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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Sirens Sound, Flashes Seen In Skies Over Tel Aviv; New Wave Of Attacks Reported Across Gulf States; Israel Launches "Large-Scale" Strikes On Beirut Suburbs; Trump Claims Iran War Victory During Remarks In Ohio, Kentucky; Sources: U.S. Likely Hit Iranian School Due to Outdated Intel. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired March 12, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:21]

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 headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

And we are following a fresh wave of strikes launched by Tehran as we enter the 13th day of the war with Iran. In Tel Aviv, sirens sounded overnight as flashes of what appeared to be missile interceptions could be seen in the night sky. Gulf states also intercepting Iranian drones and missiles. In Dubai, officials say a drone fell on a building, sparking a minor fire.

Off the coast of Iraq, Iran claims to have targeted two foreign oil tankers seen ablaze in this dramatic video. At least one person was killed. Dozens rescued.

Meantime, Israel says it launched a, quote, "large-scale" wave of strikes on Beirut's suburbs after Hezbollah fired rockets from Lebanon. Eight people were killed in one airstrike along the coast, according to Lebanon's public health ministry. The area has a beach filled with many people displaced by Israel's strikes.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins me now from Tel Aviv with the very latest.

And let's start in Beirut, and then we'll pull out to Tehran in the wider region.

Oren, what do we understand to have happened there overnight?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Israel carried out what it called a large-scale wave of strikes after more than 100 rockets were launched in a single barrage by Hezbollah. That is certainly the largest barrage we have seen since the start of the war 13 days ago. Israel has punished the city of Beirut and specifically the area of Dahieh that's considered a Hezbollah stronghold. More than ten sites were struck within a span of 30 minutes. And that

is just a small fraction of a much larger window of the strikes that Israel has carried out. And you see that continue into this morning with two more evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli military in just the last couple of hours alone. So, Israel carrying out punishing strikes across Beirut and across other parts of Lebanon, as well. At least one of those strikes on the Beirut beachfront, that's where authorities say eight people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in a structure in a building where those who had fled previous Israeli evacuation warnings were sheltering.

And we see a growing death toll there in Lebanon. As this stretches on into its 13th day. The Lebanese ministry of public health, and this is from yesterday, said nearly 650 had been killed so far. And that number will certainly rise today. So that front is only very much intensifying. Hezbollah showing they have capabilities left.

Despite the strikes we have seen by Israel, not only over the course of the past 13 days, but over the course of the past two years, really, Hezbollah able to keep carrying out missile and rocket strikes, not only at northern Israel, but deeper into the country there, as Israel carries out punishing waves of strikes again in the capital of Beirut and across the country as well.

Meanwhile, Israel not only signaling but publicly stating that it has much more -- many more strikes left in Iran. Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday that Israel will stop its strikes only when it decides upon that timeline. That's an important statement because we are hearing some -- some murmurings from the Trump administration that perhaps they are they are days away or a smaller length of time away from wrapping up this war. Israel indicating it has despite all its struck so far, it has much more to go when it comes to Iran as well, Becky.

ANDERSON: When it comes to Iran, let's just talk about what we understand to be that long list that Israel says it has that it is working its way through with regard to targets in Tehran and around the country. Any further detail?

LIEBERMANN: In the course of the past 24 hours, we haven't seen too much detail from Israel in terms of what its going after now but I think the target list looks much like it has so far. That is targets of the regime of the Islamic revolutionary guard corps. There appears to be a more recent focus on the Basij paramilitary force under the IRGC. So -- so that, and keep in mind, this is all done in coordination with the U.S. military, which put out video of its own strikes on military aircraft belonging to the Iranian regime.

So, you see, Israel and the U.S. continue to carry out strikes, against Iran itself. What's noteworthy here is that despite the effort and the focus against Iran's ballistic missile, we have had several warnings of incoming missiles, not only here in Tel Aviv, but in Jerusalem as well.

[05:05:06]

So, Iran retains its own strike back capabilities as well, Becky.

ANDERSON: Oren Liebermann is in Tel Aviv. Oren, thank you for that.

Well, the war in Iran is the first battlefield test for a South Korean air defense system called Cheongung-II. And according to a lawmaker in South Korea, it is passing with flying colors. He says the system has had a 96 percent interception rate during Iran's large scale air strikes on the United Arab Emirates. He also said other systems have rarely managed a success rate better than 90 percent in recent defensive operations. UAE also uses U.S. and Israeli air defense weapons, of course.

