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Israel Targets "Heart Of Tehran" In New Wave Of Strikes; Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes After Death Of Supreme Leader; Trump Threatens Strong Force If Iran Continues To Retaliate. Iran's Supreme Leader Killed In U.S.-Israeli Strikes; Officials: Falling Shrapnel Caused Explosion In Doha; Trump Threatens Strong Force If Iran Continues To Retaliate; Protesters Killed After Storming U.S. Consulate In Karachi Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 01, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:37]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, and we are following the breaking news across the Middle East at this hour.

We begin with reports of Israel launching a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital of Tehran. Video from the Israeli Defense Forces shows them conducting large scale strikes on what they say is the Iranian regime's headquarters. And this comes as what is left of the Iranian leadership that it continues to escalate threats against the U.S. and Israel in response to the strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader Saturday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI LARIJANI, SECRETARY OF IRAN'S SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (through translator): 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)

BROWN: President Trump reacted to Iran's heightened threat in a Truth Social post saying, Iran just stated they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have before. They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before.

Iran's new wave of attacks reached across the Middle East. CNN teams heard explosions in several capitals and major cities, including in Israel, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Iraq. Israel's defense minister says Iran's supreme leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening blow of the military operations against Iran on Saturday.

The scenes in the streets of Tehran, as you see it right here, well, it shows a stark contrast in reactions from Iranians, with some coming out to celebrate the supreme leader's death. But in this video, you can see the other side. Thousands of pro-regime demonstrators packing public squares and mosques to mourn the loss of their leader. The crowd could be seen waving Iranian regime flags and raising their fists while chanting, death to America.

We've got team coverage of the ongoing strikes and fallout. Paula Hancocks and Alayna Treene are standing by. But first I want to go to Nick Paton Walsh in Tel Aviv, bringing us the latest there.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just in the minutes before you and I began talking, we saw a sort of smoke trail behind me here, a flash on the horizon. And then, significantly to the north here, during a siren alert, the rumble of what sounded like possible interceptions, possibly other explosions as well, suggesting perhaps one of the more intense barrages that they've seen here over the past day or so.

That adds to Israel's statement today that they now have stand in capabilities, expanded air superiority essentially over Iran and Tehran. That is essentially a claim that Iran's air defenses have been neutralized and they can now strike targets at will. A point they got to relatively quickly to during the 12-day war of last year as well hitting it seems in the last hours the main military headquarters of Iran's forces.

So, continued moves by Israel and continued it seems freedom for them to operate in Iran. At the same time, though, Iran not diminished in the retaliation. It's trying to mete out, not just here in Israel like I just described, but more broadly across the region. It is quite remarkable how Tehran has chosen this moment to broaden the number of adversaries it has regionally, remarkably two.

We're hearing of a drone making a bid to hit one Oman's key ports. That's important because Oman was the mediator between the United States and Iran trying to promote success during the nuclear talks, which faltered ahead of these strikes, and suggestions of more explosions near Dubai's massive international airport. Doha hearing blasts as well. Really a region waking up to yet another day of intense Iranian retaliation.

The question, I think, many potentially asking is who is indeed ordering this broadening of strikes across the region here? We are seeing too, of course, Iran moving fast to try and fill the gaps in its key top hierarchy. A temporary council now appointed that contains the comparatively moderate Iranian president Pezeshkian, and a couple of other individuals to try and fill the void ahead of potentially appointing another supreme leader.

[06:05:02]

And indeed Iran confirming that its defense minister and the head of its armed forces, like Israel said yesterday, have indeed been killed. So clearly a question as to exactly what comes out of the political vacuum in Tehran at the moment, whether there are standing orders that have been given to unleash this fast retaliation across the region against countries which Iran's neighbors, who publicly have been at least saying that the United States should not use the territory or attack Iran and give negotiations a chance.

So, a lot still moving very fast here as well. And clear signs here that Israel is -- the sirens we've been hearing throughout the morning still on exceptionally high alert but under attack at times.

BROWN: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much. And as Nick just pointed out, we're seeing the Middle East absorb a wave of Iranian retaliation. Strikes are hitting countries that host U.S. military bases and reaching a port in Dubai. It's one of the largest and busiest ports in the Middle East.

At Dubai International Airport, passengers rushed through smoke filled hallways after what officials say was an Iranian strike that injured several workers. Abu Dhabi's airport was also hit, killing one person and injuring others.

