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Isa Soares Tonight

Rights Group: 1,000 Plus People Killed in Iran Since War Began; War Spreads Across Region; European Leaders React to Crisis in the Middle East; Turkey Says NATO Destroyed Iranian Missile; Iran Striking Civilian Infrastructure in Gulf Nations. White House Says the United States Will Have Complete and Total Dominance Over Iranian Airspace Soon; American submarine sank an Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka; Iran's Assembly of Experts Deliberate on Ayatollah Khamenei's Successor.Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 04, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and welcome to our breaking news coverage of the war with Iran, I'm Isa Soares coming to you from

London. Tonight, the White House says the United States will have complete and total dominance, their words, over Iranian airspace in the next few

hours as the fighting spreads across the region.

[14:05:00]

Here are the very latest developments for you. An American submarine sank an Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. The first sinking of an enemy

ship by torpedo since World War II. This is according to Secretary Hegseth.

Sri Lanka's Navy says several bodies were recovered and 35 people were rescued. Iranian Intelligence has sent word to the CIA that it could open -

- be opened to discussions on how to end the war. However, people familiar with those indirect messages tell CNN U.S. officials have indicated

negotiations over any potential off-ramps are unlikely to happen any time soon.

We've also learned the U.S. will begin striking deeper into Iranian territory. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine says American forces

will now begin to expand inland. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth adds, the U.S. is, quote, "just getting started".

Meanwhile, Iran launched fresh retaliatory strikes against its neighbors. An Iranian missile headed towards Turkish airspace was shot down by NATO

defense systems, and here's what the White House Press Secretary had to say -- Karoline Leavitt, just a short time ago. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's safe to say that thus far, Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding success. American forces

have struck more than 2,000 targets, destroying hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

As the Department of War said this morning, we expect to have complete and total dominance over Iranian air space in the coming hours, clearing the

skies for our brave warriors to continue achieving these noble and long sought-after objectives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: So, lots of threats for us to go into. Joining me now is Kevin Liptak who is at the White House. Jeremy Diamond is for us in Tel Aviv this

hour. Kevin, let me go to you because we have just heard from Karoline Leavitt.

She took to the podium what -- I think it lasted some 45 minutes or so, but she was describing the war against Iran, this Operation Epic Fury, as we

played it there, as a resounding success. She called it a noble objective.

And then what stood out to me is that she laid out repeatedly the four objectives, which goes to some of the criticism this administration has

been facing over the mixed messages.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and it's clear that the White House and the administration are trying to button up what had

been quite a muddled messaging exercise at the onset of this conflict.

They seem to have sort of arrived at these four bullet points, one degrading Iran's missile program, two, ensuring it doesn't obtain a nuclear

weapon, three, annihilating its Navy, and four, ensuring it doesn't support proxy groups in the region.

They seem to have settled on those four points as the rationale for this conflict. Of course, among those four, you don't hear regime change, which

I think is notable because in the lead up to the war, the President repeatedly hinted at wanting to see regime change in Iran.

And even in the immediate hours after it began, he was encouraging Iranians to rise up and overthrow their government. And so, I think it was an open

question of why and whether the President actually supported getting rid of senior Iranian leaders.

The way Karoline Leavitt cast it today is essentially regime change is sort of an ancillary result of the war that is being waged for those four other

reasons. He said, essentially, you know, no one is going to, you know, worry or cry if Iranian leaders are deposed as part of this.

But that this was not ultimately President Trump's objective. She was also asked about what the President envisions happening in the senior ranks of

Iran, now that the supreme leader has been ousted. She really did not have much of an answer on that front.

She said, quote, "we'll have to wait and see", suggesting, as we know from American Intelligence, that the U.S. doesn't quite know what's going to

happen now that the supreme leader has been killed. You know, the other question that I think she got repeatedly in this briefing is why the

President decided to go into Iran right now. What was the urgent threat --

SOARES: Yes --

LIPTAK: That made this necessary? You know, happening on Saturday, and her answer on that was that the President, quote, "had a feeling" based on fact

that Iran was planning an attack on the United States. She says a feeling based on fact.

