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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Dozens Wounded In Bahrain As Gulf States Report More Attacks; Macron To Visit Cyprus Following Drone Attack On Island; Sources: Russia Feeds Iran Intel About U.S. Forces; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 09, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: And welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson live from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

[04:30:03]

Let's get you the very latest on Israel and the U.S.'s war with Iran. CNN teams in Tehran are hearing loud thuds from what appears to be airstrikes shortly after dawn. Black smoke now hangs over the parts of the city.

Earlier, Israel said it was launching a new wave of strikes against Iran and against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. This comes after senior Iranian clerics named a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Well, CNN producer Antoinette Radford joining me now live from Doha, Qatar with more.

Of course, this war with Iran spilling out around this region with what are described as unprovoked, reckless attacks here in the UAE and where you are, Antoinette, in Doha.

Just get us up to speed on the very latest there.

ANTOINETTE RADFORD, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Becky. So overnight, following the announcement of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader of Iran, the IRGC announced a new round of missiles to be fired on a bunch of countries here in the Gulf.

In the UAE, as you know, there were loud bangs heard this morning. Here in Qatar, we heard missiles being intercepted at around 315. In Kuwait, a drone was struck down from the sky that was headed towards Kuwait.

But the country that most badly impacted this morning is Bahrain. Thirty-two people were injured in a drone strike on a residential area in Bahrain this morning. Of those injured, four children, one two- month-old, two young boys, and a 17-year-old girl.

The latest we've just heard from Bahrain is that its national oil company, BAPCO, has just declared a force majeure.

Now, force majeure essentially means that it won't be able to beat its contractual obligations to deliver certain amounts of oil to buyers.

What we've seen is video geolocated by CNN from a BAPCO facility that shows a large fire and smoke billowing from an industrial area. Whether that is linked to the force majeure or not, we don't know. We've reached out to BAPCO for comment and we'll let you know when we find out more.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. So Antoinette with the latest on the fallout from this war around this Gulf region.

Jasmine El-Gamal is the founder and CEO of Averos Strategies. She's also a former Middle East advisor at the U.S. Department of Defense.

A good friend of CNN a regular guest that I speak to for insight and analysis which is really important to us, joining us from London this morning. Thank you. 8:30 there.

What message does Iran's decision to appoint Mojtaba Khamenei send to Washington in the wider region? Last week, Trump called him a, quote, unacceptable option. Is this a signal of defiance and that retaliation against strikes will continue do you believe?

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AVEROS STRATEGIES: Yes. Good morning, Becky. It's always good to be with you.

You took the words right out of my mouth, it's an absolute act of defiance. It is a message to the Trump administration to the Israeli prime minister that Iran is not backing down, that it does not intend to surrender as Trump said they must and that it is going to continue defending its existence essentially. So, this really pits the U.S. and Israel on one hand and Iran on the other.

Now, in a real existential standoff here, as we start to talk about what a potential off-ramp might look like in the midst of all of this pressure building up with the global energy market and all -- and the countries and the -- in the Gulf, as you mentioned earlier, really bearing the brunt of this.

The -- the appointment of Khamenei son who's lost several other family members, by the way, when his father was assassinated, gives us the sense we should expect to see further escalation moving forward in the coming days.

ANDERSON: Yes. We have to assume, given what we've seen today in this war that Mojtaba Khamenei has a target on his back. So how long he will last is certainly a question that we should be raising.

You could argue that Donald Trump has gotten his regime change in Iran, just not the regime change he was looking for. Mojtaba Khamenei is a tool of the Revolutionary Guard. They were empowered, of course, by his father, but not ultimately in charge, you could argue. That consolidation though has now happened.

Is there any evidence, at this point, and I -- I just want to put this to you, that Mojtaba could actually be more pragmatic? He's younger. He's a more, you know -- he faces perhaps less resistance from hardliners?

[04:35:06]

I mean, I -- I have to put that to you, just to kind of, you know, square the -- square the -- the -- the circle as it were. What -- what's your sense?

EL-GAMAL: That's right. I mean, look, I think that we're going to see a lot of grandstanding, you know, between the two countries. I'm talking specifically now about the U.S. and Iran, not only Becky, because they each are going to want to come out of this -- this current conflict victorious in their own terms to their own domestic constituencies, but also because the way this current conflict ends is going to potentially set up the future as well and future prospects for further conflict.