CNN teams also heard blasts in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Even Oman is now a target despite being the mediators. And now the ripple effects are reaching daily life. Kuwait has suspended all Ramadan Tarawih prayers at the country as this country reassesses security there.

For how Gulf states are reacting let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Dubai. So, Paula, bring us the latest. How are they reacting to this?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, we've really seen no letup in the retaliation from Iran to many of these Gulf nations. And the reaction from the governments is one of anger. These are Gulf nations who, for the most part, had said that their military bases could not be used if there were to be this U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. They have said that their airspace could not be used. They had also been lobbying the U.S. president behind the scenes and quite publicly, not to take the military route, but to continue with diplomacy.

So, countries here in the Gulf really felt like they had distanced themselves with what has happened over the past 24, 36 hours, but it doesn't appear to have made any difference. Iran still carrying out these retaliatory attacks, missiles and drones coming into these Gulf nations, nations which are very unaccustomed to being part of this kind of large, unprecedented military attack.

This here in Dubai, I mean, this is an international global hub. This is a global commerce hub. It is an area where tourists come. And certainly, it is very unprecedented to see people rushing to parking lots. There are no air raid shelters officially here, but trying to get away from the incoming missiles.

Now just in the UAE alone, they have said, and this is several hours ago so this number will be higher now, at least 137 missiles, 200 plus drones have been intercepted by the defense systems here. Now, we have been hearing from officials that they do have strong air defense systems, that they are able to intercept what is coming in from Iran. But as I say, there is across the Gulf nations being strong condemnation against Tehran that they have been targeted. Some also saying that they reserved the right to retaliate. When questioned, though, those officials do not enlarge on what they mean by that. We did hear one Emirati official saying they are not just going to sit by idly and watch this happen. But it is not clear at this point, apart from the defensive nature of what they are doing, what more they could do against these strikes, Pamela.

BROWN: Paula Hancocks, thank you so much. And meantime, congressional leaders are turning up the pressure because President Trump launched this major military operation in Iran without seeking congressional approval. House and Senate Democratic leaders, as well as some Republicans, are demanding that the GOP leaders bring back Congress into session immediately to hold a formal war vote.

Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement, quote, "Against the clear wishes of the American people, President Trump has thrust our nation into a major war with Iran, one he never made a case for, never saw congressional authority for, and for which he has no endgame."

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from West Palm Beach. What is the latest from President Trump there, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes look, to your question, Pamela, about what exactly is going on with these lawmakers, a lot of people are very angry about this particularly after what happened with Venezuela as well, with lawmakers not being alerted ahead of the Maduro capture.

[06:10:13]

Now, we do have reporting, I've talked to White House officials who said they are working closely with Congress to try and set up a full member Senate and House briefings at some point this week. We are expecting that to answer at least some of these questions.

But look, there are still so many things that are unclear at this point in time. I know that the president is still at his Mar-a-Lago estate, still monitoring everything that is happening. We did hear a bit more from him yesterday as these attacks continue. And I want to reference one of these posts because it referenced, you know, what is still next. And I think that is the key question that people actually have.

And he did lay out a bit of a timeline in a post when he was talking about the death of Iran's supreme leader, he called it. He said, this is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans. But then he went on to say that the heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary to achieve our objective of peace throughout the Middle East and indeed the world.

So that kind of gets to the reporting that my colleague Zach Cohen and I had yesterday, that the United States military, Pamela, is planning for several days of attacks. This is still just the beginning of what they expect to be a very much longer, sustained operation.

But I do think, as well to your question about, you know, where is the president today? There are major questions in my conversations with sources about what to do now that this operation, you know, particularly the one to take out Iran's supreme leader was successful. And really, what is regime change going to look like?

We did hear the president touch on that, of course, in his you know -- a video address overnight as the first strikes were happening. But he also -- I want to point out something he said in one of these interviews he has given with the media. He said at some point they'll be calling me to ask who I like. And that was referring to kind of next steps for the leadership of Iran.

And it's not exactly clear what he's talking about here. But this is actually a very big point, because now that we see this leadership vacuum in Iran, we have heard the White House say that they really are going to try and push and urge the Iranian people to be the ones to rise up and try to fight back against the regime.

But there are a lot of questions about the United States' role in this, and what exactly they are going to be doing to ensure that this operation is much -- a much longer, permanent thing that they think they can have in place rather than just the sustained strikes we saw over the weekend. So, a lot of more questions we still have, Pamela. We'll bring you the new reporting as we get it.