You know, what we have learned from American Intelligence and American -- administration officials actually told Congress this over the weekend, was

that there was not, in fact, Intelligence, suggesting Iran was planning an imminent attack. But clearly, President Trump views that very differently.

SOARES: Yes, a feeling based -- feeling Iran was going to attack based on facts. She also called it a cumulative threat as she -- as she was asked

repeatedly on this front. Let me go to Jeremy because we also heard Jeremy, Karoline Leavitt said that they've destroyed 20 Iranian ships.

[14:10:00]

And this paints a picture really, of success, as she said, resounding success. And it comes off the very bullish statements we heard from

Secretary Hegseth, said the U.S. and Israel will have complete control of Iranian skies.

And on the week(ph) that they're -- only getting started, and that this is accelerating. What did you take from what we heard both from Secretary

Hegseth, from General Caine, and what are you hearing on the ground there from the Israeli officials that may give us an insight into what the

strategy may be going forward here, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think one thing that's clear is that both of these militaries, both the Israeli and the

American militaries are aiming to degrade Iran's ballistic missile capabilities, its ability to fire not only ballistic missiles, but also

those drones, those elements of their arsenal that have been doing the most damage across the Middle East.

Not only here in Israel, but also the drone capabilities that have severely impacted life in several of those Gulf countries. We heard the Chief of

Staff of the U.S. military, General Caine, talking about the fact that over the course of the first four days of this campaign, Iran's ballistic

missile fire is down 86 percent from the beginning of this war.

He talked about drone fire being down 73 percent, and all of that is due to the targeting of the U.S. and Israeli militaries of those ballistic missile

capabilities in particular. And now, it's clear that the U.S. and Israel are doubling down on that strategy, and also on going after the remaining

air defense assets in the region with one goal, to have complete air dominance within a matter of days.

We know that the U.S. and Israel already have what's known as air superiority over the skies of Iran. But this will give the U.S. and Israel

the ability to use fewer missiles and drop more bombs directly over targets in Iran -- in Iran, over the coming days with the Defense Secretary Pete

Hegseth talking about the fact that this will allow the U.S. to do continuous bombing runs day and night in Iran.

And so, I think it's quite clear that even though we don't know exactly what the timeline of this operation is, within a matter of days, we're

going to see somewhat of a shift in the tactics, at least, of these militaries, and perhaps even an intensification of the bombardment, giving

the different types of arsenals that the United States and Israel will be able to use.

At the same time over here in Israel, we're also monitoring the escalation of this new front in the war. This conflict now escalating between Israel

and Hezbollah. Earlier in the day, we've seen two simultaneous attacks that were carried out by Iran and Hezbollah.

Missiles coming from both parties aimed at Israel, setting off sirens here in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem. No direct impact as a result of that,

but it does indicate the extent of potential coordination between Iran and Hezbollah, a strategy aimed at, you know, overwhelming Israel's air

defenses.

Didn't seem to work in these occasions, but it is something to keep an eye on as this conflict continues to evolve.

SOARES: Kev, thank you very much, Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Liptak there for us with the very latest. I'm just looking at a tweet from the French

President before I go to Clarissa Ward, because French President has -- Emmanuel Macron has commented on what we're seeing kind of in Lebanon,

saying that France -- calling on the Israeli Prime Minister to preserve Lebanon's territorial integrity and refrain from a ground offensive.

It is important that the parties return to ceasefire agreement, and has said that France will continue with its partners to support the efforts of

the Lebanese Armed Forces so they can fully assume their sovereignty missions and put an end to the threat posed by Hezbollah.

So, this is Emmanuel Macron putting out a tweet in the last few moments in -- regarding the situation that we are seeing in Lebanon, that's really

picking up from what we heard from our Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.

I did promise you that I was going to take you to our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, who is in Erbil, in Iraq. Clarissa, sorry to

make you wait there. Let me just get a sense from you, and this is a lot of your reporting, some of our colleagues reporting about this plan that I

think kind of -- we were made aware late last night.

And this effort by the CIA to arm Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq with the aim of kind of sparking an uprising in Iran. Can you just explain to our

viewers how soon that could happen, what -- and what that would look like primarily?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Isa, we spoke to a senior Iranian Kurdish opposition leader here in Erbil who told us that

they are ready and fully intending to launch some kind of a ground operation into western Iran in the coming days with support from the U.S.

and the Israelis.

