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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Iran: Launched "Most Intense" Operation Since Start Of War; Iran: 1,300+ Killed IN U.S.-Israeli Strikes War Began; IDF Warns Of Southern Beirut Operations "In Coming Hours"; UKMTO: Three Ships Struck By Projectiles In Strait Of Hormuz; Trump Warns Iran Against Laying Mines In Strait Of Hormuz. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 11, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers in the U.S. And all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Becky Anderson, live from our Middle East programming here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

And we begin with our breaking news out of the Middle East as Israel launches its latest airstrikes against Iran and its Iran-based proxy.

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ANDERSON: Iran's state media reports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched its most intense and heaviest operation since the start of the war. The overnight attack involved missile launches against targets in Israel and U.S. assets in the region.

Well, this is Tehran does remain under heavy bombardment. Iran's U.N. ambassador says that U.S. Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,300 people since the conflict began less than two weeks ago. In Lebanon, the Israeli military launched a new round of attacks on the capital and has since issued another evacuation order for residents in southern Beirut.

The IDF warns it's launching strikes against Hezbollah targets in the coming hours it says. The U.N. says Israel's military campaign has killed more than 10 children every day so far.

Let's start this hour with CNN's Oren Liebermann, who joins us live from Tel Aviv.

And just get us the perspective there, both on what is happening there. And what Israels military objectives are to date and overnight, in Iran and in Beirut, Oren, if you will.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, let's walk through the three different areas here Iran, Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli military saying they carried out simultaneous strikes against both Iran and Beirut. So, we'll take those one at a time. First, Israel continues to go after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary Basij forces and other elements of the Iranian regime, as we see this continued intense wave of strikes, not even wave -- waves of strikes.

We also saw, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, that some of those strikes reportedly hit residential areas within the capital of Tehran. Obviously, that's where many of Israels attacks, especially after the first few days of the war, have been targeted as they try to go after whatever forces it is and whatever forces Israel sees that the regime is still standing on. Israel also says it targeted the city of Tabriz in northern Iran.

It's worth noting here that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media tried to reach out to the Iranian people, tried to send them a message but it is noteworthy that this was in English, not in Farsi. He said, as Israel is carrying out waves of strikes against Iran, he says, we are your ally, your best ally. We fully respect your sovereignty, which is certainly an interesting statement given the number of times Israel continues to drop bombs and attack Iran. And then, we will pass the torch to you.

Once more, this message of Israel has no plans to install its own leader there, but will at some point stop bombing. And then it's up to the Iranian people to carry forward the fate of their country. Israel, it's clear at this point was looking to topple the ayatollah. But what comes next that Israel doesn't appear to have a plan for.

Meanwhile, as you pointed out, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said they carried out their most intense and heaviest operation against Israel several times overnight. We got the sirens warning of incoming missile fire. We saw what appeared to be a cluster munition, or perhaps an intercepted missile that had broken up over the skies of Central Israel. And that happened several times throughout the night.

So even as the U.S. and Israel have continued to try to go after Iran's ability to launch ballistic missiles, they retain at least some of that capability, as we've seen reports of strikes. But I don't think we've seen recent reports of injuries or casualties as a result of those strikes. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, as I pointed out, Israel said they were carrying out simultaneous strikes in Iran and in Beirut, Israel continues to target the southern suburb suburbs of Beirut, Dahieh, which it views and is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

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We have video from a strike on a residential building there, with reports saying there were Lebanese civilians killed in those strikes. Becky, you see the consequences and the intensification of the ongoing strikes from Israel across the region.

ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. You are up to date, folks with Oren Liebermann there in Tel Aviv. Thank you, Oren.

At least three ships have come under attack in the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours. That's according to the UKMTO, which is the maritime authority with responsibility for the region. The agency says an unknown projectile struck a bulk carrier near Dubai and elsewhere. A cargo ship came under attack and caught fire, leading to evacuations.

Now, millions of barrels of crude oil and refined fuels are now effectively stranded in the region, and the uncertainty around this vital waterway is having a major impact on global economies and trade.

My colleague, CNN's Natasha Bertrand, filed this report.

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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: CNN is told that Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world's most important energy checkpoint that carries about one fifth of the world's crude oil. That's according to two people familiar with U.S. intelligence reporting on the issue.

