Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN Teams Report Explosions In Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha; War With Iran Driving Global Oil Prices Up, Stocks Down; War With Iran Prompts Celebrations And Protests Worldwide. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 02, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And CNN also obtained this video that we geolocated to Kuwait. It shows a fighter jet crashing after catching fire. CNN is unable to verify which nation's military the pilot and the jet belonged to or what caused the aircraft to crash.

Meantime in Lebanon, Israeli forces are ramping up their attacks there. So far, Lebanese officials say at least 31 people have died and more than 140 were injured by the Israeli strikes.

This comes as President Trump warns that the war could last weeks and that more U.S. servicemembers' lives may be lost.

I want to start this part of the show in Qatar, in Doha, with our senior producer Bijan Hosseini -- Bijan.

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Yeah, Becky. Well, we heard from Dr. Majed Al-Ansari on your show just an hour ago. He's the adviser to Qatar's prime minister and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He says they've tallied more than 100 missiles and drones being launched into the country over these three days of what is Iran's retaliation.

We witnessed some of those interceptions today actually above us around 8:00 a.m. local time. We heard about six or seven loud explosions, and we could see the plumes of smoke. And we've also been told from the Ministry that nearly every single one of those missiles has been intercepted.

He also said there are 20 injuries. That's up from four from yesterday. We were told 16 yesterday. We believe most of that is from falling debris or shrapnel from those interceptions.

And lastly, a lot of missile strikes on the airport, which they say have failed. It has forced them to close their airspace here in Qatar leaving more than 8,000 passengers who are transiting stranded here in the country. And we heard from Hamad International Airport, the main airport here in Doha, a little more than an hour ago on X asking people to avoid heading to the airport, that safety remains a top priority, and that they would update as soon as the airspace is cleared. In addition to the transiting passengers we also know there are two cruise ships in the Gulf from Mein Schiff, a German cruise line. One in Doha, here by me and the Doha port, and one in Abu Dhabi as well. We know that those are remaining there. They put out a statement -- Mein Schiff -- saying people on board are being looked after and cared for and that all operations are running normally on the ship as far as supplies go.

We also spoke to a German couple who were part of, you know, that transiting crowd that got stuck here. They say they've been looked after, they've been given hotels, but they do fear what might come next. They're a bit scared. They're kind of limbo. And that's the feeling I'm sure a lot of travelers are feeling right now around the region -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Bijan Hosseini there on the ground in Doha.

Well, more now from my interview with Majed Al-Ansari. He was a key adviser to Qatar's prime minister. He is the spokesperson for its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I asked him about Iran's retaliatory strikes on Qatar and how their military is intercepting them. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MAJED AL-ANSARI, ADVISER TO THE QATAR PRIME MINISTER, SPOKESPERSON QATAR MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: Yes. I can confirm that both are in use right now. Our Patriot defense systems are operational and most of the attacks have been repelled by them, but now also fighter jets have been involved. Our pilots have downed some drones and some incoming projectiles. And as I said, the whole army is ready to deal with it in every way possible.

And as you have seen in our statement, we reserve the right to retaliate and it is with our leadership right now. But obviously this cannot go unanswered. A price has to be paid for this blatant attack on our people -- on the safety of the people and residents from 140 different nationalities living here in Qatar.

We have always championed peace in the region and we have always championed peaceful means in solving conflict in the region, especially with Iran where we have in the past mediated between Iran and Western countries and the U.S. a number of times. We were heavily supporting the Omani-led negotiations that were taking place until this escalation, but an attack like this cannot go unanswered and cannot be left without retaliation.

You know, last time we were attacked by --

ANDERSON: Can I --

AL-ANSARI: -- Iran --

ANDERSON: Yeah. AL-ANSARI: -- because of these escalations we decided to opt for peace because there was a chance for peace at the time, but this cannot happen every time.

ANDERSON: Yeah. I just want to ask you; just how long can Qatar keep up this sort of rate of interception?