He wouldn't tell us exactly what that support looks like, and it's not clear whether indeed this will come to fruition, but as we were learning

this, our colleagues in the U.S. have also been working hard to reveal that the CIA has been working to arm these Iranian Kurdish groups with the view,

as you said, to try to potentially foment instability and unrest in Iran.

[14:15:00]

And all of this, as you can probably imagine, Isa, is causing a great deal of alarm in many places, but particularly here with the leadership of Iraqi

Kurdistan, who while they have a very good relationship with the U.S., and while they don't have a lot of love for the Iranian regime, really feel

that they must stay neutral in this.

I spoke to a senior -- a senior official here earlier today, Isa, who told us, you know, we cannot risk getting involved in this. Iran actually warned

them. He said a few days ago that if a single fighter goes across that border, there will be very serious repercussions.

So, all of this is now causing a real heightened sense of tension. You've also heard from the Iraqi national security adviser, who has said that he's

spoken to Iran, that the Iraqi Kurds are now going to send some of their troops to the border to ensure that Iranian Kurdish fighters don't cross

that border.

And we did also hear recently, Isa, that the President here actually spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister and assured him that Iraqi-Kurdistan will

remain neutral in this conflict.

So, obviously, you have a lot of different players with a lot of different narratives and different agendas and allegiances, all of which I think

really just underscores the complexity of what is happening and the potential for the repercussions to unravel in ways that perhaps had not

been clearly thought through. Isa.

SOARES: Yes, that seems to be the case. Clarissa Ward for us in Erbil, Iraq. Good to see you, Clarissa. Thank you. And still to come tonight, a

nation in mourning and in search of a new leader. What people inside Iran are saying about the effort to find Ayatollah Khamenei's successor.

And we'll take you inside Iran's internet blackout. I'll be speaking with someone working to help Iranians get their message out. Both of those

strands after this very short break. You are following CNN's breaking news coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Let me catch you up now on the latest events unfolding in the Middle East conflict. Just moments ago, Donald Trump's Press Secretary

Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the U.S. is just hours from complete and total dominance, her words of Iran's airspace.

[14:20:00]

Her comments come as U.S. military leaders are touting their success in the conflict, including an Iranian warship that was sunk today by a U.S.

submarine. It is the first time a submarine torpedo has sunk a ship since World War II, and that is according to Secretary Hegseth.

Though Iran continues to launch attacks on U.S. targets in neighboring Gulf states, those attacks are less and less frequent. The Pentagon says Iranian

missile attacks are down more than 80 percent from where they were just over the weekend.

And CNN has learned that Iranian Intelligence has reached out to the U.S. to see about holding talks to end the conflict, but U.S. officials say any

off-ramps aren't likely to happen any time soon. Well, against the backdrop of war, there is the search of course, for Iran's next leader.

A senior member of Iran's Assembly of Experts says they are close to finding the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was killed on

Saturday in an airstrike that also took out many other members of Iran's leadership.

The big question now is, will Iran's surviving leaders pick a moderate who might work with the U.S. and Israel? Or will they select another anti-west

religious conservative? With more on the figures seen as most likely to be around Nasrallah, here's more from our Isobel Yeung.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Now that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has been killed in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, Iran's

clerical regime is quickly deciding who is going to succeed him. This is obviously a very big role.

It's the most powerful position in the Islamic Republic, and one that Khamenei has occupied for nearly four decades, ruling over Iran with a

brutal iron fist. Whoever is appointed matters because it's going to answer one key question, is this a regime that's going to double down on

Khamenei's repressive policies?

Or will it take the chance to recalibrate? These are the top contenders for the position. First up, we have Mojtaba Khamenei; he's 56 years old, he's

the second son of Khamenei and has strong links with the Revolutionary Guards as well as the besieged military forces, which is important if he

wants to continue ruling in the same vein as his father had been.

He's been branded as the frontrunner, but father to son succession goes against the ideals of the regime which overthrew a hereditary monarchy in

1979. We also have Alireza Arafi; a confidant of Khamenei. He was appointed to senior and strategically very sensitive positions, and is part of the

clerical establishment.

