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Iran: Hormuz Will Only Reopen When War Damages Fully Repaid; Trump Warns Iran To Reopen Hormuz Or Face Dire Consequences; Iran: Fuel And Petrochemical Sites In Persian Gulf Targeted. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 06, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTL. CRISIS GROUP: Business agreement, but a comprehensive agreement would be very hard to negotiate --

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And certainly difficult to negotiate in the next 24 hours. I spoke to the UAE's top diplomatic advisor, Anwar Gargash, about a sort of, a broad sort of spectrum of things at present. Obviously, the UAE being very, you know, hit extremely hard over these last 37 days by these, what they call, reckless and unprovoked attacks by Iran.

I very specifically talked to him about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and he said, quote, "We're not ready to act as a maritime force, but the UAE will join any American-led effort or international effort to secure navigation in the strait. We're ready to play our part," he said.

As the UAE in Bahrain this morning renew their push for this U.N. Security Council resolution on the strait. How do you assess the likelihood of that coming to fruition? Whilst we, you know, our minds are very clearly focused on what is going on militarily and these massive threats from both sides, there is this diplomatic track. Let's leave aside the reports of this ceasefire because you've dealt with that. What about these talks for a resolution in New York and indeed talks between Oman and Iran, as we understand it, for some sort of agreement around the strait?

VAEZ: Right. So any diplomatic resolution at the Security Council which would authorize use of force is going to get vetoed by the Russians and the Chinese, and it's just not going to work. And in general, this issue doesn't have a military solution. I mean, imagine, Becky, even a scenario in which the U.S. is able to seize all of the Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf and all of Iran's shoreline. The Iranians would still be able to fire drones from much more further inland. And as we know and the Houthis demonstrated in the Red Sea, you just need one or two drones fired every day to deter traffic through the strait.

So this doesn't have a military solution. It has a diplomatic solution. The diplomatic solution that I think the UAE would have to start thinking about with an open mind is the possibility of a new framework in the strait in which both sides of the strait, not just Iran, but Oman, on behalf of the GCC or would be able to collect transit fees. And this could be part of a fund for regions' recovery and reconstruction after this war.

It doesn't have to be zero-sum. It doesn't have to be Iran in control. Both sides would be able to have a new arrangement from which they can benefit. And it could be the beginning of a process of reconciliation.

ANDERSON: It's fascinating to get your thoughts and analysis on this, Ali. Thank you. Ali Vaez in Geneva for you this morning.

Well, joining me now to discuss the state of this conflict and very specifically look at what is going on militarily, is it? Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. Good to have you, sir.

As the clock ticks down, then, on Trump's ultimatum, how do you assess his threat to hit Iran's power plants and bridges, and what we've heard from Iran in response?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): Well, it's good to be with you. The threats by Trump are clearly part of a negotiating position, but I also think it shows that he's very frustrated that just using the military means in this war has not given him the outcome that he hoped, which is major concessions by Iran. And I suppose that his aim in putting out this Easter Sunday social media post is to put more pressure on Iran in the hope that they'll concede before the U.S. considers destroying large amounts of its civil infrastructure.

ANDERSON: So there's a deadline Tuesday at this point. I mean, there's every possibility, of course, that will be pushed. But at present we're looking at a Tuesday deadline from Donald Trump. If that passes without any diplomatic progress. And we've just been talking about the likelihood or not of that. And Trump does make good on his threat to hit these civilian infrastructures. What do you perceive as the risk to the Gulf region where I am?

RYAN: Well, I think there's a significant risk of escalated Iranian retaliation and against more civil infrastructure across different countries in the Middle East, be it water, desalination, power plants, and other things like that. There's also a risk that Iran might start conducting more robust cyber-attacks against American infrastructure in the homeland there. So, I think the risk is not just to the Middle East. You could see cyber-attacks occurring in the United States of America.