Now, we're told that this mine laying has not become extensive just yet. There are about a few dozen mines that have been laid by the Iranians in recent days in this waterway. But one of our sources did say that Iran still retains about 80 to 90 percent of its small boats, and its mine layers, meaning that it could feasibly mine hundreds of additional mines in the coming days and weeks.

Now, President Donald Trump has responded to this reporting, and he posted on Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon that if Iran is laying these mines, then the U.S. military is going to take action. Unlike Iran has ever seen before, and that they still have time to reverse the decision. And if they do, it will be a positive step forward. But he also posted just minutes later that the U.S. military has begun to take out these Iranian boats and minelayers and that there is a lot more to come on that front.

Now, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously warned that any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz was going to be attacked, and so that strait has effectively been closed over the last several days of the war. The U.S. military had been weighing, potentially sending escorts by the U.S. Navy to allow ships to safely pass through the strait of Hormuz. But now, with the laying of mines there that is going to become exponentially more complicated.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, in Washington.

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ANDERSON: Well, joining me now from Portsmouth in England is retired Royal Navy Commodore Simon Kelly, a maritime operations leader and a defense consultant at the Fozzie Miller Group.

It's good to have you, Simon. An important day for you to provide some analysis for us.

And I want to get your take firstly on the latest U.K. maritime trade operations report of vessels struck today, just in the past hours in the Strait of Hormuz. What sort of projectile likely struck these vessels, and what do you make of this latest?

SIMON KELLY, ROYAL NAVY COMMODORE (RET.): Yeah. Good morning. It's good to join you today.

I think at the moment, UKMTO is saying that these strikes have not been corroborated yet, so I think we need to wait and see. What the assessment is. But it's more likely to be the sort of drone technology that we've seen. So, these could be drones that have been fired out, moved onto the coastline and fired very quickly, probably with a fairly small warhead. It's more like the crew should be able to deal with some of these things but certainly this is going to create instability in the market where what we want to see is the flow of traffic through the Straits of Hormuz.

ANDERSON: Yeah. We're reporting the likelihood that there are mines that have been laid. And I do though want to get your naval perspective on how serious a threat these waterborne drones might pose going forward in a waterway that of course, carries about a fifth of the world's oil?

KELLY: Yeah. This is -- this is an area that's not -- you know, there's a long history of mining in this area. So, in the tanker wars in the 1980s, we saw this technique used and actually the U.S. had damage to ships in the first Gulf conflict in the '90s, Princeton and Tripoli.

The Iranians -- and we've watched them for many years. The Iranians have got a deep stock of mines. It doesn't need to be technologically challenging. They can be launched from small craft, that you can just throw a cover over, move very quickly.

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But the Americans will have been watching this very closely. It's long been a tactic of the Iranians to threaten closing the strait using mines and so the U.S. will have been watching this. And as you can see from the strikes, they're taking preemptive action.

SOLOMON: What are these strategic and, of course, security risks of deploying the U.S. navy to escort vessels. Then through the strait. How feasible is that at this stage? I mean, we're getting quite mixed messages from the U.S. administration on this.

KELLY: I think -- I don't think at this stage it's feasible. So, I think the early announcements would that was that they would conduct escorting of shipping to the straits from us when the operational tempo allowed. But there's a real complexity to doing that anyway. So, I would say it's a bit of a double edged sword.

You can take units away from a carrier strike group and you can conduct escorting through the strait, but it is very narrow. It will restrict their ability to maneuver. But on the other hand, it also presents perhaps a more attractive target for some of these small craft who could come out the Iranian technique that they demonstrate in exercises to come out in swarms of small vessels armed with small caliber weapons, missile systems and some of them with explosives on the front.

And so countering this will be about layered defense, the Americans will put up a huge amount in the air. They'll have intelligence that these things are coming at them. They'll put up a screen and layers that these crafts have to come through. But you shouldn't underestimate the challenge of just the volume that you might have to deal with.

And the tankers will then have to make a choice. Do you go through, where you might actually have an increased risk of attack because there are U.S. naval vessels in the vicinity, or do you do you take the risk and you go through unescorted? It's a real challenge for the maritime trade. There is a very close link between the U.S. Navy, the U.K. maritime trade organization, and these organizations. There'll be communications going on day and night to reassure the maritime trade industry as a whole.

