to president Trump our readiness to enter into immediate negotiations with Israel.

[10:50:03]

We know only that this conflict can only end with negotiations. The U.S., I mean, is a strategic partner to Lebanon. And president Trump, more than

anyone else, I mean, can play a decisive role in bringing this war to an end. So we call on a greater engagement of the U.S.

WALSH: The recognition of Israel is something that has been put front and center as the potential of a peace deal. Many Gulf countries have agreed to

do it. They've normalized relations.

Do you at least accept that, until you can harness enough of Lebanese society to agree to that principle, the peace deal will always --

(CROSSTALK)

SALAM: -- I mean we have been for two -- for two weeks, I mean, extending our hands to have direct talks with the Israelis. So far, we haven't

received an agenda --

WALSH: Take this opportunity to say you're willing to.

SALAM: -- when we receive an agenda, a clear agenda from the Israelis, I mean, then I will definitely answer your question.

(CROSSTALK)

SALAM: -- not at this stage, even where we have a clear -- a clear agenda.

WALSH: Do you think Israel will take a buffer zone up to the Litani River, a large part of the south, for leverage?

SALAM: I mean, we cannot accept, I mean, any buffer zone, security zone, any infringement on our --

WALSH: But you've had one for months --

WALSH: -- sovereignty.

We cannot negotiate any form of treaty deal arrangement as long as -- I mean, we cannot secure that our sovereignty will be fully restored.

WALSH: You have an unprecedented humanitarian crisis of Lebanese forced out of their homes.

How close do you feel you are to unrest because of that current problem?

SALAM: About a million persons have been displaced from the south and from the southern suburb of the capital. And that's almost 20 percent, if not 25

percent, of the Lebanese population.

Now Lebanon is turned into a battlefield of the war between Israel and Iran. I mean all Lebanese, they are victims. This war has been imposed on

us. We didn't seek it. We didn't choose it. And now our main objective is how to end it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: As Israel pushes ahead with operations in Lebanon, a Lebanese analyst is pointing the finger at the government in Beirut for failing to

prevent further conflict. Kim Ghattas is a journalist. She's a contributing editor at the "Financial Times."

And she told me that the Lebanese government has fallen short in its handling of the Iran backed Hezbollah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM GHATTAS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "FINANCIAL TIMES": The Lebanese government and the Lebanese president have done too little, too late in

trying to stave off what was really looking like an inevitable conflict, even after the ceasefire.

The ceasefire was a, you know, was just suspended in time. But I want to remind your viewers that Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in the

country continued since the ceasefire of November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel.

The Lebanese army and the Lebanese government were supposed to make sure that the area south of the Litani River, close to the border with Israel,

was free of all Hezbollah, you know, military arsenals, et cetera. They said they had done so.

I think it's very hard to confirm the Lebanese government and Lebanese army did not want to enter into a full-on confrontation with Hezbollah to

forcefully disarm the group, which could lead to internal conflict, internal clashes, which is again something the country cannot support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That's Kim Ghattas speaking to me earlier. And she's weighed in on the broader picture in the Middle East as well, saying that the gloves

are off in terms of Saudi Arabia's hardening position on Tehran. Riyadh says it reserves the right to take military action against Iran if

necessary.

Now Ghattas is also the author of the book, "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and

Collective Memory in the Middle East." And if you are looking for a good, decent read at present, I would absolutely recommend that.

Well, let's see how stocks are getting on at the moment. I'm going to give you the three main indices on Wall Street.

[10:55:00]

These markets have been open for, what, 1.5 hours now, an hour and 20 minutes?

They're off by about where they started, to be honest. All eyes, though, are on oil right now. And investors in equities will be keenly watching the

price of oil, which is, what, 112 nearly on Brent crude; 96 and change on the U.S. benchmark. Those are high prices.

They are not coming down as we hear report from this region, what we see as a significant escalation, a new phase in this war, its energy

infrastructure around this region in the crosshairs for Iran, as Israel and the U.S. continue to pummel that country.

That's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

END