BROWN: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. I know how busy you've been and as the Middle East grapples with these strikes and Iran's retaliation, the big question, what comes next? We're going to get into that after a quick break stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:37]

BROWN: More now on CNN's breaking news coverage of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. The Israeli Air Force is carrying out a new wave of strikes in Tehran this morning. They're expected to continue throughout the week.

The Iranians confirmed their supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Saturday's attack. That attack hit targets across the Islamic Republic. One of them killed at least 118 girls at an elementary school right near a military base.

The retaliation we're seeing from Iran is unprecedented. They have already struck U.S. military bases, Israel, and targets across the region, damaging air hubs and disrupting oil shipments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRANIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER: If President Trump didn't want to see Iran hitting back and pushing back, President Trump should have not started this war from the beginning. It was a war of choice. But there was no necessity to start this aggression. That was act of aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I want to bring in retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton and CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas. Thank you both for coming on.

I want to start with you, Colonel. The Israelis are striking targets in Iran's capital this morning. The U.S. operation is also expected to continue. Do you think these two forces will be able to decimate all of the hardliners in the Iranian regime?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Pamela. That's a great question but the answer -- the short answer is no. This is a -- you have to remember, this is an ideology that permeates the entire society.

Now, that doesn't mean that that ideology and the people that represented aren't weakened. They certainly have been weakened. There's no question about it.

But what we're talking about is really what is in people's hearts and minds. And that is really hard to change especially if they have the belief system that they've had for, what, 47 years now, that's a really difficult thing to change.

And the strikes that Israel and the United States have launched against Iran have been very directed at leadership targets, you know, taking out the head of the armed forces of Iran, taking out just a few minutes ago the IDF reported they were taking out two fighter jets that -- old fighter jets, an F4 and an F5, that was about to take off from Tabriz Airport in Iran. And that, you know, really shows that this is a multiple targeting effort.

[06:20:00]

In other words, what we're doing is we're taking out the leadership but we're also taking out some of their instruments of power. And that's going to go a long way to neutralizing Iran but it is not going to completely eliminate the ideology behind this regime.

BROWN: Yes. It's interesting, Alex, because the president is calling on the Iranian people to sort of take control here and seize this moment, right? But what is the likelihood of that for those who do want a change in regime to be able to do anything? I mean, there's a blackout. They don't have the tools, the means.

How does -- how do you see this playing out? And what is your concern of more hardliners just filling this vacuum?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well that's precisely what's happening at the moment. I mean in the last few hours we've seen replacements of both religious and civilian leaders in Iran by those who are left after the strikes. And there was no consultation with President Trump or others. So, the U.S. was not involved in this process. So, the government doesn't appear anywhere near ready to capitulate at this point based on their actions. What's clear is we're seeing more targets being struck across the country, and they're not necessarily just missile factories or targets like that or intelligence driven targets of leadership but the Hajiabad (ph) headquarters was just targeted. That happens to be, you know, one of the localized security forces, and some of those that were quite, frankly, alleged to be responsible for the 32,000 civilians that were killed.

So, we're seeing an expansion to those targets. But once those infrastructure targets are exhausted, President Trump would expect at this point, based on his statement to a point you made, is that he'll come back out and say, OK, I told you to hunker down and wait. It's your opportunity to take over the country. What happens next?

Does that actually happen? Does it materialize? Do the people show up? Do they take on the remaining security forces? Do we start providing tactical air support to the protesters on the ground?

All of that is completely unclear at this point. So, for the next couple of days while these targets are exhausted the military picture and what we can achieve is clear. But then we enter a very, you know, gray area and it's unclear what's going to happen.

BROWN: And, Colonel, the president also said this will continue until peace is reached in the Middle East. How much is this depleting our stockpile of U.S. military assets?

LEIGHTON: Well, quite a bit actually. So it depends on exactly what types of assets were looking at here but generally speaking munitions are a key component of you know, our defense industrial base. And the fact is, you know, given the situation not only in the Middle East but also in Ukraine for the last few years, we really have not had an industrial base that's kept up with the demands of these contingencies.

And in this particular case, we've gotten into this conflict, a war with Iran. That is something that was not foreseen by the defense planners, and that is going to have an impact. It is something that we can overcome. And the defense department is making overtures to make sure that they can overcome that. But were not in a safe space yet. As far as our defense industrial base is concerned.