Although President Trump has said several times that the U.S. has already won the war with Iran, he declined to comment on Tuesday when asked whether he could declare victory with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son remaining as Iran's supreme leader. The president previously called Mojtaba Khamenei ascension unacceptable, a source tells CNN that Khamenei suffered multiple injuries on the first day of the war including a fractured foot and minor facial lacerations. The 56-year-old has not been seen in public since the announcement of his appointment to Iran's highest office.

We'll get more analysis on this now were joined by Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He's in berlin, and your posts of your analysis have been widely sort of watched and applauded for the insight that you provide.

And it's good to have you here today.

What do you make of the fact that Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader, has not been seen officially since his appointment?

HAMIDREZA AZIZI, VISITING FELLOW, GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND SECURITY AFFAIRS: Well, there have been a lot of reports about whether and how serious whether he has been injured and how serious those injuries are. So, there have been some indications even in the state media that, you know, there has been some injury, but that's, I think is not the only reason of course. I think the main concern right now among the Iranian leadership is that decapitation is still primary objective for the United States and Israel. And this is something that president Donald Trump has also alluded to in several occasions.

So, for that reason, I think as long as the war continues, they may not want to kind of communicate with him or bring him to the public so that he would be targets. But in the end what, what is important is that regardless of whether he comes, for example, today or tomorrow and, and makes the speech, it is the IRGC and the security military core of the system that's running the show. And this is going to stay as it is until the end of this war, I guess.

ANDERSON: You've written, quote, Iranian missiles have continued to fly senior officials have struck defiant postures, and security forces have moved swiftly to shape the streets before the streets can shape them. That early continuity is not incidental, you write. It reflects Khamenei's handiwork, namely a political system engineered to absorb shock and continue functioning. And we do see that around the region, not least in the Persian Gulf and the chokehold of the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, we continue, to see attacks here in the UAE and around the region.

What does that architecture that you were referring to there actually look like in practice during wartime?

AZIZI: Well, in one word, it's about decentralization in command and control, which was already there for more than two decades. But then they also extended it to decentralization in missile bases and also giving more authority to provincial and local missile commands in order to be able to respond swiftly as they did to Israeli or U.S. attacks. And now actually kind of more reports are coming out about how they did this and who did this.

So the latest thing that I saw was that it was Shamkhani actually, the head of the defense council, together with the chief commander of the IRGC, and also chief of staff of the armed forces.

[05:10:05]

These three guys were in charge of revising the Iranian military strategy after the 12-day war. All three of them are killed but it seems that the system, the adaptation that they kind of injected into the system is now working. So, it's about kind of local authority, something that President Pezeshkian mentioned as a fire at will by some commanders, which has actually created some challenges. You know, some of the attacks, for example, the latest one yesterday on Oman, it also -- I mean, what I can see between the lines is that nobody is really sure how that has happened, which might have to do also with this kind of decentralized and sort of difficult to control command structure of the system.

ANDERON: And I remember the first attack on Duqm in Iran, there was the same sort of confusion from the Iranian regime as to exactly how that might have happened.

Hamidreza, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution in the past 12, 14 hours condemning Iran's attacks on Gulf countries and Jordan, Russia and China notably abstained rather than vetoing that resolution, though resoundingly supported by 135 member states, that is near unprecedented condemnation of Iran's illegal attacks on the wider region, and this safeguards the regions right to respond to what they call these reckless and unprovoked attacks.

I wonder, what do you make of the significance of that action in New York and the likely consequences and how will that be received in Tehran?

AZIZI: Well, that was very well expected, I would say and even in Iran among the Iranian leadership what was probably less expected would be Russia's vote and not even China's, because China had already expressed its dissatisfaction with the way that Iran is handling the issue of Strait of Hormuz and the attacks there.

But what I could see after the vote in the Iranian sources was that they attributed -- I mean, they started dealing with this rather pragmatically saying that. Yeah, at the end of the day Russian and Chinese both offered some mediation between us and the Gulf states, but we didn't accept them simply because we couldn't accept as long as the U.S. and Israeli attacks continue. So that's why they went for abstentions.

So, this is about how Iran is perceiving that and receiving that. But, at the same time, we have reports that Russia continues its intelligence cooperation with Iran. China is receiving Iranian oil.