[04:35:29]

ANDERSON: Let's talk about the military options very specifically to reopen the strait. Bahrain has a resolution it wants to get tabled and voted on at the U.N. The UAE very much encouraging that. This is to adopt a measure to take what would be exclusively defensive action, but action nevertheless there. You just heard me quoting the UAE's top diplomatic adviser, Anwar Gargash, saying that Abu Dhabi is not ready to act as a maritime force, but it is ready to play its part in any international coalition.

I just wonder when you think about that waterway, what would that look like sort of realistically, and would it require the US to lead it, as you understand things at this point?

RYAN: I think the only realistic option is for the US Navy to lead this. It would be a major, multi-week, potentially multi-month operation. It would require landing people in Iran to clear the shoreline all the way along it. It would require dozens of naval vessels. The U.S. Navy is the only real force in the Middle East that's capable of coordinating, supporting, and undertaking such an operation. But as Donald Trump has made clear, it doesn't appear the United States is willing to take the risks that would be involved in such a dangerous operation.

ANDERSON: Finally, before I let you go, of course we got the news over the weekend of the rescue of the U.S. airmen. Special ops, CIA operatives from various different units who mounted, as we understand it, a deception campaign before rescuing this U.S. airman. This was all to -- to sort of throw off potential Iranian captors. Can you just paint a picture of what it takes to execute a mission like this and why it is so significant?

RYAN: Well, it's significant because it was an exquisite demonstration of something that probably only the U.S. Military can pull off. There's no other countries in the world that could have done this. I mean, the Chinese and the Russians will be looking at this with quite some professional envy. At the end of the day, this is the kind of thing the U.S. military rehearses over and over again. Doesn't need to be told to do this. It just rolls into these kind of operations unlike any other military on earth.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Mick. Always a pleasure. Mick Ryan for you this morning, folks.

RYAN: Thank you. Good to speak.

ANDERSON: Well, it does certainly feel that these next hours could be extremely consequential in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Stills come this hour for you.

Lebanese officials say more than 15 percent of that country's population is being forced to flee their homes by Israel's military operation there against Hezbollah. How the World Health Organization is responding to the crisis is after this.

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[04:43:39]

ANDERSON: More than a dozen Israeli far-right lawmakers are demanding that Israeli Defense Forces expand plans to destroy villages along the Lebanese border and expel residents. Now, this Israel launched what was a deadly wave of overnight attacks across Lebanon. The IDF released this footage of what it claims are launchers and weapons storage facilities concealed within structures and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon. Well, state media reports at least 10 people were killed in the strikes, including a 15-year-old girl.

Well, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu is the executive director for the World Health Emergencies Program. He was in Lebanon just last week. Joining me now from Hamburg in Germany. Thank you, Sir.

We've got some images of your time in Lebanon. As we show those, can you just lay out what you saw on the ground and particularly the health risks facing the more than 1 million people on the move who've been displaced inside the country, living in shelters or indeed on the streets at this point?

DR. CHIKWE IHEKWEAZU, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, W.H.O. HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: Yes. Thanks, Becky. It was really a sad trip to Lebanon as I visited to support our team, the World Health Organization's team, supporting the Ministry of Health and our partners in responding to the crisis they're facing. A million people, you know, that's about just under the population of Cyprus, internally displaced that government now has to take care of and manage. Many of these, of course, managed, where they have families and friends to go to those help, but sometimes, you know, they don't. So we have in Lebanon, over 20 percent of that 1 million are in, of course, collective shelters. These are basically schools and university classrooms converted to living facilities.

[04:45:31]

You can manage in the short term. You can provide food and water. And society is really responding in solidarity. Even medicines. You know, we've set up with our partners, clinics in all of these shelters. But you can imagine that these shelters don't have bathrooms because they're not built to accommodate people.

And, you know, you have three generations, sometimes four generations, grandparents, parents, children sleeping together on mattresses in dark rooms. You know, really challenging situation. And, you know, we've got to not normalize this situation and really rally around that society and respond to the needs of people living in these conditions.

