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Iran's Supreme Leader Killed in Strikes; Israel Launches Intensive New Strikes Against Iran; U.S. and Israel Strike Iran; Israel TARGETS "HEART OF TEHRAN" in New Wave of Strikes. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 01, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East Programming Headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

And we are just learning that the Israeli Air Force has carried out a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital of Tehran. Reports from Tehran say there were explosions in multiple areas of the city. Now, this comes, I mean, escalating threats from what is left of the Iranian regime as one of Iran's most powerful figures is now vowing a much stronger reaction from his country's armed forces.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI LARIJANI, IRANIAN SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: The Americans have stabbed the Iranian people in the heart. And we will stab them in their heart. The reaction from our armed forces will be much stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Donald Trump reacting to Iran's heightened threats, posting, quote, "Iran just stated they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they've ever hit before. They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before." And that posted ahead of us learning about these new Israeli strikes.

Iran launched a new wave of attacks across the Middle East a short time ago, with CNN teams hearing explosions in several capitals and major cities. All of this comes after massive U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Saturday morning, about 24 hours ago now. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly killed in his compound in the capital, Tehran.

Video from social media, geolocated by CNN, shows thousands of protesters gathered in central Tehran today. The crowd seen waving Iranian regime flags and chanting death to America. Iranian state media reports the country's top general and a key advisor to the late supreme leader have also been killed, along with Iran's defense minister and the chief of staff for its armed forces. These are extremely significant losses for Iran. President Trump says he knows exactly who he wants to lead Iran next, but wouldn't say.

All right. We got complete coverage of the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran. Paula Hancock is in Dubai. Julia Benbrook is in West Palm Beach, Florida, traveling with President Trump. Let's get you, though, first straight to Tel Aviv with Oren Liebermann, who is standing by with more. Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Becky, as you noted just a short time ago, the Israeli military said they were carrying out another wave of strikes, this time, in their words, in the heart of Tehran, going after regime targets.

After yesterday, in the opening salvo of U.S.-Israel strikes, Israel killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. That strike, this massive wave of strikes against Iran continues, and we have seen it, multiple waves of strikes throughout the day yesterday and clearly into today. The Israeli military said yesterday, as they were beginning to put out more information about this wave, that working with the United States, they had created a target list that had been expanded many time over, and it very much seems like in real time we are seeing Israel and potentially the U.S., as well, go after that target list.

Yesterday, in addition to the high-value targets, that is the supreme leader, Israel also killed, according to what we're seeing both from Israel and from Iran, much of Iran's security and national defense leadership, effectively decapitating what would be the top of the command and control of Iran's leadership. That clearly a goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli operation. As it got underway here, the defense minister, Israel Katz, said the strike that killed Khamenei was carried out in the opening round of those attacks some 27 hours ago.

Meantime, we have seen incoming ballistic missiles from Iran several times this morning, at least five or six warnings of incoming missile fire given throughout the country from Israel's home front command. Here this morning in Tel Aviv, it seems to be a relatively calm morning, as most are heeding the instructions from home front command to stay near shelters, and we've had to head to those shelters multiple times here in Tel Aviv with warnings of incoming missiles. The largest barrage we have seen, at least so far, was at about 10:30 last night.

We saw multiple interceptors launched. One of those Iranian missiles pierced Israel's missile defense array and hit a building here in Tel Aviv here, killing one, the first casualty in Israel of this round of fighting between Israel, the U.S., and Iran, and wounding some 20 others.

[04:05:00]

Iran has threatened that it has much more, and will continue to attack with larger barrages of missiles, but so far it seems that what we're seeing here is a dispersed, essentially, array of one or two missiles at a time that appear, from what we're seeing, to have been intercepted by Israel's missile defense array.

That being said, Israel has warned the public here that this could go on for days, if not more, and that Israel will continue striking Iran, at least for now, and at the threat that it seems President Donald Trump has made as well, Becky.

ANDERSON: And very briefly, what are your sources telling you about the extent of Iran's missile battery, its launchers, and what's left?

LIEBERMANN: We don't have a number on that, but going after ballistic missiles and launchers has been a key priority for Israel, effectively since these strikes began. Israel views the ballistic missiles as a very serious threat, and we've seen them reach here. We've seen at least one get through Israel's missile defense, and potentially two, one earlier in the day yesterday, in northern Israel. The drones are also a threat, but much less so. It is the ballistic missiles that Israel has been focusing on pretty much since the very beginning, and we saw that, frankly, in June as well.