He's also part of the three-member leadership council, which is currently running Iran. He's apparently very tech savvy, fluent in English and

Arabic, and is generally seen as more of a moderate. But he's not known as a political heavyweight and doesn't have close ties to the security

establishment.

Then you have conservative clerics like Mohammad-Mahdi Mirbagheri or Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, less known publicly, but reportedly more close to

conservative elements, or the former head of the judiciary, Sadiq Larijani, whose brother Ali, is currently the powerful national security head.

Outside of those runners, the picture gets a little bit more complicated with the likes of Hassan Khomeini; the grandson of the founder of the

Islamic Republic, who has traditionally been seen as closer to reformist factions of Iranian politics, but obviously, also carries religious and

revolutionary legitimacy.

His younger brother Ali has also been making headlines recently, leading some analysts to suggest that he's positioning himself. And finally,

there's the potential of the system to pivot and go for someone like Hassan Rouhani; the former President who hails from more moderate camps of Iranian

politics, but is still very close to elements of the security establishment to take the realms.

Whoever is appointed as the next supreme leader is going to need the backing of the IRGC, or at least portions of it, and they'll need to act

quickly to consolidate power amongst the various elected and non-elected officials that have been ruling the country so far.

On top of that, their appointment could be short-lived as this person could be a clear target for Israel and the U.S. U.S. President Donald Trump has

weighed in to speculation, saying that several of the people his government had viewed as potential leaders are now dead.

He said, I guess the worst case would be that we do this and somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person, he says we don't want that to

happen. Isobel Yeung, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Our thanks to Isobel. Well, joining us now to discuss the significance of Iran's leadership choice. Mehdi Yahyanejad is a tech

entrepreneur and has been instrumental in helping ordinary Iranians get around internet blackouts in the country.

Mehdi, great to have you on the show. I do want to get your sense of what you are hearing from inside Iran. That is crucial. But I just -- let me

pick up on what we heard from my colleague, Isobel Yeung and this potential successor that we've been discussing.

You've seen it all over social media, all over the newspapers. The successor to Khamenei. What we've been hearing, you heard her there,

they're talking about Khamenei, second son, 56-year-old, I believe, Mojtaba may be picked. He's one of the favorites. If he is picked, what does that

suggest to you, Mehdi?

MEHDI YAHYANEJAD, DEMOCRACY & INTERNET FREEDOM ACTIVIST: If he's picked, it would be actually a surprise.

[14:25:00]

And it would show that the process of selecting the next leader, the next supreme leader is probably bypassed because previously Khamenei had -- I

mean, the previous supreme leader was not in favor of picking his son as the next --

SOARES: Yes --

YAHYANEJAD: Supreme leader. And it was commonly known that Ayatollah Arafi was the top pick for -- between the assembly members. But we know what

happened in three days ago, the assembly building was destroyed both in Tehran and Qom.

So that disrupted the voting process. And if today or tomorrow, out of the blue, Iranian government would announce Mojtaba Khamenei as the next

supreme leader, that would mean that they pretty much bypassed the constitutional process, and they have picked Mojtaba as a successor.

Of course, a lot of people won't see that as a -- you know, legitimate pick, considering that the process was disrupted and wasn't followed

correctly.

SOARES: Yes --

YAHYANEJAD: If they go back to their process and they vote again, that's going to create more delays. And of course, the country right now without a

-- has no ruler, and there is nobody who has authority to make important decisions at the time of war --

SOARES: Yes, and from what I understand, and you could correct me here, Mehdi, that Mojtaba Khamenei is quite close to the IRGC, right? So, this

does not kind of bode well --

YAHYANEJAD: That's --

SOARES: For more and more moderate voices in Iran, as President Trump has been suggesting.

YAHYANEJAD: That's correct. He's considered the hardliner, he's close to Quds Force, which is in part of IRGC and has been one of the most, I would

say, extreme part of IRGC. So, it's pretty much -- if he's chosen, it's expected that the war would continue, and even the Iranian government would

take a harder position compared --

SOARES: Yes --

YAHYANEJAD: To the past.

SOARES: Let's park the politics for just a moment, because I do want to focus on what is happening inside the country. It's so hard to get a sense

of what is happening. It's difficult of course, because of connectivity.