ANDERSON: And, Simon, the British destroyer HMS Dragon now heading to the eastern Mediterranean at least. And I just finally want to get your sense of what role that ship will realistically play in this crisis. And the coordination, or not at this point between the U.S. and the U.K.

KELLY: I think the first thing I would say is that I would say whether it's the U.K. government's response or the preparations that were required to get Dragon underway to get out to the Eastern Med, sort of demonstrates that actually the U.K. government perhaps were taken unawares by the timing of this. And so, it has taken longer than expected to get dragon out or longer than we would have hoped or expected.

She's going to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean. She's very much sailing as a response to drone attacks on the on Cyprus, where there's an RAF base. And so, she will form part of a layered defense that the U.K. has set up using Typhoon F35 and a couple of Wildcat helicopters who have great success against these kind of drone targets.

The Type 45 can position off the coast with an incredibly capable crew on board who can pick up very small moving contacts. They can feed them into whatever they need to strike the drones with, or alternatively, they've got a really capable weapon system on board as well that can take out anything that's threatening U.K. citizens or the U.K. defense installations in Cyprus.

ANDERSON: Understood. Simon, it's good to have you. An important day and your insight so important. Thank you.

Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, oil prices on a roller coaster since the start of this war and the pretty much closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Price is well above their levels before the Iran conflict started. Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, warning of potentially catastrophic consequences for global markets. The longer this conflict impedes the flow of oil through that strait.

My colleague Eleni Giokos monitoring the markets for us. And she joins us now -- Eleni. ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, you know, importantly we have to talk about these three cargo vessels that were struck in the region. And this morning, just in a matter of hours, we had that bulkhead carrier reportedly struck by an unknown projectile.

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We don't know what essentially that means. That was just northwest of Dubai. One just off the coast of Oman and the other vessel just off the coast of UAE.

Now, we're talking about cargo and bulk vessels and carriers. So, we're talking about potentially foodstuffs steel, iron ore, anything dry, bulk related. We've always been talking about tankers and gas, you know, supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. But this extends far beyond that. And we were talking about no vessel being able to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz. And this is going to have massive ramifications.

We're seeing the oil price, interestingly now again, up 4.5 percent I mean, I can't keep up in terms of how it's moving. But it really has to do with a lot of the messaging out of the United States in terms of how long this is going to last, that they're going to hit Iran 20 times harder, Iran coming back and saying, you know, nothing is going to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. And these attacks today really show that they are making good on their word in terms of the risk profile.

We've also heard from the Maersk CEO, and I want you to take a listen to what he had to say. Speaking to Richard Quest, it's a really important because it has to do with insurance guarantees. The U.S. promised those. Those haven't come to fruition, but shippers are waiting to see if they can pass through.

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VINCENT CLERC, CEO, A.P. MOLLER - MAERSK: We are clearly in uncharted territory. I think the main concern we have more or less resolved today, the safety of our -- of our crews for the time being, to the best of our ability, we have solved for the cargo flows to the best of our ability. I think the big problem that we have to solve now is with the strait being closed, there is enough oil in the world, but there is not enough oil everywhere in the world.

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GIOKOS: So we also are hearing news that potentially the IEA, as well as the G7 countries really considering releasing strategic petroleum reserves. That could take away a bit of the pressure. But still you have this artery that is closed with risks everywhere at this point, Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Eleni. Thank you. Eleni monitoring those markets for us real time.

Okay. Well, I'm going to be back with more news from this region a little later in the program.

For now, let's hand it back to Rahel Solomon, who is in New York -- Rahel

SOLOMON: Okay, Becky, we'll see you soon. Thank you.

The U.S. defense secretary is growing bolder in his remarks as the war with Iran drags on. Coming up, we'll have more on the rhetoric coming from the White House after this break.

Plus, after a subdued response to the war with Iran, E.U. officials are now holding a debate at the European parliament on the conflict. We will have a live report after this break.

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SOLOMON: The U.S. defense secretary says that President Trump will set the timeline on the war with Iran, as he weighs whether to deploy U.S. troops to the region this, as some Senate Democrats are pushing for public congressional hearings on Trump's war plans. After a classified briefing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy called the war plans, quote incoherent and incomplete.

Here's what some Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services Committee told reporters after their briefing.

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SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): We want to drag this into the open and ask questions in front of the American public.