So, it is as, kind of pragmatic, the relationship between Iran and these two great powers as it has ever been. So -- but I mean, at the broader level how about the implications? I think once again, we need to remember that from the viewpoint of the Islamic Republic, this is an existential war. And when they decided to go all in, including targeting their neighbors, they knew that probably that, you know, these kinds of condemnations are coming, but there is a perception that at the end of the day, this war ends sooner or later and the United States will have to somehow you know if not leaving the region of course, that's not going to happen, but you know, reduce its engagement compared to the current level.

But we will remain here with our neighbors. And at the end of the day, there's going to be some -- you know, pragmatic way of dealing with each other. So that's how they perceive it as far as I can see.

ANDERSON: I mean, you talk to sources around this region. And sort of there is a categoric suggestion that there is absolutely no goodwill for Iran, even from those who had some goodwill in the run up to this war. I mean one, one high level source golf source telling me there is simply no goodwill from Arab or Islamic States for Iran given the actions over the past 13 days. That is the view from around this region. Hamidreza Azizi, it is good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Well, the U.S. and Israels war with Iran is having an historic impact on global fuel prices, oil prices surged past $100 per barrel again Wednesday, just days after hitting a four-year high. And this comes as U.S. and more than 30 other countries agreed to tap into oil reserves to try and offset this, choke on supply and do something about these soaring prices.

Members of the international energy agency will release 400 million barrels into the global supply that is the largest release of emergency oil stocks in history. The U.S. will contribute more than 170 million of those barrels starting next week. Though that process, we are told will take roughly four months.

Well, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev says he discussed the importance of Russian oil with his U.S. counterparts during a meeting in Florida. He says they discussed projects that could restore Russian American relations amid the current global energy crisis. Connecting the dots for you on what is this huge global story here?

Let's bring in CNN's Eleni Giokos.

Let's concentrate on what we understand to be happening in that really important Strait of Hormuz the Persian gulf around that, the chokehold that is, that area and the oil price, which and let's bring it up, we have as we speak, $97 and change.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a whisker away from $100 a barrel interestingly, the international energy agency just came out with its oil market reports. And I just want to read you one line that is basically encapsulating exactly what we're dealing with. They say that the Middle East is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of global oil markets. This is the largest supply disruption in the history of oil markets.

And I was just thinking back to the global financial crisis when oil hit almost $150 a barrel, which was a totally different scenario. But if we're talking about the largest disruption of oil, where does the oil price go? You know how long and we've been talking about this. How long does the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz actually last for? They're talking about the numbers and we were saying, you know, if we tally it up, it seems like there's a massive deficit.

So, the global oil supply plunge is going to be around 8 million barrels of oil per day in March. That is expected to continue. OPEC+ producers are trying to increase capacity. You've got force majeure of countries around the world trying to keep as much oil inland as possible. You've got the 4 million -- 400 million barrels of oil that's going to be released. The flow rate is around 2 million barrels of oil per day and importantly, the effects are already being felt globally.

I think we mustn't underestimate this. And I want to show you what Asia is going through right now. And this is absolutely vital to understand that it's touching everyone around the world. I mean, in Bangladesh, you've got, you know, people lining up and queuing for oil, for fuel. Youve got -- you know, some countries saying that, you know, kids must go to school, people need to get off the roads, work from home.

It almost reminds you of COVID era where like people had to stay at home this is because they're trying to hold on to as much energy resources as possible.

ANDERSON: I'm old enough to not quite remember 1973. I certainly do remember 1979 and 1983, which are, you know, when we talk about this being unprecedented, it was only two days ago that, of course, the CEO of the world's largest oil company, Aramco, talked about the risk of catastrophic consequences and an oil price at 150 bucks on the barrel. We heard that from the Qatar Energy CEO the day before.

And I think at the time, people were sort of, you know, wondering whether that was a little bit sensationalist. I'm hearing overnight people talking about 200 bucks on the barrel.

I mean, there isn't -- there isn't actually, I think your point is, and it's a good -- it's a -- it's a good point made. There isn't really a ceiling on this at the moment. And the destructive nature of an oil price going anything like to 150 bucks plus on the global economy is sort of I'm thinking its unbelievable only because I can't believe it would happen, but its seems to be --

GIOKOS: The IEA is saying --

ANDERSON: -- is a kind of realistic notion at this.