BROWN: And when it comes to regime change, Alex, how much can the U.S.. actually influence that process in Iran?

PLITSAS: Well, as we're seeing right now, I mean unprecedented level of strikes across the country. So in terms of like the process, the government at some point has to either, you know, tip or fall or get to a point where its willing to capitulate and negotiate with the U.S. And so far, you know, they haven't gotten there.

And where that tipping point is not clear. And we don't have exactly the best track record with this as an intelligence community in making the call when governments are going to fall. It's an extremely difficult task to try to figure out. So, at this point you know, it's not clear. Continued strikes are coming where the breaking point is. But unless the government is willing to enter those negotiations, you know, the U.S. is kind of stuck, sort of continuing to strike and to the point that was just, you know, the colonel made, you know, there's a lot of munitions being expended. How much longer this can go on? We expected up to four days of strikes in the initial operation, according to U.S. and Israeli sources. We'll see if it continues beyond that because so far the Iranians are not capitulating.

BROWN: Very quickly. Colonel, what is the risk to Americans? There have been foiled Iranian plots in the past. In America I believe in 2011, there was a foiled bombing plot on a restaurant in Washington, D.C. I mean, what is the possibility of a terror attack here?

LEIGHTON: Oh, it's certainly a possibility. And the FBI, of course, has raised the terror threat level. So, it is focusing on those things from a counterintelligence and law enforcement perspective. So this is something that we have to be concerned about as a possibility.

The Iranians have sleeper cells all over the world, including in the United States. And that is one of the things that they do is take a look and see if there are vulnerable targets. They may also go after us from a cyber perspective. Infrastructure is a critical target for the Iranians. we've seen them in our water supply systems, in the networks that govern those. So, that is something that we have to be concerned about as well.

BROWN: So the U.S., you know, has been engaged in other strikes against Iran.

[06:25:02]

We haven't seen those sleeper cells do anything here in the U.S. as far as I know. Do you think this could be the tipping point, though, Colonel?

LEIGHTON: It could potentially be, yes. And I think that, you know, when you look at how Iran has behaved in the past, I not only, you know the event in 2011 that you referred to, Pamela, but also what they've done in the Middle East and in other parts of the world. It is certainly a possibility.

We have to be vigilant. You know, it's one of those situations where you don't panic, but you take a look and see what the possibilities are. And, you know, the old adage, if you see something, say something in case it does happen.

BROWN: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, Alex Plitsas, thank you both so much. And Iran has launched a wave of retaliatory strikes against its Gulf state neighbors. We're seeing damage in the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar. We're going to take you live to Doha after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get you the very latest on the ongoing strikes happening across parts of the Middle East this morning.

Iranian state media has confirmed that Iran's Supreme Leader was killed in the strikes. They say several of his family members were also killed, along with Iran's defense minister and other key military leaders. A surviving Iranian leader vows to, quote, stab America in the heart as Iran launches a second day of retaliatory strikes.

Israel is responding with another round of strikes in Iran's capital of Tehran. In response to the initial attacks, there have been celebrations, as well as thousands of mourners who are mourning the death of Iran's Supreme Leader.

Doha was one of the cities Iran targeted as it launched retaliatory strikes this morning. Video right here, geolocated by CNN, shows smoke rising from an industrial complex there. Officials say it was caused by falling shrapnel from a missile intercept.

CNN's Bijan Hosseini is in Doha.

Bijan, much of Doha woke up to the sound of explosions this morning.

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (on-camera): Yes, Pamela, you're exactly right. We actually witnessed, we saw and heard those explosions, those missiles coming in this morning. It was a little over seven hours ago.

And as you mentioned, the debris and the shrapnel from one of those intercepts falling in the industrial area of Doha. It's an area on the outskirts of the city center. And we know from the ministry that civil defense were on the scene. They were trying to put out that fire. And we also know that there were no injuries reported in that incident.

And just speaking of these numbers, the ministry came out yesterday, what they said were 65 missiles that were fired from Iran, including 12 drone strikes. They say they successfully intercepted 63 of those missiles -- sorry, 64 of those missiles and 11 of those drones.

It's also worth noting that the U.S. embassy, within the last couple of hours, put out another alert asking Americans to remain vigilant. They said that Iran might seek to target U.S. military bases in the region. As you know, Al Udeid, the U.S.'s largest air base, is just 20 miles southwest of us. It usually houses some 10,000 military personnel. We believe a lot of those personnel have been evacuated, especially non-essential military personnel.

But here in Doha, things are quiet. Schools are closed until further notice. Airspace is still closed. And all events have postponed until further notice. Qatar and obviously its neighboring countries on high alert for another day of strikes, as Iran promises to intensify what they are carrying out from yesterday. BROWN: All right, Bijan Hosseini, thank you so much.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his G7 counterparts last night after those joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. And now there is uncertainty among America's regional allies about what happens next when it comes to diplomatic efforts.

For more on that, we go to CNN State Department reporter Jennifer Hansler.

I mean, is there any hope for diplomatic talks at this point, Jennifer?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER (on-camera): Well, Pam, I think everyone is incredibly skeptical that there is any sort of resumption, especially in the near term, of those diplomatic efforts, though it is notable that President Trump told CBS yesterday that he believes that diplomacy is easier now than it was a day ago because he says they have backed Iran into a corner. Nonetheless, there is no sign that Tehran is going to come back to the negotiating table, and there are very, very strong fears about how this could spiral out of control.

As you mentioned, Rubio spoke with his G7 counterparts last night. The Italian foreign minister posted on X after that meeting that they had discussed trying to avoid a widening of the conflict. This, of course, comes as Iran has retaliated on its strikes in basically every country in the region over the past 24 hours or so.

President Trump had a message to the Iranians yesterday afternoon and again just after midnight tonight. I want to read that more recent message to you guys. 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.

Now there is this very heightened rhetoric here, Pam. We heard from a top Iranian official who was involved in the negotiations, who is still in power there. He pointed out, quote out, excuse me, a post on X in English saying that we will hit them with a force that they have never experienced before.

So clearly hitting back at that Trump message there, Pam.

BROWN: All right, Jennifer Hansler, thank you so much.

So, let's discuss further these latest developments with Brett Bruen. He is a former diplomat and President of Global Situation Room.

[06:35:04]

Good morning to you, Brett. In your view, is the United States at war with Iran?

BRETT BRUEN, FMR DIPLOMAT: I think it is. I mean, we heard from President Trump in the early hours of Saturday morning that this was war. I mean, it is interesting, Pamela, because war would require the President to go and request Congressional approval, and he continues to skirt the lines, the law on this.

And so, it's worrying that we find ourselves in this situation without so much as Congress involved. And obviously, if this thing worsens, then you're going to see more congressional cries for oversight and for involvement.

BROWN: What is the threat to Americans right now?

BRUEN: It's quite real. You know, you talked in the last panel about how this could quite easily spread around, and it's important for Americans to understand that Iran is not Venezuela. Iran has a very well-established network of cells around the world that they have activated over decades. And, you know, on top of that, obviously, the likes of Hamas as well as Hezbollah have been badly decimated, but they are in the process of reconstituting that.

And now that the regime is on life support, they are going to feel that existential need to strike back, to inflict cost. We've already seen it with these missile attacks on an unprecedented scale across the Gulf. And I think, you know, we need to be vigilant. We need to ensure that not just U.S. military assets and interests, but quite frankly, civilian ones as well are taking appropriate precautions.

BROWN: So of course, you have U.S. soldiers overseas of his military bases, right, that are at risk. But what about those of us in the United States? I mean, you talk about sleeper cells.

I think there's a lot of worry of what could happen within the country right now. We know there have been foiled plots before from the Iranians within the United States.

BRUEN: There have, and we know that they have both that ambition as well as the groundwork laid. And, you know, it's the sort of thing, when you take out the regime's top leader, yes, it may have that caffeine high at the moment of we have now toppled this regime. But on the other hand, we have also injected a sense of urgency. We've injected the importance into that regime to take steps that perhaps were prepared, but were never deployed.

And so here in the United States, it is important for us to realize the sense of vulnerability. You know right now, obviously Iran is striking and, you know, they've even struck towards Cyprus, which is European territory. But I think they are going to widen that effort. And it is important here in the United States that we recognize that threat and that we're taking appropriate steps to protect ourselves.

BROWN: How do you see this ending?

BRUEN: Well, you know, Trump would like, as he suggested yesterday, you know, we can just go back to the negotiating table, essentially suggesting that Tehran will capitulate to the U.S. demands. I don't think it's quite that easy.

And what I worry about, Pamela, is his suggestions of, you know, people of Iran take power. What does that exactly look like? Because we've seen it go badly before. And the U.S. has not put in place the kind of preparations for a transition, for ensuring that what comes after the Mullahs and the Ayatollah isn't worse.

I mean, we've got Afghanistan on Iran's border. We have Iran and obviously the remnants of a lot of these extremist groups that Iran supported. I mean, those are very real possibilities and we certainly would not want them governing portions of, or the entirety of Iran.

BROWN: All right, Brett Bruen, thank you so much for coming on to share your perspective. We appreciate it.

BRUEN: Sure thing.

BROWN: And our coverage of the breaking news in the Middle East continues after this break.

Up next, we're going to dig into what's next for the leadership in Iran, as we were just talking about there with Brett.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:43:55]

BROWN: Iranian state media has confirmed that Iran's Supreme Leader was killed as well as several of his family members in the attacks. One of Iran's key surviving leaders is vowing to hit America back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI LARIJANI, SECRETARY, SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (through translation): The Americans have stopped the Iranian people in the heart and we will stop them in their heart. The reaction from our armed forces will be much stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm going to bring in Behnam Ben Taleblu. He is the Senior Director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. And he joins us now.

So, Ben the Iranian President says, revenge attacks are a legitimate right and duty for Iran. We're already seeing an escalation and attacks. What are you expecting in the hours and days ahead?

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SR. DIRECTOR OF IRAN PROGRAM, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Well great to be with you. In essence The Islamic Republic is going to be continuing its drone and missile war and in particular its drone and missile war not just against Israel and not just against U.S. bases. But as expected civilian and critical infrastructure in neighboring GCC countries, those are the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, you've seen luxury hotels hit, you've seen airports hit and lots of other civilian infrastructure like ports for example. [06:45:05]

The Islamic Republic's theory of the case here without its commander- in-chief is essentially to widen the war, to increase the cost, and to try to play to President Trump's instincts to avoid a longer protracted conflict. And that's why you're seeing a lot of this civilian targeting that's designed to cause fear and have that fear ultimately put out the fire or the war that they know they cannot win against America or Israel directly.

BROWN: But could that strategy of targeting Gulf countries backfire for Iran?

TALEBLU: Absolutely. And I think it already is. If you look at the interceptions, if you look at the press statements, if you look at the hedging closer to the pro-American and the pro-Israeli order in the region, I believe that strategy already is backfiring.

And it's highly dubious, in my view, that the Islamic Republic is going to be surviving this round of conflict or particularly remain the same kind of regime if it does, in which case it's going to have a heck of a lot of repairing to do of the diplomatic relations with neighboring countries across the Persian Gulf. But make no mistake, if they think that they will be spilling blood, that might actually be drawing America and Israel further into the conflict, rather than deterring them.

BROWN: Just to take a step back, the initial joint U.S.-Israel attacks killed the Supreme Leader in Iran, and those attacks are continuing. Is it clear to you what the overall objective is for these attacks and how it benefits America?

TALEBLU: Well, I certainly do think pushing for changing the regime would benefit America. This is not, again, foreign-imposed regime change. The Iranian people have been trying to do this for about a decade now, but they're unarmed and outgunned by a repressive theocracy.

This is the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism, pursuing the world's most dangerous weapons. Quite literally, they have a bounty on the sitting U.S. president's head. And we've seen them support terror attack after terror attack in the region, sucking the U.S. into the Middle East and actually draining us of the resources, time and political capital to deal with threats that are rising around the world, be it in the Western Hemisphere or East Asia.

So, I think there is a no way out but through here moment. The question is, will Donald Trump pursue a political victory? Will Prime Minister Netanyahu pursue a political victory or just stop short with a military victory? There's no doubt America and Israel can defang the regime of its long-range strike capabilities. But can they stabilize the situation and they can meaningfully hand it off over to the Iranian people before it becomes a failed state?

BROWN: Right. And when it comes to that regime change, Trump is calling on the Iranians themselves to take control of their country in this moment. But we're seeing mixed reactions on the streets of Tehran, those celebrating and those mourning, those who are yelling death to America. Walk us through both sides.

TALEBLU: So as much as the regime is quite keen to make a split screen here, I don't believe there's a real split screen to be had. Yes, in Naghsh-e Jahan Square, in Imam Khomeini Square, in the town of Isfahan, for example, you've had mourners. The regime is quite keen to play this up.