And so you can imagine if you're putting yourself in the shoes of Iranians, that they will want to try and end this war as much on, if not on their own terms, then not solely on the U.S.'s terms so that they can continue to survive and live another day.

Now, another thing I wanted to point out, Becky, in terms of medium- term issues that we're looking at here. So far, the Israeli and American perspectives and objectives have overlapped.

But over the next few days, especially as this pressure economically continues to rise on Donald Trump, we're going to potentially see a divergence of interests and objectives, whereas the Israelis have stated very clearly their objective is absolute regime change.

You don't see Prime Minister Netanyahu backing down from this without being able to claim that he has decimated this regime irreversibly, whereas the U.S. president doesn't really need to say that he's done regime change. He just needs to say, I've degraded the capabilities of this regime enough that we can leave them be for now. And if they try anything like this again, you know, we'll be ready for them.

ANDERSON: Jasmine, it's terrific having you on. Thank you very much indeed for your insight.

After these infrastructure sites in Kuwait and Bahrain were struck by Iran today and over the weekend, including fuel tanks and a desalination plant. You know, there are questions about just how vulnerable these Gulf states are to further attacks on civilian and energy sites.

But also, of course, you're making a very good point, what is the economic impact, the global economic impact of this war? And what sort of pressure will that bring to bear on decisions being made both in Washington and indeed in -- in Tel Aviv to a lesser extent? Important insight there. Thank you.

Well, the war with Iran is putting many E.U. leaders in a tough spot. Let me get the latest reactions from Europe in a live report, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [04:40:58]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

French President Emmanuel Macron will soon be visiting Cyprus. It comes as France is now deploying warships to the Mediterranean after a drone attack on Cyprus last week.

Britain has said that the drone struck one of its military bases on the island. The U.K. says that it was not launched from Iran, but it was similar to the drones that Iran uses.

Meanwhile, most leaders across Europe continue to walk a fine line between offering some support for the U.S. military action in Iran, while also warning of a worsening situation in the region.

Let's go to the CNN's Sebastian Shukla who joins us live this morning from Berlin.

Sebastian, let's begin with Macron's trip to Cyprus. What -- what more can you share with us there?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. Good morning, Rahel. Well, the French president is going to go to Cyprus today to demonstrate what he calls solidarity with the country, which is one of the E.U.'s 27 member states, the one which is located closest to this theatre of combat.

And as you alluded to, has become, or at least was one of the scenes of an attack last week on a British air base.

We don't know the origin of the drone. It didn't come from Iran. But it nevertheless shows the predicament that the European Union is in, because it does not want to be dragged into this war, being led by the United States and Israel.

But it is, of course, obligated to protect its interests. And those interests are what are now being defended by European leaders.

President Macron is one of many who have now said that they will send military, particularly naval assets to the region.

The French aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, will be deployed there and will arrive in -- in a few days' time. And that follows the deployment of similar warships by Spain and also by Greece.

So it is very much a defensive maneuver that all of these European nations are trying to emit here. They do not want to be dragged into this conflict anymore than is absolutely necessary.

[04:45:00]

And with these deployments, it should be noted, that these are defensive in nature only. They are there to protect European assets, military base's interests in and around the region rather than joining in these strikes in any particular way. As for the president's visit to Cyprus today, that he's going to meet with his counterpart, the Cypriot president, as well as the Greek prime minister, to where they will all be looking to reassure and show support for Cyprus, who are very much, if not on the front lines, on the peripheries of this conflict.

And it comes at an interesting time, in particular, Rahel, because Cyprus is currently holding the European Union's rotating presidency. That is a quirk of scheduling more than anything else.

And so the -- this -- the -- the way that President Macron will want to show Europe's support here is that we are here, we are behind you, and there are lots of things for us to discuss. Rahel.

SOLOMON: OK. Sebastian Shukla there for us in Berlin. Sebastian, thank you.

We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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[04:50:33]

ANDERSON: All right. I'm Becky Anderson here at our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

There are growing questions about how Moscow's long established ties with Iran are coming into play in the war here in the Middle East.

Sources tell CNN that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on locations and movements of American troops, ships and aircraft. Now, this would be the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.

Well, joining me now is Max Seddon, he's Moscow bureau chief for "The Financial Times." And, Max, it's good to have you.

What do you make of these reports that Moscow may be providing intelligence for Iran in this war?