GIOKOS: I mean, they're saying this is the largest disruption of supply of oil. I mean, that's in it must be part of our mental repertoire in terms of what will happen, but also the refined products, Becky, you know? This is the top line. We're looking at one price.

We've got to look at all like jet fuel prices are going up. Fertilizer prices are going up. I mean, it's across the board and that's scary.

ANDERSON: Good to have you. Nice to see you.

Well, sources say bad intelligence likely led to a deadly U.S. strike on an Iranian school. We're going to have the latest on that investigation. Up next

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SOLOMON: Welcome back.

President Trump is once again claiming victory in the war with Iran. He made the comments while on his first two state trip since the conflict began late last month. The events in Ohio and Kentucky were intended to give the president a chance to focus on his domestic agenda, but talk returned to events in the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've won. Let me tell you, we've won -- you know, you never like to say too early. You won, we won. We won the bet. In the first hour, it was over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Sources tell CNN that the Pentagon informed U.S. lawmakers that the war with Iran cost at least $11 billion for the first six days.

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A top defense committee Democrat confirmed the estimate and said that the total could be significantly higher.

Two sources tell CNN that the U.S. military accidentally struck an Iranian elementary school, likely due to outdated intelligence about a nearby naval base.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has the latest on the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military inadvertently struck an Iranian elementary school on the first day of the war, likely due to bad intelligence, according to sources briefed on the preliminary findings of an ongoing military investigation. The February 28th strike in Minab occurred while the U.S. military was conducting strikes on a neighboring Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility according to the investigation's initial findings.

U.S. Central Command apparently created target coordinates for the strike using outdated information provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which contributed to that mistake, the sources said. Now, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon both declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

Satellite imagery, though, from 2013 showed that the school and the IRGC base were once part of the same compound, but images from 2016 revealed that a fence had been erected to separate the school from the rest of the base, and that a separate entrance to the school had been built. In December 2025, imagery showed dozens of people in the schools courtyard apparently playing.

Now, the initial investigative findings. They are consistent with what had become increasingly obvious as new evidence continued to emerge publicly in recent days, including photos of tomahawk missiles striking the compound and photos of tomahawk fragments that were apparently found in the area. The U.S. military is the only party to the conflict that uses tomahawk missiles, experts said.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was unaware that an ongoing military investigation had found, at least preliminarily, that the U.S. was responsible for the strike and the White House has said that the Pentagon will release the findings of its investigation publicly when it concludes.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Gulf nations are intercepting new waves of Iranian drones and missiles. Dubai says that a drone fell on a building in creek harbor, starting a fire. Videos geolocated by CNN appear to show the attack, and we're also getting reports of Iranian strikes targeting fuel tanks in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's ministry of defense says that it destroyed more than 20 drones in the eastern parts of the country, which is home to the kingdom's oil fields.

Let's go to CNN producer Antoinette Radford, who joins us live this morning from Doha, Qatar.

Antoinette, as we just mentioned, Iran seems to be targeting oil infrastructure. What more can you share with us there?

ANTOINETTE RADFORD, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Rahel. So, as we reach the two-week mark of this conflict, we're seeing Iran start to target energy infrastructure, particularly here in the Persian Gulf. So, overnight, two oil tankers were hit in the Persian Gulf in Iraqi

waters by an underwater drone. Iran has claimed responsibility for that strike. Video showed a large fire and large amounts of smoke billowing from the tankers after they were hit, 38 people were injured and one person was killed in the strike. Now separately in the Persian Gulf in the UAE. Earlier today, a unknown projectile hit a container ship and yesterday three other vessels were separately hit again in the Persian Gulf. So, in just two days, there have been six different hits on vessels in the region here.

Now, another country that's been particularly badly hit by Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure is Bahrain. This morning, a fuel tanker in Bahrain is on fire following an Iranian hit overnight. And in the week that has led up to this week, a desalination plant was hit in Bahrain, as was its oil refinery, prompting its national oil company to issue a force majeure.

We've also seen in Oman, at the port of Salalah, that a suspected Iranian Shahed drone has hit a fuel tank there, causing a significant fire. So, as this conflict continues, were seeing a more targeted approach from Iran on energy infrastructure, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Okay. Antoinette Radford, for us there in Doha -- Antoinette, thank you.

And there is still much more to come on CNN. We'll take a quick break, but we'll go live to the Gulf for the latest on the war with Iran, when we come back. Stay with us.

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