We have been hearing at CNN that more than a thousand people, I believe, from including 168 children, have been killed in Iran since Saturday. What

are you, Mehdi, what have you been hearing is happening inside the country. Speak to that.

YAHYANEJAD: Absolutely. So initially, there was quite an excitement for killing of Khamenei. Of course, he was the one who ordered killing of

protesters two months ago. People very still upset with what happened two months ago with the, you know, the massacre in Iran.

So, everybody was -- a lot of people were happy to see him gone. And there was initial excitement, and also there was excitement that the regime might

fall quickly. This hasn't materialized. Of course, we are still, you know, five years -- five days in the war.

But people are witnessing massive destruction within their cities, of course, a lot of security buildings have been destroyed. But also, there

are other buildings, government-owned buildings that are not necessarily security buildings that are getting destroyed.

And people -- this is having an impact on the population. One person I talked to, he had a civil case in a courthouse and the courthouse has --

completely wiped out, and he's wondering whether there will be any records of the case.

And some people have started packing and leaving the major cities because they just can't take it. The bombing is pretty much everywhere, and is

shaking them at night, and they haven't been able to sleep for a couple of nights. So, the situation --

SOARES: Yes --

YAHYANEJAD: Is -- I would say, and there are, of course, people who are hoping that, you know, this would still bring regime change and would free

Iran from the Ayatollahs and the repression that they've imposed on Iranians.

SOARES: And Mehdi, look, I'm sure you heard that we heard Secretary Hegseth saying today that -- and this was directed at Iranian regime that

they're toast. I think the words they used. They're toast, that things are only just starting, that things are accelerating and that America is

winning without mercy were the words he used.

I mean, all this is incredibly chilling. This is a population over 90 million people. You said that some people are leaving. Where are they going

to? This -- as this war seems to be expanding, where are they going to?

Are they going further out of Tehran? Are they going to other countries? Talk to the -- you know, some of the messages you may be getting, schools,

children, any sort of help, going to doctors, day-to-day life.

YAHYANEJAD: Yes, so day-to-day life in major cities has been totally disrupted. So, people --

SOARES: Yes --

YAHYANEJAD: Don't venture out because a lot of these bombings, when they happen, you don't know where -- when it's going to hit, where it's going to

hit, and you don't want to be in the middle of the street and getting impacted by it.

So, a lot of people are staying inside their house. They only go outside to buy groceries and whatever basic needs that they have. Some people who have

a location to, for example, close to Caspian Sea or more rural parts of Iran, they are leaving the major cities.

But a lot of Iranians also don't have anywhere to go. And there are also Iranians who are in such an economic hardship that they just can't afford

giving up their daily job. So, they have to continue going up and going and showing up at their work.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Mehdi, really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us and to give us really a sense of the conversations

that you've been having from those inside Iran. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Mehdi.

And five days.

YAHYANEJAD: Thank you.

SOARES: You're very welcome. And five days into the war with Iran will bring you a timeline on how the conflict continues to spread in the Middle

East and where it might go next. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Let me catch you up on the very latest from the war in the Middle East. An 18-hour traffic jam is reported in Lebanon after Israel ordered

people in the south to evacuate immediately. Israeli strikes this week have pummeled parts of the country, including the capital of Beirut. CNN

analysis of satellite images shows Iran is targeting U.S. communications as well as radar systems. Iran has struck American military bases and

facilities in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Israel is set to begin gradually reopening its main international gateway, that is Ben Gurion Airport. Airport authorities said there would be

incoming flights starting on Thursday.

And the White House said Wednesday that they will have to wait and see who will be Iran's next supreme leader. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt,

also acknowledged the administration has seen reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, as we were talking about just before the break,

could take the position.

[14:35:00]

Well, today is day five of U.S.-Israeli action against Iran, and we are still seeing a widening conflict here. In the first four days, just to put

into perspective for you, the U.S. and Israel targeted Iranian leadership, air defense systems and missile sites right across the republic. Israel has

also launched a wave of strikes against Beirut, as we have seen, and southern Lebanon. Retaliatory strikes from Iran hit Israel, and the Gulf

states we've been telling you about, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and down here, Saudi Arabia.

