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Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes After Death Of Supreme Leader; Iranian President Says Revenge Is Country's "Right And Duty"; Saudis Authorize Retaliation Against Iranian Regime; Trump Says He Knows Who He Wants To Lead Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader Killed in U.S.- Israeli Strikes; Iranian President Says Revenge is Country's "Right and Duty"; Iran Launches Fresh Wave of Strikes; Pope Leo Calls for End to "Spiral of Violence". Aired 7-8a ET

Aired March 01, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:01:25]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington.

And we continue to follow 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 right here from the Israel Defense Forces shows them conducting large-scale strikes on what they say is the Iranian regime's headquarters.

In an exclusive interview, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister tells CNN Fred -- tells CNN's Fred Pleitgen that peace talks were reaching a breakthrough before the coordinated Israeli-U.S. attacks killed Iran's Supreme Leader on Saturday morning. President Trump fired back at escalating threats from Iran, saying in a Truth Social post, "Iran just stated they're going to hit very hard today, harder than they have before. They better not do that because, 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 across the Persian Gulf. Israel's defense minister says Iran's supreme leader was killed in the opening blow of the military operations against Iran Saturday.

And the scenes in the streets of Iran show a stark contrast in reactions from the Iranians. In this video, you see many coming out to celebrate the supreme leader's death. And in this other video, well, you 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, as you see right here, waving Iranian regime flags and raising their fists while chanting death to America. But an Iranian expert we spoke to this morning says there are many more dissidents in the country than those who are mourning the death of the supreme leader.

Well, we've got team coverage of the ongoing strikes and fallout. Paula Hancocks is standing by. First, I want to get to Nick Paton Walsh in Tel Aviv because you have some new reporting there about Saudi Arabia, right, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sorry, forgive me. I just want to tell you now at this point, Pamela, we've been hearing in the past minutes quite a lot of interceptions and explosions in the distance over here in Tel Aviv with some Israeli emergency services suggesting that there may have been some kind of consequence for that to which they have indeed had to respond.

Some of the more intense barrages that people have been reported seeing here in the past hours. And it adds to a wider picture, ultimately, of this continued retaliation by Iran. It's not entirely clear what has indeed been hit here. But over the last hour, we've seen the responses in the skyline over Tel Aviv more persistent than people have seen in the last 24 hours or so.

Adds to that as well the growing picture, Pamela, across the entirety of the Middle East here. An Iranian response that appears simply to be adding to the number of adversaries that it has in the region. Already facing the United States, whose president is saying that they shouldn't try and escalate in any way or they get hit like they've never been hit before.

And the Israelis who now say they have air superiority over much of Iran's skies. That is something which they claim to have in the 12-day war and did lead, frankly, Iran to a point where it wanted to see the conflict end as quickly as possible through negotiations. So questions, too, I think, at this point about who really is calling the shots in Iran.

They are, it seems, continuing with assaults on Bahrain, even Oman, the mediator in their most recent last-ditch talks over the nuclear question between the United States. Oman is reporting drones attacking one of its ports.

[07:05:09]

Explosions heard across the United Arab Emirates this morning and even Dubai's international airport once again hit. Is this essentially an Iranian script written by its now deceased leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, in the event of him dying to wreak devastation across the region? Or is there simply a power vacuum enabling this, I think it's fair to say, strategic misstep to be taken by Tehran?

Startling to see what was originally a closed conflict to some degree between the U.S., Israel and Iran now spiraling to potentially draw in the militaries of other regions -- other countries.

BROWN: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for bringing us the latest there from Tel Aviv.

And I want to go back to that breaking news just in to CNN about Saudi Arabia. It says that it is prepared to respond if Iran continues its retaliatory attacks.

CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us now. What have you learned, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this is a really new and big step by the crown prince here to authorize the possibility of Saudi response if Iran attacks Saudi Arabia again. He called their attacks yesterday and in the early hours of today cowardly. He said that these attacks by Iran were cowardly because Iran knew, the crown prince said, Iran knew that Saudi airspace was not being used to attack Iran. And this has incensed him.

There have been attacks around the capital here that have been intercepted. There was an attack near a military airfield in the north of the country. There have been attacks further east, much closer to the Persian Gulf, much closer to Iran.

They've been repelled so far. But the crown prince has said that because of Iran's actions, he is putting the country, Saudi Arabia's security first, the safety of its territory, the safety of its citizens, the safety of its residents. He's putting those things first.

And for that reason, he says, he is authorizing the right and the military here to respond if they are attacked by Iran. And also we heard from the foreign ministry here on their Twitter feed last night that the crown prince had a telephone conversation with President Trump. And in that conversation, the crown prince had full support from President Trump.

This is how the Saudis were reporting it, full support from President Trump for how they should respond. And this is yet another example of how Iran has turned these Gulf States here, these very powerful, militarily strong Gulf States, from being bystanders in Israel and the United States attacks on Iran into now potential participants.

It ratchets up the fluidity of the situation here, the dynamic of what is happening. People here in Saudi Arabia are concerned about what happens next, but not as worried and not as under as much threat as some of the Gulf neighbors that are closer to Iran. And the crown prince has spoken with them and promised those countries like Qatar, like Bahrain, like the United Arab Emirates of support as they go through. All these countries go through this together.

BROWN: Wow. All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there.

And strikes are landing in countries that host U.S. forces. You just heard Nic touch on that, even reaching a major port in Dubai, one of the region's busiest hubs. Inside Dubai International Airport, passengers sprinted through smoke-filled corridors after what officials say was an Iranian strike that injured several workers. Abu Dhabi's airport was also hit, leaving one person dead and several others hurt.

For how Gulf States are reacting, let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks in Dubai. Paula, bring us the latest on that front.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, we have heard in Abu Dhabi just in the last 10 minutes or so further blasts potentially of interceptions of those incoming Iranian missiles and drones here in Dubai as well. In the last half hour, there have been a number of blasts as well.

This is showing that there is no let up at this point in the Iranian retaliation. It is what we had heard from Iranian officials, that this revenge would be significant. And certainly, these Gulf nations and the UAE is feeling that at this point.

Now, we did see -- you mentioned the commercial port of Jebel Ali. Earlier this morning, there was an interception, the debris of which hit that port. We are still seeing thick black smoke in -- on the horizon from that port area.

[07:10:06]

We know that two people have been injured here in Dubai as fragments of intercepted missiles fell into the courtyards of two homes. We also know that one person was killed in Abu Dhabi by falling debris. A woman and a child today as well were slightly injured by falling debris. And that is the key at this point.

Officials are saying shelter in place, stay inside, stay away from windows. As they know that they are saying, they are able to intercept these missiles. But the danger is from what falls after that interception takes place.

Now, we know that hundreds of missiles and drones have been intercepted just in the UAE alone. That's according to the Ministry of Defense here.

And adding to what Nic has been saying in Saudi, the feeling is mutual here in the UAE. There is intense anger that they have been brought into this conflict, especially as a number of these Gulf nations have said that their bases could not be used for any U.S. attack, that their airspace could not be used. They thought they had distanced themselves from this attack, but clearly they have been pulled into it by Iran. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Paula Hancocks, thank you so much.

And the big question is, what happens next in Iran as these strikes continue? And what is the current threat to the United States? We're going to talk about that up next.

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[07:15:55]

BROWN: We are tracking breaking news out of the Middle East. The Israeli Air Force is carrying out a new wave of strikes in Tehran this morning. Explosions are being reported throughout the Iranian capital. Iran is vowing revenge after confirming their supreme leader was killed in Saturday's attack. Those strikes hit targets across the Islamic Republic. And Iran says one of them killed at least 118 girls at an elementary school that was right near a military base. The Israeli military said it is checking those reports.

So Iran is retaliating like never before, striking U.S. military bases, Israel, and targets across the region, disrupting oil shipments and damaging air hubs.

Joining us now to discuss is CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier and CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton. Cedric, I want to go to you first on this news we got from Nic Robertson, that Saudi Arabia is now authorized to get involved in this conflict. I mean, things seem to really be escalating here. What are your thoughts?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's absolutely right, Pamela. And good morning to you again. There is, you know, a real relationship here that is very intricate, a, you know, between the Saudis on the one hand and the other countries that they're dealing with, and especially Iran. You know, sometimes you have the Iranians and the Saudis reach a rapprochement.

That rapprochement is definitely over at this particular point in time. There are reports that MBS, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, had actually secretly agreed to let this operation go forward without using Saudi airspace. But even without using Saudi airspace, Iran is still getting the Saudis involved, attacking Saudi facilities, attacking Gulf state facilities of countries like Qatar and Bahrain and the UAE.

BROWN: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And that is something that is really angering the Saudis and their Gulf Cooperation Council partners, which those other countries are part of. So this is definitely a point in which things are escalating, and it is very clear that the Saudis are not happy with what Iran is doing.

BROWN: Kim, help us understand why Iran is attacking the Gulf States? Because one might think doing that would further isolate themselves and it could backfire. I mean, it's going beyond just the military bases in those countries.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, this was something that Gulf leaders had warned of in the run-up to any potential military action. They have a number of U.S. targets in them, both the U.S. bases, but also U.S. commercial interests. And the fact of the matter is that Gulf countries have tried to walk this narrow line of being Iran's ally, or at least a partner to Iran on one side, and trading with them, and also allowing these very large U.S. military bases to operate in their territory. So they always knew they were going to be in the firing line.

One of the other things that's happened because of this ongoing warfare and targeting of some of the ports is that container ships and oil tankers have basically dropped anchor and there are hundreds frozen at various points along the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, waiting for some of this to die down.

If one of those would somehow get struck by collateral fire, that's -- it's dangerous environmentally. It's also -- it eventually going to affect global oil prices. Now, we've heard that oil producers are going to increase the amount of oil on the market for a short period of time in response to the warfare, but soon Americans and others could be feeling the results of this war in their pocketbook. Could take a few weeks, but this is not done yet in terms of the targets being struck.

[07:20:00]

BROWN: Colonel, regime change is no easy task, right? We've seen it historically. How likely is it that there will be a regime change that would be good for the United States?

LEIGHTON: I think it's extremely unlikely. I would say give it about at most a 30 percent chance that we would get a regime in Iran that would be more amenable to the United States. I mean, obviously, when you look at history, you know, almost 50 years ago, the Shah of Iran was a U.S. ally, the pre-revolutionary government of Iran.

But there were a lot of social problems in Iran that resulted in the Iranian revolution. And that revolution, you know, has certainly not achieved its goals for a lot of Iranians. So there may be some kind of a change there. But there is a big ideological cliff that we have to overcome in Iran.

There are a lot of people who support fundamental religion, religious fundamentalism. And that is something that is, you know, a very difficult thing, you know, from a social perspective to overcome. And also, quite frankly, from a geopolitical perspective, because we have to remember Iran is aligned with countries like Russia, China, North Korea.

And that is something that they might find difficult to wean away from, even if it's a different government. And most of the leadership will come from the current class of leaders. And that is something that we have to keep in mind.

BROWN: Right. Because, Kim, the President is calling on Iranians to take control of their country now to seize this opportunity. Obviously, nothing's really going to happen during a bombing campaign. And we just spoke to an Iranian expert in the last hour who said there's a lot more Iranians who are celebrating the death of the supreme leader than mourning it.

Of course, we can't forget about the massacre there in Iran back in January. So how likely is it that the Iranians are going to step in and somehow seize control in a way that the President wants?

DOZIER: Yes, Iran has a very deep bench in terms of the regime. The Ayatollah class is large and has a very well-established pattern of succession. So if you take off the top layer, there is somebody to step into their place. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of the -- basically the top layer of the Iranian forces, one of its specialties is to teach forces in other countries how to build from the ground up.

So they know how to do it. They've got highly trained, highly educated forces. And it's simply a matter of, you know, of promoting the next guy into the position.

We saw, you know, just even the Israelis trying to target Hamas leadership in Gaza. It took them years, and they're still the remnants because the leadership keeps producing and reproducing itself. Factor that by 100 in Iran.

BROWN: What is the risk to Americans right now, in your view, Colonel?

LEIGHTON: Well, I would say the risk is definitely higher than it was before we started this military operation. But, you know, we have to keep in mind that it will take a while for Iranian sleeper cells or any other group that was pro-Iran to mount a coordinated and sophisticated attack. Unsophisticated attacks could happen basically anywhere.

But they would be much more difficult to mount, especially given the heightened vigilance that the FBI has announced, you know, that we're in the terror threat level here. And European countries are doing similar things as well. But we have to be prepared and we have to be vigilant, no doubt about it.

BROWN: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, Kimberly Dozier, thank you both.

And the attacks in Iran put leaders on high alert. Now many lawmakers are calling for an immediate return to office to curb President Donald Trump's war powers. We have a Republican lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee weighing in, up next.

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[07:28:21]

BROWN: President Trump says he knows exactly who's in charge after the killing of the Ayatollah, but wouldn't say who. That's feeding the urgency on Capitol Hill, where some lawmakers from both parties want Congress called back immediately after this military operation in Iran without their approval. They're demanding a formal vote on the war.

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from West Palm Beach. Alayna, what are we hearing from the President?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, to the question of Capitol Hill, Pamela, I know that the White House is working closely with Congress and congressional leaders to try and set up full Senate and House member briefings for this week, and hopefully that will answer some of these questions.

But I do think today, as we look at day two after these operations, really, there's so many questions left of what comes next here. And that's really what I think the White House is also grappling with. I know we saw the President say this yesterday, but the reporting that my colleague Zach Cohen and I have is that the U.S. military is planning for several days of attacks.

And so what we've seen this weekend is not going to be the end of this. They are expecting this to be carried out for at least a week. We saw the President post about that in a Truth Social post yesterday, essentially saying that the heavy and pinpoint bombing will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or for however long is necessary to achieve our objective.

But I think one of the key questions that I have as we're looking ahead to really what comes -- what's next after this, particularly after, you know, the successful operation to take out Iran's supreme leader, is who is going to fill that leadership vacuum. And I know from my conversations with people at the White House, they are also trying to figure that question out.

We know -- of course, we heard the President say this yesterday in that video address overnight, that they are asking the Iranian people in part to come up and try to fight back against the regime.

But I did take away one of the key things I saw. The president did a number of interviews with different media outlets yesterday, and one of the things he was asked was specifically about what comes next with regime change. And this was an answer he gave to one of those outlets. He said, at some point they'll be calling me to ask who I like.

Now, it's not clear at all what he is referring to there regarding, you know, who he would like to run Iran. But it is a question that we've even heard the Secretary of State Marco Rubio kind of bring up in recent days, that if they were to strike and if they were to take out Iran's supreme leader, there are a lot of questions about the United States role in regime change and trying to fill that leadership vacuum. So, that's a huge question as well.

Another big thing I know that the White House is working on is how they're going to sell this to the American people. Because a lot of Republicans, Pam Watts, not just Democrats, a lot of Republicans have been very wary of U.S. intervention in another foreign war. This is something that the President Trump himself had talked about a lot on the campaign trail, saying that he would not do that.

And so, there's a lot of questions as how they are going to be selling this, and how long the U.S. involvement in the region is going to be following all these strikes. So, a lot of questions that hopefully we will get at least some answers to with those briefings later this week.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. And joining us now is Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida. She sits on the House Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees. She's also an Air Force veteran. Representative, thank you so much for being here with us. I want to start with these new threats from one of the most powerful figures in Iran this morning, the country's secretary of the supreme national security council saying, quote, Americans have stabbed the Iranian people in the heart, and we will stab them in their heart. When you hear that vow of retaliation, what is your assessment of the risk to Americans right now?

REP. ANNA PAULINA LUNA (R-FL), MEMBER, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AND MEMBER, OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: Look, I think in any form of conflict, there's going to be a risk. But I want to be very clear that Iran has been responsible for killing thousands of Americans over the last 40 years. As a result of what the president decided to do, while operating within his Article 2 authorities.

You know, I don't know if many people know this, but they already tried to assassinate the president. They've already killed Americans. And they're specifically in the southern belt region of Iran, their missile program was a direct threat to our service members. And as you are seeing, they are now actively engaging, seeking to not just hit the United States, but their neighboring countries, over nine of them, as a result of this. And so, I mean, they're obviously going to be hitting back.

But let's be clear, we were trying to negotiate. They were stubborn, they were completely arrogant, they would not agree to eliminating their nuclear enrichment program, even though we offered to give them a permanent supply of nuclear fuel for energy. And so, this is a result of their poor leadership. I think at any point, as Secretary Rubin stated yesterday, the United States is willing to continue those negotiations, but that would be up to them.

BROWN: And as you know, President Trump months ago said that Iran's nuclear sites have been obliterated. You mentioned the Article 2 powers. I mean, that would be something for the president to repel an imminent attack on the United States, right. And a lot of members of Congress say that the president should have been consulting with them, should have gone through Congress before launching an attack on Iran like this, pulling America into war. What do you say to that? Do you think there should have been congressional authorization?

LUNA: Look, President Trump has been very consistent on Iran never having a nuclear program. And that's actually something that Congress agreed to in a bipartisan fashion. And so, he is operating with his authorities. But I want to be very clear, the objective and the whole perspective of not just the President, but the White House is not a large-scale war conflict.

It is targeted military action and strikes, specifically because Iran was refusing to even come to the table on a nuclear agreement in regards to not enriching. And also, to there were actual missiles posing a direct threat. They're producing 100 a day directed at our service members. And there was intelligence to prove that they were they were intentionally undermining the negotiations that were taking place between both Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

And so, I know for a fact, just like it happened in the Venezuela strike that we will be getting a briefing next week. I have also been in open communications with the White House. And again, I want to assure the American people that it is not the intention for this to be a long-term thing. But ultimately, at the end of the day, remember, Iran did try to assassinate our president. I don't think many people are understanding that.

BROWN: No, that is true that there were some foiled assassination plots by the Iranians to assassinate the president. But you know, just going back to the why behind this and the objective.

[07:35:00]

I know you talked to the White House, but can you help us better understand how you explain this to your constituents about why this is good for the everyday American? And how can you guarantee or how can the White House guarantee it's not going to become a larger regional conflict? We're already seeing many of the gold states being attacked. We're Saudi Arabia has now been authorized to retaliate. I mean, couldn't it end up like what the White House says it doesn't want?

LUNA: Well, what you're seeing take place right now with the strikes on its Gulf neighbors is again, as a result of that Nasser plan that the Iranian regime had actually given to its field officers in the event that there was military action taken against them. Obviously, you know, again, the according to Secretary Rubio, the door remains open for negotiations on eliminating that nuclear enrichment program.

But to be clear, Iran over the last 40 something years has killed thousands of Americans, and they were only going to continue to do so. In actually the action taken by the president, what's happening is you are seeing also to the removal of the powers at will that were actually responsible for destabilizing the entire region that would result in no matter what, I think the United States being drawn into a long form conflict of which we are trying to avoid.

And so, what I will continue to tell the American people is right now there was intelligence to show that there was imminent threat to our U.S. service members. That is why the decision was made to engage. And ultimately why you saw they're almost what we would consider their National Security Council neutralized in yesterday's strikes.

And so, we will continue to provide updates for the American people. I know that I will be directly just telling you the information that we are getting. But again, President Trump is operating within his Article 2 authorities, and it is not the goal and objective for a long scale war. It is not the goal and objective of the United States to play kingmaker in regards to who the Iranian people choose to follow and to lead out next with.

BROWN: And again, as you know, several Republicans are saying that he has gone beyond his Article 2 authorities. You argue that he's acting within them. But during his campaign, President Trump repeatedly framed himself as the anti-war and anti-foreign conflicts president, even saying that former President Biden was the one leading the U.S. into war with Iran. I want to take a listen to this moment from an October 2024 rally. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So, now war or threat of war is raging everywhere in the two incompetent people running our country or what. I don't actually think they're even running it are leading us to the brink of World War 3. A war like no other. This is what the policies of weakness and appeasement of brought to the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And I know you have branded yourself as an America first politician. Yes or no, has Trump turned against his foreign policy promises that helped get him elected?

LUNA: No. In fact, I would say that as a result of his policies and peace through strength, he's accomplished eight peace deals. I do think that this will result in something that will benefit the entire region. And you are seeing that members of his great Peace Board that he stood up recently are now all backing him in these efforts. President Trump has been able and probably the only president to establish great relationships with the United States and other Gulf Kingdom nations, except for Iran. Had Iran actually come to the table in the agreement that Congress agreed to and not having a nuclear enrichment program, things would be different.

But the fact is, is that conversations with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and the regime did not go as planned. It was not so good. They were arrogant. They were stubborn. And we cannot allow them to have a nuclear weapon. As you are seeing, they are not people that you can negotiate with. They have been operating a terrorist regime that has been responsible for killing thousands upon thousands of Americans, not to mention their own people. And so, we will continue to make actions to protect the American people. But I will continue to provide updates as necessary.

BROWN: But just so quickly follow up. I mean, do you think the White House has clearly sold this to the American people to sold this to your constituents? I mean, just during this conversation, it's been brought up that there were foiled assassination attempts against Trump. It's been brought up that the Iran nuclear program that Trump had previously said was obliterated. You brought up threats to American service members overseas. Like, which is it? What is the actual objective here?

LUNA: Well, the objective specifically is to eliminate the ballistic missiles program to eliminate the nuclear enrichment that was taking place and come to an agreement and then also to, I think, to eliminate the Iranian Navy. And so, those would be the three immediate objections of the White House. But, you know, in everything that you stated, also, those are all true.

And what I'm doing is I am telling my constituents I'm trying to do as much media as I can to get the message out to my constituents specifically. And I think as of right now, because of how fast this is all moving, you know, the first 100 hours of war are the most important. You know, we're -- you know, our 24 in. And so, as continue things continue to evolve, which, you know, as you just stated earlier, Saudi government may be jumping in. Obviously, these things will change.

[07:40:00]

And so, we will be providing updates as necessary. But I think the president's team, I want to assure the American people that based on the information that I'm receiving and what I can share in a not classified setting, this is well thought out. It's not just being done willy-nilly. It is a well thought out plan.

BROWN: Just quickly, as I as I try to understand this, if it is about the nuclear program and again, Trump had said it was obliterated, but that they're reworking to try to get it going again. Can you concede there was not an imminent threat from Iran to the United States then if this is just about the nuclear program?

LUNA: Well, it's not just about that nuclear program. That -- it's two part, right? Remember, I stated earlier that they had missiles in their southern belt region that they were working on about 100 a day that were aimed at in a direct threat to our service members. In addition to that, you had the failure and refusal of them to negotiate and come to terms on their nuclear enrichment, what they're going to be doing with that. And so, I do believe that the administration was making every effort to again have a peaceful solution to this.

But when you have individuals that are not wanting to negotiate, even going as far as turning down a permanent supply of again, nuclear fuel, if you will, for energy for their own people in an agreement to not have that enrichment program. I think that what you're seeing is that they never wanted to come to terms on the negotiation. They wanted business as usual.

And it is a fact now, as you're seeing with the response that they are willing to continue to harm Americans. They have killed thousands of Americans over the last 40 something years. That was not going to stop anytime soon. Not to mention, they have been responsible for state funded terrorism organizations in the area, the terrorist comms, to include potentially terrorist, terrorist comm networks within our own country have been responsible for again, many Americans dying.

And so, we are going to eliminate that threat. We will continue to do whatever we can to again, open up the doors to that negotiation. And that's what you saw Secretary Rubio state yesterday, that at any point new leadership in Iran can talk to contact the U.S. government.

BROWN: All right. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, thank you so much.

LUNA: Thank you.

BROWN: We're following more breaking news. We're learning of a strike on a residential building in Israel. Those details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00] BROWN: We're following breaking news. Israeli security forces and rescue teams are responding to a small town hit during an Iranian rocket missile attack. According to Israeli officials, nearly 20 people were injured, including two critically, when an Iranian missile hit a residential building near Jerusalem. Two more were seriously injured, including a 10-year-old girl. And this appears to be one of the few direct impacts on Israel, despite waves of Iranian retaliatory attacks.

Pope Leo is expressing, quote, "deep concern" about the widening conflict in the Middle East and calling for an end to what he called the spiral of violence. The comments come as we're learning of a new wave of attacks from Israel on the Iranian regime.

So, let's discuss all of these developments with Nazee Moinian. She is an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute. Thank you for coming on. So, I just spoke with Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who is a Republican, a Trump ally, and she told me that, according to her conversations with the White House, it's not their intention for this conflict to be a long-term war. But given what's happening now and the countries already involved, do you see that being realistic, Nazee?

NAZEE MOINIAN, ASSOCIATE FELLOW, THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Well, thank you, Pamela, for having me. It's great to be part of this conversation.

I don't think any policy leader wants to drag its country into a long- term war. I think the objectives have always been to be able to conclude a kinetic war in the fastest way possible. But, you know, this is not a war between two countries, this is a war now expanded to eight countries, as you said so yourself. The region is responding, or maybe is responding soon. So, it can escalate.

If I were the Iranian regime, not only I wouldn't have invaded, attacked the countries in the region, I would not do any escalatory reactions to the ongoing Operation Epic Fury. It's an overmatch of firepower. Iranians are not capable of handling two superpowers' military prowess. And add to that Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, they all have their military bases that they can launch strikes from. And this is not good news for the Iranian regime.

BROWN: What, in your view, is the threat to Americans right now?

MOINIAN: You know, this is a delicate subject. And I can tell you that America, being the torchbearer of democracy and freedom around the world, has its own set of enemies. It's always been the target of attacks by rogue actors, by countries who don't see eye-to-eye with the American system. But I do want to argue that the threat to America is diminished greatly now by attacking Iran.

[07:50:00]

Listen, Pamela, I have read every word that has come out of the leader of the Islamic Revolution's mouth, Ayatollah Khomeini, who died in 1989. It's scary. His doctrine was to eliminate the Western civilization, to attack Israel, to annihilate Israel, to drive away Jews from their land, to roll back the Western civilization, to replace the Western civilization with an Islamic caliphate. I consider that a threat More than what's happening now.

BROWN: The other experts we've spoken to, Nazee, have said that even though they took out the supreme leader, that there are other hardliners who could fill the vacuum, that they are prepared for a scenario such as this. So, what is the likelihood that there could be a regime change that would be good for the United States?

MOINIAN: I can't speak to that. It's the fog of war right now. Everything is very uncertain. The certainty is that one of the longest running dictators in modern era has been killed. He is no longer able to direct policies that hurt the American servicemen in the region, that attack Israel, that come to our doorsteps here in America and infiltrate our think tanks, our universities, and try to assassinate the president.

So, I am cautiously optimistic that the leadership that comes after this regime in Iran will be oriented towards democracy. We're not trying to make Iran into Switzerland. We're just trying to create the kind of political and social space for Iranian people to be able to be part of the International Community and benefit the Western civilization instead of fighting with it.

BROWN: And the remaining question is, can the Iranian people do this? Can they take control of the country in the way that President Trump is calling for? It remains to be seen. Nazee, thank you so much for your time.

MOINIAN: Thank you very much for having me.

BROWN: And mixed reactions to joint strikes on Iran and the ayatollah's death in the last 24 hours across the world. And in Iran, some protests have turned deadly. And we're tracking the latest developments next.

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BROWN: Iran has formed a leadership council in the aftermath of the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CNN's Fred Pleitgen talked with the Iranian deputy minister in an exclusive interview on how the country plans to respond to attacks led by the U.S. and Israel. Fred?

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Pamela. And as you can imagine, within that apparatus of the Islamic Republic of Iran, of course, there's a lot of anger at the fact that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was taken out by the United States and Israel. And they're, of course, also called for revenge as well.

And you're right, I was able to speak to the deputy foreign minister who squarely put the blame on President Trump. And I asked him, what about President Trump's words that if the Iranians do hit the U.S. or its interests hard, that the U.S. would then respond with overwhelming force? Here's what he had to say.

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SAEED KHATIBZADEH, IRANIAN 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. And you know that, you know, you can ask those who were in the meeting in Geneva. You can ask Omani foreign minister, Mr. Grossi. That was a breakthrough meeting of Kushner with Witkoff, and those people who were in the meeting. The terms and conditions of the agreements was there to the extent that we decided to meet on Monday.

PLEITGEN: One of the things that we're seeing is that your forces are hitting a lot of targets in Gulf countries. Now, I know that the Gulf countries were involved in trying to prevent this war. Why are you doing that?

KHATIBZADEH: We are not attacking any neighbors that we do have. We did our best to make an approach with them. They know that. We communicated with them either to shut down those American bases that are constantly threatening Iran and are constantly using to offend on Iran, or they have no option just to push back. We cannot reach out to American soil. So, we have no option just to attack any bases which is under U.S. jurisdiction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Saeed Khatibzadeh, the deputy foreign minister of Iran, speaking to me earlier today, obviously saying that Iran's counter- strikes are going to continue. And of course, that's one of the things that we've been reporting about all morning is a lot of those Gulf states now really feeling the wrath of the Iranians with some of those drones and some of those missiles continuing to rain down on those countries, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Fred Pleitgen, and thank you so much for bringing us that interview. And thank you all for joining us this morning. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. A special edition of State of the Union is next.

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