ANDERSON: Got it. Oren, thank you. Back to you as you get more. Let's get to Paula Hancocks, who is in Dubai, and we have seen the extent of Iran's ability to fire both ballistic missiles and drones, very specifically at the UAE. Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Becky, there's no sense that this is letting up in any way. We know that there have been interceptions in Abu Dhabi at this point. We understand from officials that a woman and her child were injured in the falling debris from that interception.

Here in Dubai, we have heard a number of interceptions and seen a number overhead. We know that two people were injured as debris, again, falling into the courtyards of two homes. This really is the extent of the injuries. It is the falling debris from the interceptions, which is why we are seeing the shelter in place holding up until this point. You look out onto the streets of Dubai, and there are definitely less people around. There are definitely less cars around, as people are appreciating just how serious this situation is. This is not a country that is accustomed to this level of military attack.

Now, we also have seen that there was footage of smoke in Dubai Airport as passengers were running to find safety there. We've spoken to one of those passengers that was inside the airport, we understand, from Dubai trying to get back to Spain for eight and a half hours before they were able to leave and get back to the relative safety of a hotel basement. But certainly, there is concern in the Gulf nations are accustomed to this level of missile and drone attack. We're hearing from officials, certainly here in the UAE.

Now, these are relatively older figures, because we have seen more interceptions. But hours ago, they've said at least 137 missiles intercepted, 200-plus drones. Officials trying to let people know that they are safe, that they have the ability to counter this Iranian attack. But there is anger among these governments of Gulf nations that Iran is targeting the Gulf nations so blatantly. We have been hearing very strong condemnation from these countries. And one interesting point as well, the fact that Oman has now found itself a target of two Iranian drones, this according to Oman's news agency, saying that it struck a commercial port, it struck mobile workers accommodation unit, one injured there. But Oman is the mediator or was the mediator when diplomacy was still alive between the U.S. and Iran, the fact that they also are finding themselves targeted is significant.

The U.S. embassy in Oman telling everybody to shelter in place, a warning that the U.S. embassy across the Gulf nations has had in place now for well over 24 hours.

ANDERSON: Paula Hancocks is in Dubai. Paula, thank you. Let's get you live now to West Palm Beach, Florida. That is where Donald Trump is. Julia Benbrook is standing by. I know we've got new pictures into CNN of smoke rising above Tehran. We've just been reporting breaking news that Israel has launched another volley of attacks on Iran. What are we hearing from the U.S. president?

[04:10:00]

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to that new wave of strikes there that was confirmed by Israel's military, we have reached out to the White House on a number of matters to see, one, was the United States in any way involved in these strikes? And two, do they have any more information that they can share? We are waiting to get a response on that.

But what we do know is President Donald Trump, he is at his Mar-a-Lago estate here in Florida. This is where he monitored the U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran. We saw a photo from the White House where he was meeting with national security officials in that room, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. And he has been making calls to various leaders throughout the day.

While it is the middle of the night here in Florida now, we did hear from him just a few hours ago. He took to social media, True Social, that's where he's been doing a lot of this communication. And he had a stark warning for Iran that if they retaliate, things will only continue to get worse. I want to pull that up for you now. In this post, he said, quote, "Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before," then adding in all caps. "They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before."

In an eight-minute video announcing the strikes, Trump had a message for the people of Iran. He encouraged them to seize control of the government after U.S. military operations have concluded. He also warned that American lives could be lost in this military operation, the operation that they have dubbed and are continuing to see this all take place.

Now, hours after that video, Trump did say that Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah, had been killed. And then we also saw Israel put out a list of some other top Iranian officials who had been killed in this operation. Trump will have questions to answer, because members of Congress are already pushing for more information. The White House did say that Rubio briefed the Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group of top lawmakers, seven of the eight of them he got a hold of prior to the strikes.