Today, on day five, the Turkish presidency said NATO air defense systems shot down an Iranian missile that was travelling over Iraq and Syria

towards Turkish airspace, just highlighted there in red for you. This is believed to be the first time NATO forces have intervened in the conflict.

Also, the Pentagon today said a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka. It just gives you a sense how widespread

this war has been, and we are on day five.

Let's get more on this. Sascha Bruchmann is a research fellow for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

He joins me from Doha. Sascha, good to see you. Let me start on Turkey. Were you surprised that Iran expanded this war all the way to Turkey, a

NATO member?

SASCHA BRUCHMANN, RESEARCH FELLOW FOR DEFENCE AND MILITARY ANALYSIS, IISS: Yes, I was quite surprised. If you've been watching the airspace over

Europe in the weeks leading up to this conflict, you saw, for example, that the USC-17, so the transport, the military transport flights, were coming

down, for example, from Germany. Rammstein is the big base there. Down Romania, Bulgaria, and then into Greek airspace, and they made this swirl

around, so they avoided Turkish airspace, which led me to believe that the Turks had not given permission for U.S. military flights with the military

goods that came into the Middle East. So, the Turks had made it very clear that they were not part to this conflict and that we're standing aside. So,

this missile was a bit of a surprise.

And also, if you look at what the Turks said coming from Iraq to Syria, and you look at the trajectory of where it was intercepted, there are only two

interesting points there, the Ceyhan oil pipeline, but also Incirlik Air Base, where NATO's nuclear sharing agreement within Turkey lies. So, those

are potentially maybe U.S. nuclear weapons stationed on Turkish soil there in the heart of NATO's nuclear sharing.

SOARES: Right. So, do we know, Sascha, at this point, what the intended target was then? I mean, you're talking about a U.S. airbase potentially

here. Do we know what the intended target potentially was here?

BRUCHMANN: No, the trajectory is actually, unfortunately, so from the point of intercept that the Turks have told us, if you just look to a

straight line, both points are on it. I would suggest probably it is Incirlik at this point.

SOARES: Right. And we have been hearing now for the last few days that the strategy, Sascha, from the Iranian side is to pressure Gulf countries, to

pressure the U.S. to end this war. What do you make of that strategy from the Iranian side? I mean, and do you fear that this could backfire?

BRUCHMANN: Yes, absolutely. I think it is backfiring, right? When you hear what the Saudis, the Qataris, or the Emiratis have said for the last couple

of days, they were very clearly avoiding and trying not to be dragged into this conflict over the weeks prior and said that their airspace will not be

used for any strikes. And now, they're all considering what they could do in retaliation by themselves for their own national interests and national

sovereignty. So, yes, the strategy is backfiring.

Nonetheless, I can understand from the point of an Iranian regime that is struggling to stay alive, that is trying to extract the maximum price, that

is trying to extract the maximum pain on President Trump by going after global oil and gas sales, trying at least to block the Strait of Hormuz.

Although I think to some extent it is unsuccessful. It is what it has built up over the last decades and is now using the means that it has built.

SOARES: Right. And so, as they watch this escalate, what do they do? I mean, how do they weigh this up? I know each country's acting differently,

thinking about this differently. Do they sit back, play offense? Or I mean, I don't know what the -- what your sense is in terms of how this would be

received at home.

BRUCHMANN: It is difficult to say what the GCC countries might actually enact. They all have fairly modern air capabilities when it comes to their

air forces. The Saudis have quite modern F-15SAs, the Qataris have F-15s, the Kuwaitis have F-18s. So, planes very, very similar, or in fact, the

same as the United States Air Force is currently using in this conflict.

But integration into a running campaign is quite difficult and their overall capabilities in terms of integration with the U.S. forces are quite

limited.

[14:40:00]

Also, the United States and the Israelis are doing the heavy lifting. So, there's a, other than symbolically for their own domestic audience, it's

not quite clear what this would bring, but opening up their air bases to the U.S., their logistics would actually help the campaign quite a bit. It

could increase Saudi ratio, and thus the amount of munitions that the U.S. could drop per night.

SOARES: Sascha, really appreciate you coming on. Sascha Bruchmann staying with us there from Doha in Qatar. Thank you.