SEN. JACKY ROSEN (D-NV): If he does want to put us in a forever war, he needs to come out and let us be able to have this discussion. But take that gag order off of us

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): The American people need to hear what we are hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Pentagon says that at least 140 U.S. service members have been injured so far in Operation Epic Fury. This comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is taking on a more brazen demeanor when delivering updates on U.S. military actions.

CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the tone that Hegseth is setting amid the escalating conflict.

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PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever since the first fighter launched --

HEGSETH: With brutal efficiency, total air dominance and an unbreakable will to accomplish the president's objectives.

FOREMAN (voice-over): -- and the first missile landed --

HEGSETH: You act decisively in chaos.

FOREMAN (voice-over): -- Pete Hegseth has been speaking unlike any other secretary of defense ever.

HEGSETH: Death and destruction from the sky all day long.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Gone are the solemn statesmanlike updates on warfare the Pentagon has long preferred. In their place, Hegseth has picked up the tone long established by the commander in chief.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He died like a dog. He died like a coward.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Blasting the Iranian regime.

HEGSETH: For 47 years, these barbaric savages in the Iranian regime have murdered our brothers in arms, my guys, your guys.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Ridiculing their attempts to stand up to the dual military powers of the United States and Israel.

HEGSETH: The combination is sheer destruction for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries. They are toast and they know it. Or at least soon enough they will know it.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And even as he mocks the faith of Iranian foes and his department post online about showing them no mercy, Hegseth is blurring the line between his private Christian beliefs and his secular public duties.

HEGSETH: May the Lord grant unyielding strength and refuge to our warriors, unbreakable protection to them and our homeland and total victory over those who seek to harm them.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Like Hegseth, the White House too, has taken a peculiar tack to spur support for the war turning bomb blasts into a highlight reel on X set to the song "Here Comes the Boom," snagging scenes from the video game "Grand Theft Auto" to underscore other explosive moments.

[05:25:09]

And even intercutting scenes from factual battle with clips from fictional movies and TV shows, all with the clear intent of selling the public on the proposition that everything is going as planned.

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FOREMAN: Of course, this fight has not been flawless for American troops. Some have died, others have been wounded, and it is not at all clear how long they're going to have to stay in the battle, even as what looks an awful lot like a marketing campaign marches on.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

SOLOMON: Our thanks to Tom there.

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen has addressed the European parliament on the war with Iran. Many E.U. leaders have up until now tiptoed around the U.S. and Israeli strikes. But now, some officials are joining Von Der Leyen in a debate on the conflict.

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed Europe's growing concern over the war, saying a, quote, "dangerous escalation was underway with clearly no plan to end the war."

Joining us now is CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell, live for us in Paris.

Melissa, good morning.

Von Der Leyen just wrapping up her comments a short time ago. What did she say? And what does it suggest about what appears to be a growing divide on the continent?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. She's under a great deal of fire right now for her position, which she outlined earlier this week. She had been already, Rahel, for her announcements early on in the war her apparent backing for the idea of regime change, which leaves many Europeans very comfortable and certainly had not been decided upon by the European Union as an entire policy position that she might be able to put forward.

She'd been criticized for that. But then also her comments earlier this week in which she said that Europe could no longer be the custodian of the old world order. This is a war essentially, Rahel, on which Europe was not consulted but that is profoundly divided, not simply along party lines or those who are in favor of the American and Israeli position of regime change, or those at the other extreme, like Pedro Sanchez of Spain, who are against any kind of breaks with international law at all, and therefore against this war.

This is a war that has also profoundly divided the European institutions themselves, with those like the commission president essentially arguing that what has happened with the world around the European Union, union forces, changes upon this structure that has, for all of its existence, been built on the idea of compromise and consensus amongst the 27 that tends to make it slower than it might. She's arguing for institutional changes, it seems that would allow it to go faster in times like this, and given the world around it.

There are those within the European union that makes extremely uncomfortable and that really are pushing back against that view of what the European Union should become. On the contrary, Rahel arguing that it is because it is the very embodiment of the world's rules based order that the European Union functions and needs to continue functioning as it has, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Okay. Melissa Bell for us there in Paris -- Melissa, thank you.

Still to come, Iran is launching what it calls its most intense airstrikes yet. And Gulf countries are bearing the brunt of it. We'll have the latest from Middle East when we return.

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