According to sources familiar, though, still didn't get into the full details of the legal justification for this. And the reactions are polarizing to what took place here. I want to play you some reaction. This is Democrat Andy Kim and Republican Tom Cotton with two very different points of views on what's taken place. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): Right now, I have zero confidence in this president who has so flagrantly violated our Constitution. That is why we should have Congress immediately go back into session for the War Powers vote to reassert the American people's will, which, again, they don't want to be at war.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I think it was the right decision. Iran still has nuclear ambitions. They have a vast missile arsenal that threatens the United States. They still support terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah. And for 47 years, they've been killing and maiming thousands of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: So, those discussions about congressional approval, Trump's War Powers, will no doubt continue into next week. And a reminder, all of this is taking place after we saw multiple rounds of high-stakes talks between the United States and Iran. On the U.S. side, that was led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. And the latest round of those took place on Thursday in Geneva. Following that, it was clear that there was still a significant gap between the two sides when it came to demands.

And throughout that process, Trump repeatedly expressed frustration, saying that the Iranians would talk and talk, but he was not seeing the action that he wanted to see. And then, at one point, he even said that regime change could be the best outcome here.

ANDERSON: Julia, it's good to have you. Thank you very much, indeed, the view there from Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

Well, Iranian state media says dozens of students were killed during the U.S.-Israel attack on Saturday. And I have to warn you, the video that you are about to see is graphic, and it is disturbing. Bombs hit a girls' school in southern Iran. The local prosecutor now says that 148 people were killed and 95 others were wounded. Saturday is the first day of the school week in Iran. The school, located just 200 feet, which is about 60-odd meters, away from an Iranian military base. A U.S. military spokesman says that they are taking all precautions to minimize the risk of unintended harm.

[04:15:00] Well, six pro-Iranian protesters have been killed and 20 were injured after storming the U.S. consulate compound in Karachi, in Pakistan. It's not clear how the protesters died. CNN has reached out to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad for comment. Karachi police say they responded quickly after hundreds of people suddenly appeared outside what is the heavily fortified compound. Videos show dozens of protesters breaking through security barricades and beating at windows with sticks. Big shots can be heard in at least one of these videos, and I'll get you more as we get it into CNN later this hour.

All right. I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching our breaking news coverage from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. It continues how the Middle East and the world is responding to what is going on here in regions. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

ANDERSON: Welcome back. Breaking News. Israel is launching a new wave of strikes in the heart of Tehran, as the Air Force describes it. Reports from the Iranian capital say there were explosions in multiple areas of the city, and these are the videos that we're just getting in.

From Tehran to CNN, you can see huge plumes of smoke. We'll try and geolocate those for you and get you a sense of where in Tehran this is and how important these areas are. After all, just more than 24 hours ago, of course, striking at the heart of Tehran and taking out not just a supreme leader, hugely significant, but a swathe of his senior leadership as well.

So, these just in to us from Tehran. Israel launching a new wave of attacks on Iran. Let's get to Kim Gattas, who joins us from Beirut in Lebanon. She is contributing editor at the Financial Times and a contributing editor at the Atlantic. She's also the author of "Black Wave: "Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Rivalry that Unraveled the Middle East." Kim, it's good to have you.

You've covered the Iranian regime for decades. So, first, what's your reaction? Let's start with these supreme leaders killing. What does this mean for the country and the entire region?

KIM GHATTAS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE ATLANTIC AND AUTHOR, "BLACK WAVE": It's the end of an era, Becky. This is an absolutely momentous moment for Iran, for Iranians, for the region. It's a turning point. And as I said, it's the end of an era.

The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, was there at the birth of the Islamic Republic. He was the second president of the Islamic Republic as of 1981. He's been around as president, and then after 1989, as supreme leader. It was really very much his pet project, the idea of starting proxy militias around the region, starting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which was born in 1982 in the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon that year. And that was really the birth of both the Iranian project, regional architecture of proxy militias, and also the moment where the Iranian Revolution collided with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and turned into something that we have seen unfold over four decades. Beirut of those years in the '80s was also the moment where the US-Iran enmity became violent. And we remember the Marine Barracks bombing, the U.S. embassy bombing, the hostages, and so on.

So, 47 years later, we see now, or four decades later, we see this life of Ali Khamenei coming to an end. And it is the end of an era. And we've seen the celebrations of many millions in Iran, but also in Syria. But there are two things to keep in mind.