AN-ANSARI: We are ready to defend our country as long as it takes. You know, we have had these contingencies in place for a very long time, especially since our country was attacked two times, once by Iran and once by Israel last year. And therefore, all of the contingencies are in place and we're ready for that (audio gap) on this. But obviously we are working also to make sure that we are safe from a political and diplomatic point of view.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:10]

ANDERSON: And that's Dr. Majed Al-Ansari. And you can find more of that interview on our social posts, and you'll hear more of that as we move through the day.

Just days into the war with Iran the financial repercussions are clearly being felt around the globe. Oil prices are surging, stocks tumbling.

I want to talk about that with Iman Nasseri, the Middle East managing director for the energy consulting firm FGE.

And as oil traders -- good to have you, sir. As oil traders scramble this morning to assess the extent of the disruption of oil supplies, these pictures from Saudi Arabia of the fallout and intercepted Iranian drone today will likely add to those nerves. And we're looking at rising oil prices and I'm going to get those up on the screen now. This is an increasingly widening regional conflict.

What is your assessment of the threat level to energy supplies at this point?

IMAN NASSERI, MIDDLE EAST MANAGING DIRECTOR, FGE: Thanks, Becky, for having me back.

Yeah, energy supplies are basically at risk. We have three types of energy supply at risk at the moment. One of as Iran is being attacked and basically the ultimate aim by President Trump might have been announced to regime change there is going to be a risk of a supply disruption of 2.5-2.6 million barrels per day of oil from Iran.

But the bigger current situation that the market is dealing with is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which basically 20 million barrels per day or more and adding five million barrels of product, that is more than 20 percent of oil supply in this market going through this passage, which at the moment has been halted to a great extent. They have been talking about one or two vessels owned by Iranian or Chinese going through, but a significant amount of that flow has been disrupted. That is significant --20 million barrels per day of supply every day not going to the market.

And then last but not least, which is yet to be basically unfolded and has started over the past day but more so today, is the attack on an energy infrastructure in other countries than Iran. We heard about the headline of Saudi around Khurais, an oil refinery. We heard about the Kuwaiti refinery once a few days ago -- 2-3 days ago at the beginning of the war with debris falling and then again, this morning. And we have had (INAUDIBLE). We have had Jabal Ali.

So the next level is how long basically the Strait of Hormuz will be effectively technically closed. And also if there will be a spillover of this attack of massive ballistic missiles and drones coming to the region and going into the energy infrastructure, refineries, fields, pipeline infrastructure are at risk.

ANDERSON: On the Strait of Hormuz tracking showing tanker queues are building inside the Persian Gulf.

What is your estimate of the level of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz right now?

NASSERI: Yeah. Right now I checked again. We looked at some tanker tracker services and live, it shows like it did last time and again today, one or two vessels mostly attributed to Iran or China around the passage that has been -- basically being announced to be blocked. Inside there is a significant amount of traffic -- of vessels hanging out. We think there is more of a flow of that -- a small portion eastbound and basically out of the Strait of Hormuz than any vessel at the moment coming through inside the Strait of Hormuz.

I think that remains to be closed as long as there is a threat and there is these missiles and drones coming to the region. I don't think any shipping company, or any insurance company, or any oil and gas trading company will take the risk of sending vessels through.

However, as I said, there are -- there seems to be a few vessels going out eastbound and mostly attributed to either Iran or China, which one could assume that are basically have the indemnity of Iranians being linked to Iranian oil trade itself.

ANDERSON: At what point could this conflict upend the global oil market and roil the entire global economy?

[05:40:00]

NASSERI: See, people expected an action by now from IEA to release inventories. Again, we have had at least two days of oil supply stopping. That's 40 million barrels of oil that would have been enroute to destinations.

A few more days could potentially be handled and basically offset by inventory draws in the import terminals and also faster speeding if we assume in a few days the flow will resume. However, again, the market is expecting to see some sort of emergency release of stocks from the OECD countries. Some of the countries have started to set some policies against exports, such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, or draw from inventories.