MAX SEDDON, MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, THE FINANCIAL TIMES: I think from Russia's view this is just this blowback for what -- what they would see as part of a wider pattern of American flouting as the Kremlin put it yesterday of international law. The Kremlin said that the international law is basically ceased to exist.

You -- you would think that might sound rich considering all of the alleged violations that Russia has committed in Ukraine, invading it over the last four years. But for -- for -- from the Russia perspective, this is basically them getting their own back for all of the much more extensive and -- and damaging intelligence assistance with -- with very similar things like -- like targeting strikes that the U.S. has offered to Ukraine over that time and indeed has -- has still continued to do even over the last year peace negotiations with Russia.

So from the Russian point of view, this is a --

ANDERSON: And let's --

SEDDON: -- very new part of the blowback.

ANDERSON: No. And I'm sorry, I -- I interrupted you. I thought you'd finished.

I do want to talk about Ukraine and thank you for that perspective. Because the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv has received a specific request from the U.S. for help in dealing with drones in the Middle East. And we have certainly heard offers of support for -- for example the UAE where I am.

How significant is -- is Ukraine's expertise with Shahed drones? And what does this signal about the transfer of battlefield experience from Ukraine to the Gulf? And in return, what is Ukraine looking for at this point?

SEDDON: I think this just goes to show that the war in -- in Ukraine was really the first instance of a completely new type of warfare for -- for the 21st century. The Iranian Shahed drones have never been deployed anywhere in -- in the scale that they have over the last three, four years in -- in Ukraine.

And the way that drones, just in the last year or two, have transformed the frontline in -- in Ukraine is really unlike anything we've ever seen in -- in -- in history. So, of course, the Ukrainians do have a lot of expertise so they can share with -- with the Gulf states who have very -- very well-funded and supported with mostly -- mostly U.S. technology armies and armed forces.

But at the same time, Ukraine is -- is really short on -- on resources and that is the thing that I'm sure Ukraine will be hoping that they can get in -- in return from the U.S. and its partners. Because what this does is it puts a real premium on something that was already in short supply in Ukraine which is the interceptors and the similar technology things like -- like Patriot batteries that that Ukraine needs to -- to deal with these drone attacks and missile attacks and other aerial assault from Russia. With more confrontation --

ANDERSON: A personal and very real observation. I mean, I was with the ministry of defense spokesperson just a couple of days ago here in the UAE. And I was looking at examples of debris from the Shahed drones that we've just been showing a picture of one version of it while you've been speaking.

Seeing the debris of this which as they intercept very successfully here it has to be said, both the missiles and the drones, so we are seeing debris which unfortunately has resulted in -- in -- in, you know, a number of deaths but also, you know, a number of injuries perhaps understandably when this -- this sort of material falls from the sky is going to -- it's going to ultimately cause -- cause damage, thankfully, not -- I mean, the numbers are not high.

But it's good to -- it's good to understand from you, you know, what it is that Ukraine might provide in intelligence

[04:55:03]

Qatar's energy minister has warned that Gulf oil producers could halt exports within weeks due to the ongoing Middle East war. We've heard, you know, the force majeure now called by Bahrain just this morning.

How could this impact Russia's economic position and its leverage, ultimately, over the war in Ukraine, Max?

SEDDON: Well, I think, honestly, it was like Christmas has come early for -- for Russia in the sense of what this war has done to global energy markets. You -- you were really seeing over the last six months since the U.S. sanctioned the two largest Russian oil exporters, Rosneft and -- and LukOil real serious impact of -- on the Russian economy.

It became much more difficult for Russia to sell oil overseas when -- when they were doing so. They were doing at -- at enormous discounts, basically hovering around their breakeven level. And that was really starting to have an impact on -- on the Russian budget.

It was just two weeks ago that -- that Putin held the session with his cabinet late into night -- late into the night to talk about what to do with the growing Russian budget deficit.

Now, the oil prices is soaring, whatever Russia is going to be able to sell, it will be well above their -- their break-even price. And they're going to be able to sell a lot more of it because the U.S. has relaxed sanctions on Russian oil to -- to try to ease the pressure on energy markets.

So that means customers, particularly India and also China, that have been buying much less Russia along with the sanctions, they are going to feel free to buy a lot more again.

ANDERSON: Yes. Max, it's good to have you. Perspective is really important from your dateline today. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

I'm going to close this hour out, Rahel. And I will be back with more breaking news coverage after this quick break, leaving you with images, live images of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, which of course continues to sustain attacks from Israel.

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