Well, leaders across Europe are reacting to the growing crisis that we are seeing in the Middle East, on Tuesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met

with President Donald Trump, we brought you that, at the White House to discuss the war with Iran. Chancellor Merz said Germany is on the same page

with U.S. in ending Iran's regime.

While in the U.K., British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hitting back at criticism from President Trump after initially refusing to allow the U.S.

to use U.K. bases. Starmer says the country is now allowing access to those bases. However, other leaders are urging for peace talks rather than

military action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO SANCHEZ, PRIME MINISTER OF SPAIN (through translator): Nobody knows for sure what will happen now. Neither are the objectives for the first

attack at all clear. But we have to be prepared for the possibility of this war spilling over, and that there might be very serious consequences in

world economic terms. The position of the Spanish government can be summarized in these words, no to war.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Together with Germany and the United Kingdom, we have clearly stated that an immediate

halt to the strikes is desirable, and that lasting peace in the region will only be achieved through the resumption of diplomatic negotiations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, meanwhile, as we've mentioned, Turkey says NATO air defense system shot down an Iranian missile heading towards its airspace. Turkey's

president spoke out with a warning for Iran. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): As in this morning's incident, we are taking all kinds of precautions in close

consultation with our NATO allies, and we are making the necessary intervention immediately. We are giving warnings in the clearest way

possible for similar incidents not to occur again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Let's get more from Nic Robertson, who's in Riyadh for us. And Nic, I was just discussing the situation, what we saw, of course, in

Turkey, and of course, NATO having to intervene there. I want to park that for a moment and really tap into your expertise on the diplomatic side.

Give us a sense of what you are hearing. You had a strong response from Spain over the last 24 hours. What are you hearing from your diplomatic

sources about the widening of this conflict?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, there are so many levels and so many ways that this can widen. We think of it in the

immediate terms of this war, of it widening geographically, the United States sinking an Iranian ship close to the Philippines. We think of the

missile that was fired it appeared to be, I believe your last guest was talking about Incirlik Air Base in the south of Turkey, seemed to be the

trajectory of that missile coming from Iran through Syria before it was shot down. It appears to have been shot down by a U.S. warship defending

that base that U.S. military aircraft typically have used in the past, very likely using again now.

But there are other layers to how this spills over and becomes worse, and I think they've become very real. The other part of the picture's become very

real today when we've heard Pete Hegseth, the secretary of war, saying, look, this could go on four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks. He said maybe

three weeks, but people are talking in terms of months now, which means a continued and long fight and battle dominating Iran militarily.

And the concern there is that then this breaks Iran down into not just the sort of Sunni-Shia divide, but the regional ethnic divides, the Kurds in

the northwest, the Azeris in the north, in the far east, the Baluch, and other groups as well that will likely look to take and hold some sort of

power.

So, you get a breakdown in the country. You get a long-term sort of civil strife situation, which allows all sorts of nefarious activities to happen

inside of Iran, whether it's criminal activities with drugs or weapons. You think of Afghanistan and the efforts that come from drug smugglers there to

get opium and other drugs into Europe. If Iran is in free fall, then that becomes much easier.

So, the overflow isn't just a military overflow that we're looking at right now in the conflict, but the overflow that will happen if the United States

and Israel get this wrong and there's chaos in Iran, because the ripple out and future effects could really reach deeply into European society and

definitely reach deeply into the Gulf countries here.

[14:45:00]

SOARES: Yes, as we heard from Hegseth -- Secretary Hegseth, we're just getting started. We are accelerating, not decelerating. Nic Robertson there

for us in Riyadh, our diplomatic editor. Thank you very much, Nic. We're going to take a short break. We'll see you on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back. A global scramble is underway to evacuate citizens stranded in the Middle East with thousands of flights cancelled. France,

the U.K. and Italy are among countries that have successfully begun limited repatriation flights while Israel is gradually reopening its airspace to

bring Israeli citizens home.

However, there has been frustration as well as huge uncertainty for many trying to get home. Thousands of U.S. citizens remain stranded right across

the region, the Trump administration saying things happened too quickly to arrange evacuations before the attacks began.