One, this is not the end of the Islamic Republic. And we have to see how the leadership is going to get organized now, whether they can continue to keep organized, whether they remain cohesive, whether they're going to be splinters or not. And second, no matter how much many millions of Iranians will celebrate this, and many others across the region, this is not a strike that is sanctioned by international law. It was not done with U.N. authorization. It was done -- it was one without consulting the U.S. Congress. And there was nothing pre- emptive about this. This was a decision made by Israel and the United States to go for the juggler and to hit Iran at a moment when it is at its weakest.

ANDERSON: Kim, we are seeing a new wave of strikes. And I'm going to get the pictures up here so our viewers can see those from Israel. Israel announcing this wave of strikes and suggesting that they are targeting leadership again. We saw a decapitation attack yesterday alongside these strikes on missile sites in Iran.

I just want you to listen to the key surviving Iranian leader, as it were. I mean, there's a very deep bench, of course, in Iran. But Ali Larijani's message today to the United States was, I think, significant to talk about. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARIJANI: The Americans have stabbed the Iranian people in the heart. And we will stab them in their heart. The reaction from our armed forces will be much stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:00]

ANDERSON: How significant a player do you believe Ali Larijani is at this point, as Iran never navigates redefining its leadership while in active combat? Does it continue down a very hard line, sort of, you know, framing and ideology? Does it open up, recalibrate, rebalance, open to the region? What's your sense at this point?

GHATTAS: You know, it's very hard to predict the next few hours or days, Becky, because we still don't know what else is in store for the Islamic Republic in terms of what the U.S. and Israel are planning. Are there more decapitation strikes happening? Is it going to involve the paralysis of key infrastructure in the country? There are reports of strikes against the Iranian IRGC command, the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps. There are reports of strikes against Iranian television. Is it about incapacitating the country?

I don't want to give the Trump administration or the Israelis too much credit about having thought through every step of the way along this, because, you know, usually that's not how either Israel or the U.S. has operated historically. But have they thought it through? Do they have people they're working with on the ground, not just to carry out these strikes, but to plan the day after a replacement?

I mean, we heard from President Trump talking about the fact that there are leaders that they're working with that will be replacing the supreme leader. And then, of course, how is the Iranian leadership going to react? Do they feel that this is a fight to the death, the ultimate fight for the survival of the Islamic Republic? Are they going to go even more all out?

I have to say that as dramatic as the strikes have been over the last day carried out by the Iranian regime against Gulf countries and Israel, this is not something that is going to give countries like Israel or even Gulf countries pause and think, OK, we can't sustain this for very long. It's dramatic, but I think it is still somewhat contained.

And so, we just have to see whether Iran is thinking of intensifying these strikes, of making this a long-term war of attrition in the hope that Gulf countries will call on President Trump to bring this to a wrap. The other potential scenario is on the contrary, Gulf countries will double down and side with the U.S. openly in what is now a war to remake the region in a way.

ANDERSON: Kim, it's good to have you. Your analysis and insight so important and your vantage point there out of Lebanon so important to us as well. We have seen the -- and a colleague of mine, Ivan Watson, has got a good piece on this. You know, Iran's isolation. We haven't seen the response from proxies around the region, not least some might have expected to see a response in support of this Iranian leadership from Hezbollah. We haven't seen evidence of that as of yet. It'll be interesting to see what we see going forward, if anything. I thank you for the time being for joining us. So, important to get your analysis.

This is the latest chapter in a cycle of diplomacy and conflict that we've seen for years in this region. CNN's Fred Pleitgen explains what led up to this new crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The current confrontation between the United States and Iran essentially kicked off during that crackdown on protests that had turned violent in Iran at the beginning of this year, specifically starting on January 8th, January 9th and January 10th of this year.

Now, we recall that President Trump back then claimed that help was on the way for Iranians and started putting U.S. assets into the region as first the carrier strike group around the Abraham Lincoln, then later the Gerald Ford. But of course, other assets as well, including a lot of U.S. fighter jets and tanker aircraft.

At the same time, a diplomatic process was also kicked off, led by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and also Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, mostly meeting with Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran. And those talks centered around Iran's nuclear program. Obviously, the U.S. wanting Iran to stop nuclear enrichment, the Iranians saying that they have a right to enrichment. In the end, both sides acknowledged that there was some progress in those talks, but it didn't seem as though that was enough for President Trump.