ANDERSON: And I think you're absolutely right. I mean, to not normalize this situation, I think we can oftentimes just end up quoting numbers. And so I think let's remember that a million people displaced in that country is something like a fifth of the population, which is a remarkable amount of people, men, women, and kids, of course. I want to get your thoughts on the Israeli strike on Sunday that hit near the Rafik Hariri Hospital. That, of course, is the largest public hospital in Lebanon.

And what's your understanding of whether operations have been affected there? And can you just expand on how dangerous this is given the surge of people to that hospital and around that area after those Beirut suburbs were shut down?

IHEKWEAZU: Yes, Becky, you know, it's just hard to imagine. I was there last week, walking around the overcrowded wards, especially the emergency room, filled to capacity. In fact, walking at two times capacity, spoke to the doctors, the nurses themselves, many of the nurses working in that hospital are themselves displaced from where they're living. So they're living and working and, you know, providing care in the same facility every day.

So you can imagine how tense the situation was. But the good thing to say is they were delivering. They were working every day. The wards were full. Health care workers were doing what they're trained to do. Really proud of all of them. But you can imagine when bombs are falling a few meters away from the hospitals. How difficult it is to -- for patients to come to the hospital, and how difficult it is for staff to come in every day and leave the hospital.

So it creates an atmosphere that is almost Unimaginable in terms of the healthcare workers' ability to provide care. And Becky, if you allow me to say one thing. There have been to date, in just one month of this crisis, 53 health care workers who have lost their lives directly from the impact of these attacks. And over 90 facilities have been hit.

And you can imagine what it does to a health care worker, the impossible choices that they now face. You know, when there's an emergency, how do I confidently get into my ambulance and rush to the site when you're not sure that you will be hit? And sometimes I hit twice over.

So these attacks on healthcare workers, too, it's just another tragedy that we -- we've got to just, you know, not -- not allowed to continue the way it has.

ANDERSON: Yes. This weekend I visited the WHO site in Dubai. It's the global headquarters, of course, from where supplies are dispatched. Officials there told me that the Syria-Masna crossing is critical for getting aid into Lebanon. That is now closed.

What are the alternatives that you are looking at and can you give us the broader picture and expand on the sort of the challenges that you're facing? Briefly.

IHEKWEAZU: Becky, what you just mentioned was the alternative. So previously, of course, air transport was what we used to transport most of the equipment, medicine supplies that we moved out of our global logistics hub based in Dubai. Of course, air travel is very limited at the moment. Only we can only arrange that through special arrangements.

So we had to organize supplies from Dubai, the hub in Dubai, to Lebanon. It took 10 days of trucks traveling through several countries day and night to get to Lebanon to provide them supplies. 10 Days.

This is not a system we can sustain without lots of difficulties. So the crossing being blocked is actually the last source of reprieve for moving commodities from our hub in Dubai to Lebanon. So we've got to get the airspace reopened. We've got to get the crossings reopened in order, you know, in order to save lives.

[04:50:16] And even in times of war, there must be spaces that are sacrosanct. And, you know, this is just one of the type of work we do in countries.

ANDERSON: Dr. Chikwe, I'm going to have to leave it there. It's good to have you. And we'll have further content from that visit I made to the WHO center later today on CNN. Thank you for the time being, for your time.

IHEKWEAZU: Thank you very much.

ANDERSON: And we will be right back.

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[04:55:10]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A quick update now on the Artemis crew. The astronauts about 40,000 miles away from the moon as they prepare for their lunar flyby on Monday. That's around 64,000 kilometers now. They just entered the moon's sphere of influence. That's where the pull of the moon's gravity so actually greater than Earth's.

Later on Monday, they'll loop around the moon's far side after traveling deeper into space than humans have gone in decades. Meanwhile, back on Earth, President Trump is proposing cuts to NASA's budget. While the Artemis program would still be funded, other research aspects would not be. His proposal would cut NASA's overall budget by 23 percent.

All right, thank you very much for joining us this morning. I'm Danny Freeman. Becky Anderson and I will be back with another hour of early start right after a quick break.

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