Let me bring in our business editor and host of Quest Means Business, Richard Quest, on this. And this is the first time, Richard, that we're

hearing the administration acknowledging that, that Operation Epicurean happened so quickly they didn't have a plan in place. For our viewers right

around the world, explain the complexity of why this is so difficult to get people repatriation flights.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Yes. You know, it's interesting what they were saying there, the

U.S., because we have a saying in English, a statement of the bleeding obvious. You start the war and then you have to try and work out how you're

going to get everybody out.

But I think the real reason is -- let's take a look at the region and you'll see exactly what we're talking about, because it's the nature of the

countries that we're talking about. Forgive me, I'm going to look down here and I'll do a bit of telestrating. You've got the UAE, you've got Qatar,

you've got Oman, you've got Saudi Arabia. These are all countries with tourist industries, of course, but also large numbers of expats, vast expat

communities, as well as large number of migrant workers that have been brought in from India, Bangladesh, and from Southeast Asia.

Now, what are you going to do with everybody? Let's choose blue for that. The first thing, people have got to get out. So, we've had a lot of people

who've been crossing the border both into Oman, making long drives across into Saudi Arabia to try and get flights out from there. The idea is that

the national authorities, the British, the French, the Swiss, and the like, they are arranging flights from Oman up home, repatriation flights as best

they can.

[14:50:00]

But you've got to get the people there in the first place. Hence why the crucial part is indeed this idea of crossing south or crossing west to get

out of the way.

Now, longer term, what you're aiming to do, and this is where I think we'll go for a rather nice red, we'll go for a red here. Longer-term, Isa, what

you want is out of the UAE and Qatar themselves to have those repatriation flights. But you can only have those out of Dubai and Doha if you have

safety and security, which is why they are putting together these various corridors using, obviously, fighter jets as support, but primarily looking

at where is the risk. Sorry, feel free to jump in at any point.

SOARES: Go ahead.

QUEST: Well, if you're flying west, then there's less risk, of course, because of missiles. And of course, you're over Saudi Arabia than if

you're, say, for example, going that way, which of course would take you more into the line of attack from Iran.

SOARES: 45 seconds or so for people who want to get out. I have a friend who's buying tons of tickets, Richard. What should she do? Just wait it

out? Because this is expanding, as we heard from Hegseth today.

QUEST: It depends where you are. If you are in -- ]

SOARES: Dubai, she's in Dubai, for example.

QUEST: Wait it out. First of all, check to see your national authority. The U.K. has given instructions. The U.S. has given instructions. All of

them have given instructions to get on registers and wait to leave then and go on those flights. Otherwise, wait for these corridors to be established.

My guess is the corridors will go this way so that they are avoiding any form of dangerous airspace or at least the risk of more missiles.

Ultimately, number of flights, how you get out, just it's simple logistics. I say that's simple. It's simple, it's not easy.

SOARES: No, not easy, and it will be costly too. Richard, great to see you with the illustrator as well. Fantastic.

QUEST: Thank you.

SOARES: Thank you, Richard. We're going to take a short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Well, U.S. Democratic lawmakers say President Donald Trump must get congressional approval for the war with Iran, but Democrats don't

control either chamber of Congress. The Senate could vote soon on a resolution that would restrict U.S. military action unless authorized by

Congress. The House is expected to hold a similar vote tomorrow. Both are expected to fail.

Republican supporters of the war, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, said limiting operations against Iran would harm national security. Have a

listen.

[14:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: This course of action was necessary, lawful, and effective, and reversing it now would weaken

America. Congress has a constitutional right to exercise its oversight authority, and we will, but we also have a duty and obligation not to

undercut our own national security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, Democrats are pushing back, especially after closed-door briefings by administration officials. Some say they have no idea what the

objectives in Iran and fear mission creep. Senator Tim Kaine says President Trump must not be allowed to dodge the Constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Senators and members of the House often like to just hide and let the president do this, but the framers of our

Constitution said we shouldn't send our sons and daughters into a war unless Congress has the guts to vote on it and say it's in the national

mission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: We'll have much more on this story in the press from President Trump after this show. And that does it for this hour. Do stay right here.

"What We Know" with Max Foster is up next. Have a wonderful day. I shall see you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00]

END