[04:30:00]

In the past couple of days, President Trump has been quite negative about how those talks were going, and then launched the attacks in the early hours of this morning. The Iranians are now saying that their retaliation is in full swing. But while they were in this diplomatic process, at the same time, they were also preparing for war. And it certainly seems as though the U.S. is not going to let that as though they were a lot better prepared this time than in June when they faced off with the Israelis, with a lot of Iranian retaliation coming not just against Israel, but against states in the Gulf and specifically U.S. military installations in the Gulf region as well.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back to CNN newsroom. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi.

And we are bearing witness to a seismic shift in Iran and across this region of the Middle East. Smoke plumes can be seen in Iran's capital this hour, where the Israeli defense forces confirmed they've been carrying out a new wave of strikes in the heart of Tehran. Reports from the city say there were multiple explosions this morning. The region's longest serving head of state is now dead, and so are other key members of the Ayatollah's regime.

Just hours ago, Iran's state media confirmed the deaths of the country's defense minister and the chief of staff of the armed forces. All were killed in the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Saturday. Well, those pro-government protesters were chanting death to America in the streets of central Tehran earlier today.

[04:35:00]

One of Iran's most powerful figures has vowed to, quote, "stab" America in the heart following the death of its supreme leader. Ali Larijani, seen here, the supreme national security chief and a key advisor to Khamenei, promised further retaliation against the U.S. and Israel. Well, it's just after one in the afternoon there in Tehran. CNN's Ivan Watson is joining us now live from Hong Kong, where he's monitoring activity. And what do you make of these new strikes? And just get a bang up to date on what we know at this point.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Becky, let's take a step back. It's been about 36 hours since the U.S. and Israel launched their surprise coordinated attack on Iran, torpedoing a diplomatic process that had been underway and effectively calling for regime change in Iran and killing the leader of the country, as well as some top Cabinet ministers, the minister of defense, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran is now in 40 days of mourning. It is vowing revenge.

But what the Trump administration has demonstrated with this is that in the span of two months, it has shown a new doctrine, a security doctrine of sorts, that it is willing to neutralize, take out heads of state. Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, who was captured, spirited away at night, and now assassinating the supreme leader of Iran, who had been a thorn in the U.S. side for more than 30 years.

Iran, in retaliation, has not only attacked U.S. bases across the Gulf and attacked Israel, but it has also effectively declared war on Gulf countries, from Qatar and the UAE and Saudi Arabia to Oman, which had been involved in mediation efforts and whose top diplomat had been trying to avert an imminent U.S.-Israeli strike on an emergency trip to Washington.

And we have actually heard of an attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman, the Skylight, where Omani officials say they evacuated all 20 members of the crew, four of them being injured. You have all air travel in the region is disrupted right now, and sea, ocean traffic through these vital waterways also now severely impeded. That's going to have economic costs that continue to spiral with every day that this continues.

And one final thought about this, and I wrote about this in an analysis piece, is how much Iran's fortunes have shifted. I remember it at its zenith, when it led militias all across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Gaza to Iraq. And now, at this moment, in the final hours of Iran's supreme leader's life, who has come to his defense? The Russian government, which was supplied with Shahid drones for its brutal war in Ukraine, has issued some words of protest, but not done anything more.

China has not done anything of consequence. And the militias on the ground, yes, we have seen an attempt to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. We have seen a deadly confrontation, an attempt to storm the U.S. consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi. But we have not seen the Houthis of Yemen get into the fray, even though they've threatened Red Sea traffic. We have not seen Hezbollah step forward against Israel, its neighbor to the south of Lebanon. And what that has demonstrated was that in his final hours of life, the Iranian supreme leader was internationally isolated, had almost no friends, and Iran has gone one step further to attack Gulf neighbors in this moment of desperation.

It is really a dramatic 36 hours that we have witnessed, and I can't even imagine where it will take us next. Becky.

ANDERSON: Absolutely. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson on the story. And you can read his analysis on Iran's isolation at CNN Digital. It's an extremely good analysis, and I push you towards that. Ivan, thank you.

As we dive further into the impact on this region, I want to bring up a point our colleague Greg Karlstrom, the Middle East editor for The Economist, raised. He points out that the UAE, where I am, faced a barrage of at least 137 Iranian missiles and more than 200 drones in the past, what, 28 hours or so. And those numbers are not completely up to date, because we are still seeing the result of this retaliation on the UAE as we speak. Qatar, 66 missiles. Bahrain, 45 missiles and nine drones.

[04:40:00]

That means Iran launched roughly as many missiles, for example, at the UAE yesterday as it did at Israel. But of course, all the Gulf states are dealing with this. Let's get you to CNN's Bijan Hosseini who is live now from Doha. Bijan.

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Hey, Becky. Yes, we started our day this morning by witnessing what was day two of Iran's retaliation, the first wave of strikes today. What we believe were air defense missiles above us. We could see and hear them. The explosions were loud this morning and a lot more dispersed than yesterday. It sounded like they were happening all over the city this morning.

We do know that from the Ministry of Interior that they successfully intercepted those missiles, but the shrapnel, the debris from one of those interceptions falling on the industrial area on the outskirts of Doha, causing a fire. The ministry said that civil defense were on site working to put out that fire and we were told that there were no injuries reported in that.

But just to highlight what you had just said, numbers coming from the ministry as of yesterday, 65 missile attacks, 12 drone strikes that they counted coming from Iran. They say they successfully intercepted 63 of those and 11 of those drone strikes and they were citing 16 injuries at the end of the day yesterday. Actually, sorry, just about five hours ago was their latest update with 16 injuries.

Why are these missiles coming in? We believe that they are heading for Al-Udeid Air Base. As you know, it's the U.S.'s largest air base in the Middle East. Normally some 10,000 military personnel are based there. We know over the past month and a half, we've seen that number be drawn back as military personnel have been asked to leave and evacuate over the course of the last six weeks. But also, on top of that, we've seen a military equipment buildup happening at that base over the last month with air refuelers coming in and whatnot.

So, I just want to take this moment as well to say it's Sunday here in Qatar. It's usually the start of the week. Sunday is the start of the working week in Doha. We're in West Bay, which is a very popular commercial and residential area. Normally these roads behind me would be packed with cars, traffic would be heavy, but it is empty right now. Emergency alert systems happening a couple times yesterday. We had one this morning from the government asking people to stay in place, to remain inside.

And yes, we know schools are closed until further notice. Aerospace still closed. And all events have been closed and postponed until further notice, Becky.

ANDERSON: Got it. Bijan, thank you. Bijan Hosseini is in Doha in Qatar, getting you bang up to date on what we know there.

And we've been talking about this wider Gulf region still ahead. We continue our breaking news coverage on the fallout of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. The latest on the Israeli attacks on Tehran, which we've just got pictures into CNN on, and what Iran could expect in the coming hours and days. All that and more after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the sad news at this point, a confirmation that has come through. As you see in the bottom of your screen, Iran's leader, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, has been martyred. It's now confirmed. Iran's leader, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, has been martyred, and in the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And to note, Israel still hitting Iran after that announcement on Iranian state media that the supreme leader was killed in Saturday's strikes this morning, and now smoke plumes can be seen in Iran's capital. It's just after one in the afternoon there where the Israeli defense forces have confirmed that they have been carrying out a new wave of strikes in the heart of the capital city. Reports from Tehran say there have been multiple explosions.

CNN State Department reporter Jennifer Hansler joins me now from Washington. I just want to flag a message in English that Ali Larijani just posted a few moments ago, quote, "Yesterday Iran fired missiles at the United States and Israel, and they did hurt. Today we will hit them with a force they have never experienced before." A fresh threat in English, in line with what we have been reporting all day.

When he says we hit the U.S., of course what he means is targets in allied countries, friendly countries that host U.S. bases. I just wonder, how is the United States now likely to react?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Becky, if there is anything like what we have heard up to this point, and certainly that is a very pointed message that it is coming in English as well, this is not going to end anytime soon. We heard from President Trump shortly after midnight here in Washington in a post on Truth Social where he said, quote, "Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard, harder than they have ever hit before. They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before." So, clearly a very stark warning coming after that barrage of missiles by U.S. and Israeli forces yesterday that did kill the supreme leader.

Now, we have seen this ongoing now tit for tat between the two sides, Israel relaunching those strikes on Iran. We don't know at this point if the U.S. is involved in this latest round. And of course, Iran hitting basically every country in the Gulf, including those that do not have a military base or military assets with Oman just earlier today, who had been trying to broker this diplomatic negotiation, of course, Becky.

Now, this is all coming as there is extreme concern about this spiraling out of control. Now, we know after those strikes yesterday, President Trump spoke with a number of key leaders in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio convened a call with the G7 foreign ministers, and they did talk about a concern of not having this spiral beyond the region, beyond something that is going to be a threat to people in the region.

But it's hard to see how there is a diplomatic off-ramp here, Becky. Of course, this all came as though there were those ongoing diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and the Iranians on the nuclear file. They were meant to resume technical talks next week, and it's hard to see how they come back to the table here, Becky.

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ANDERSON: Jennifer, it's good to have you stay with us, and we'll let you go get some more info for us and get back to us. Thank you very much indeed. Our continuing coverage after this.

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ANDERSON: We continue following the breaking news out of Iran, where the very latest is that Israel has struck again after the supreme leader was killed during Saturday's strikes by the U.S. and the IDF. It is just before half-past 1:00 in the afternoon there in Tehran. You can see a huge cloud of smoke rising over Tehran this morning after that latest wave of Israeli attacks. Reports say there were explosions in multiple areas of the capital.

And this just in to CNN. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said that Iran views revenge for the attacks by Israel and the United States as its, quote, "legitimate right and duty."

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In a statement issued Sunday on Iranian state media, the president said that the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had been killed at the hands of the most wicked villains in the world. Significant, as there had been reports about his demise yesterday. So, a post today, a statement by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian president, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, joining us now live from London. And you have been monitoring response to the death of the supreme leader, an historic moment for Iranians around the world, those calling for the end of the Islamic Republic, of course, and those mourning the loss of its leader, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And I want to begin by explaining, of course, that information coming from out of Iran is extremely difficult, Becky, because the internet has essentially been shut down since these strikes began. So, our understanding of what's happening on the ground is limited by that. But what we are seeing, and again, we don't understand to what extent these images are orchestrated by the Iranian regime, is people mourning in the streets, of course, over the supreme leader's death.

I want to take the city of Isfahan, the second largest city in Iran, as an example here to show you this divided response. We saw these massive pro-regime rallies in Isfahan, but just hours before, we have social media video which shows people celebrating in the streets, honking their horns, women waving their hijabs, of course, in the air, again in celebration. So, there's a very divided vision on the ground there. This is a shaky regime that is absolutely trying to project an image of strength. So, you have to take those images of pro-government rallies, those images of the mourning.

Of course, there's still some support for the regime, but you have to take them with an understanding that Iran is trying to project a certain image in the world. But its tentacles, of course, spread far across its own borders. Part of the power of the regime is in backing these proxies across the region, and we've heard from those proxies, of course.

Hezbollah speaking out, calling this -- condemning this attack, condemning this killing on the supreme leader, saying that there would be a response, there would be a retaliation in some form, in some way. It is, of course, deeply weakened right now. We've also heard from Houthi leaders in Yemen, as they also condemned this killing.

But we've also, of course, seen celebrations among the expat community, including here in London, of course, where there's a very strong expat community. People were celebrating in the streets. We also saw that in Los Angeles as well, in the United States.

But we have also seen demonstrations against President Trump's intervention, including in New York, where there was a hands-off Iraq rally. But then, of course, you have to remember the attacks that the U.S. bases have seen across the region as well. So, we've just had updated information on this attack in Karachi, on a U.S. consulate in Karachi, some really dramatic footage there, where you see people initially breaching that first security barrier, getting right up to the window of the consulate, banging on it with sticks. Pakistani security forces responded to that with fire, killing at least nine people, as far as we understand.

We also saw very similar scenes around the Green Zone in Iraq. Of course, that is where the U.S. embassy is located. There were attempts by protesters to breach the Green Zone. You can see flashbangs, smoke, again, a response from security forces on the ground. Now, the Shia, mostly Shia, government of Baghdad is largely aligned with Iran, so they have also declared three days of mourning for the ayatollah's death. So, you have this very divided reaction across the region.

But this is a man who is going to be remembered, of course, for that crackdown in the final months that killed thousands of Iranians, Becky.

ANDERSON: Salma, thank you. We are going to take a very short break. Back after this.

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