And it's quite keen to have Western media audiences forget that just under a month ago in Iran you had the biggest nationwide anti-regime protest in the 47-year history of the Islamic Republic. And more importantly, those were the most violently repressed. Between 30,000 to 40,000 killed.

And they want people to forget about the ties that are forming between Iranian dissidents and protesters and external opposition. They want people to forget about Iranians chanting President Trump's name, changing street signs to get --

BROWN: Yes.

TALEBLU: -- his attention, recording videos in English. So, they want there to be a split screen. But the reality on the ground is people were out dancing after Ali Khamenei, the longest-serving dictator in the Middle East, was killed.

BROWN: So what I hear you saying is there are a lot more dissidents than those who are mourning the loss of the leader, right?

TALEBLU: Precisely.

BROWN: Yes.

TALEBLU: Precisely.

BROWN: I think that's important. And again, you know, you talk about how the Iranians, they're unarmed. There was an internet blackout. I mean, what means do they have to take control of the country? Of course, right now, not a lot's going to happen because of the bombing campaign, right? But I mean, how do you see this playing out practically?

TALEBLU: Well, no one's going to come out in large numbers during the bombing. And here it's worth noting that if Israel and America's military strikes are going to be limited, already they're not, but hypothetically, if they're going to be limited and curtailed to the kind of military strikes that we saw during the Twelve-Day War, well, then the behavior of the Iranian population is going to replicate that behavior that we saw during the Twelve-Day War, which is, rather than go out and protest, they'll run and hide and then rally around -- not the flag, but rally around the country and just kind of hope things settle down.

That is not going to be, I think, the case here, because already you've had important political targets like the Supreme Leader, like the Secretary of the Defense Council, Ali Shamkhani, those folks taken out. And also these strikes come on the back end of, again, those biggest protests that we've had.

So America and Israel, if they actually do want to hand it over to the Iranian people, are going to have to drill down further in these strikes. They're going to have to quite literally tear apart regime command and control and go through level two, three, four of the regime's repressive apparatus, which includes the IRGC, the Basij paramilitary, the law enforcement forces, the special units as well as the vigilante groups.

[06:50:12]

Now that's a heavier lift for the President who is keen to have this be short, sharp and decisive rather than a protracted campaign.

BROWN: All right, Behnam Ben Taleblu, thank you so much for coming on. Really appreciate it.

TALEBLU: Thank you.

BROWN: Up next, we're following the violence from the anti-American protests worldwide including the rising death toll from protests right outside the U.S. Embassy in Karachi.

We'll be right back.

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BROWN: At least nine people have died and over two dozen others injured after protests erupted at the U.S. consulate in Karachi. Hundreds of protesters stormed the Pakistani port city's compound. The violent clashes are following the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from London with a look both inside Iran and global reaction.

[06:55:07]

So, Salma, what's happening on the ground in Iran right now?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): The first thing we need to remember is that internet services have basically 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 is a very divided picture of course. I want to take the city of Isfahan, the second largest city in Iran, as an example.

We saw these massive pro-government rallies in the streets, people mourning, crying for the Supreme Leader's death. You have to remember of course though that Iran is trying to orchestrate an image of strength because just hours earlier, social media video shows people honking their cars in the streets, celebrating, women waving their hijabs in celebration again, and that divided picture that we're seeing on the ground in Iran is of course reflected across the region You mentioned the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Karachi, where you see those protesters breach the initial security barrier and then bang on the consulates with sticks, very dramatic images, very similar to what we saw in the Green Zone in Baghdad, which is where the U.S. Embassy is located there as well. Flash bangs being used, security forces cracking down on protesters angry about the death of the Supreme Leader, but you're also seeing celebrations abroad as well, particularly among Iran's expat community. There's a strong expat community here in London, some of them were out celebrating this weekend after the announcement of the death, as well as in Los Angeles of course, in the United States, but then there's also some anger and some resentment in the U.S. as well. There was a demonstration in New York saying hands off Iran.

So as the memory of the Ayatollah is being debated and played out across the region and globally, you're seeing this very divided reaction, but very importantly this is a man who's going to be remembered in his final months for a brutal crackdown that killed thousands of Iranians.

BROWN: Yes, you can't forget that. All right, Salma, thank you so much.

And we're following this breaking news. Just into CNN, we're learning that the Saudis say that they have been authorized to strike back against Iran if there are more attacks.

Stay with us.

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