But that's one action that the market will expect to come to help to calm the market down. Although again, the market has not really yet priced in any significant damage to supply beyond what we have seen so far.

And the second is OPEC. OPEC+ decided to unwind only 200 KBD-206 KBD, which is insignificant and basically not showing the level of concern or worry from the OPEC member countries in terms of markets being undersupplied. If we see the suppliers and the consumers in terms of OPEC and OECD feel that the pressure is building on their end and the prices reflect that pressure, we believe both sides can potentially bring new supply and offset this.

In my opinion, oil has the easiest kind of cure and solution to this current problem. Gas and LNG perhaps is not as easily replaceable if the situation prolongs.

And also, we have other commodities, LPG and Naphtha -- each of them four million tons going to Asia. And our team in Asia are monitoring this and believe that if this situation stops every day, four million tons of LPG and Naphtha not going to petrochemical sectors in China, Japan, Korea. They will have to either shut in and start to bring their rates down because there is no alternative for those easily replaceable.

ANDERSON: Iman, your insight and analysis is extremely valuable at this hour. Iman Asseri, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

All right. Well, there is other news and we want to get you up to date on that. There's been a mass shooting in Texas and why authorities are investigating whether the suspect's motivation had anything to do with the war in Iran. More on that is after this.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:47:45]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Across the United States officials are now increasing law enforcement presence following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, most notably in New York and Los Angeles. Officials say there have been no credible threats so far. Local and federal agencies, however, are monitoring potential risks.

In the meantime, overseas, American officials are bracing for potential suicide attacks in addition to more retaliatory missile strikes. Sources say attackers could possibly use car bombs and they are warning Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Qatar are the most at risk.

Officials are also investigating now whether the U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran may have motivated a man to carry out a deadly mass shooting in Texas on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(Gunshots) (END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: At least two people were killed in that attack and more than a dozen injured. It happened in the early morning hours in Austin's entertainment district.

The 53-year-old suspect was killed by police during the shooting. Sources tell CNN he was wearing a shirt with the Iranian flag on it. During a press briefing, the FBI special agent in charge said there are indicators the suspect had a "potential nexus to terrorism." The suspect was originally from Senegal before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen.

People across the globe are taking to the streets in the wake of the strikes from the U.S. and Israel in launching this war with Iran, killing the country's supreme leader. Thousands of people in Yemen, Iraq, Seoul, and Toronto protesting the strikes. A number of them could be seen waving Iranian flags and carrying pictures of Tehran's late supreme leader.

In Pakistan, violence erupting on Sunday at a U.S. consulate in Karachi where 10 people were killed after protesters breached the facility's barriers.

Others coming out in support of the war and the actions taken, partially much of the far-flung Iranian diaspora. In Istanbul, Iranian exiles handing out sweets and flowers while joyfully chanting against Iran's Islamic regime.

In London, thousands marching through the streets waving American and Israeli flags. And in Rome, Iranian demonstrators coming together waving pre-revolution Iranian flags and dancing on effigies of the now deceased supreme leader.

[05:50:00]

Our coverage of the war with Iran continues. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi.

The Red Crescent Society says at least 555 people have been killed in Iran by joint U.S. and Israeli strikes. According to an Iranian lawmaker, at least nine hospitals have been seriously damaged.

Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command says that its strikes on Iran continue. President Donald Trump says he expects the war with Iran to last four to five weeks.

[05:55:00]

Iran's top national security official says his country will not negotiate with the United States, saying Donald Trump has "plunged the region into chaos with false hopes and misleading negotiations." And news just in to CNN. We've just heard from the French foreign minister who says France stands ready to defend Gulf nations and Jordan against drone and missile attacks. He said, "To the friendly countries who have been deliberately targeted by missiles and drones from Iran and drawn into a war they didn't choose, we stand ready to support you."

I'm Becky Anderson in our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi. Thank you for joining. CNN THIS MORNING continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL)