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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Sources: Iran Prefers To Engage With Vance Over Witkoff, Kushner; Gulf Nations Concerned About Regional Impact Of Conflict; Ghalibaf: No Negotiations Between Tehran And Washington. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: And the airport's surface detection equipment didn't generate an alert ahead of the collision. The collision killed the plane's pilot and co-pilot and injured dozens of people including a flight attendant who was thrown from the plane while still strapped to her seat. We will of course continue to bring you updates as this story develops.

[04:00:27]

Thank you all for watching NewsNight. Don't forget you can catch my show The Arena tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson live for you from our Middle East programming headquarters here in Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

We are nearly a month into the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and missiles were seen in the skies over Israel and the West Bank overnight. Sources tell CNN about a thousand U.S. soldiers are expecting to deploy to the region in the coming days. This as U.S. President Donald Trump is expressing optimism that a deal with Iran may be in sight.

He says Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading negotiations with Tehran. Tehran has yet to confirm the talks but an Iranian source tells CNN that it is willing to listen to, "Sustainable proposals to end this war." Meanwhile an Israeli official says a deal, "Does not appear tangible right now."

Let's start this out with CNN's Paula Hancocks who is monitoring developments from Dubai. Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the optimism when it comes to possible diplomacy at this point is very much coming from the U.S. President Donald Trump saying that he believes a deal can be done. Also saying that he is going to have his Vice President J.D. Vance and also the Secretary of State Marco Rubio leading those negotiations. Now we have heard from two regional sources telling CNN that Iran representatives don't want to speak to Jared Kushner the son-in-law and also Steve Witkoff the Middle East envoy, the special envoy for the Trump administration as they say there is a lack of trust given the fact that those were the two that they were negotiating with some 26 days ago when negotiations failed and this war started.

But what we're hearing from the Iranian side is a healthy dose of skepticism at this point wondering whether there can be a resolution with the U.S. We did hear an interview with India today by the spokesperson of the foreign ministry saying there is no trust.

I want to read you part of that. He said, "We have a very catastrophic experience with U.S. diplomacy. We were attacked twice within a span of nine months when we were in the middle of a negotiating process to resolve the nuclear issue. This was a betrayal of diplomacy and it happened not once but twice." Referring also to June of last year when negotiations were ongoing and Israel and the U.S. then started striking the nuclear program of Iran.

We have though heard from one Iranian official saying that there is outreach they're willing to hear sustainable proposals but it has to be not just a ceasefire proposal, it has to be a concrete agreement between the U.S. and Iran. There is skepticism on the Israeli side as well. But when it comes to the regional efforts, we know there is a lot going on behind the scenes.

Many diplomats from this region also in Egypt and Turkey and Pakistan all say that they are willing to get involved to try and bring this war to an end. But at the same time as we're hearing all this diplomatic activity we are also seeing that the attacks continue. There have been attacks overnight by Israel and the U.S. in Tehran.

We see from semi-official news agency, Fars, showing the rescue of a man that is trapped in the rubble as we always see. Civilians being caught up in this war at this point and the death toll is continuing to rise. We've also been seeing an increasing number of strikes against Israel and the West Bank.

At one point yesterday we saw there was about seven strikes, seven waves of projectiles in the space of some 10 hours. We know there have been injuries as some of those projectiles have either got through or debris from a successful interception has caused damage as well. So we are hearing increasing talk about diplomacy but at the same time that is changing nothing on the ground yet. Becky?

[04:05:04]

ANDERSON: Yes, Paula, thank you. Paula is in Dubai for you monitoring the region.

I want to keep the focus on this region where I am. Of course I'm in the UAE, in the Gulf. I've been speaking to sources across this Gulf region since the conflict began. And on Monday a regional official familiar with Saudi Arabia's position told me and I quote, "We can't have an aggressive neighbor but we also can't have a population in Iran that is destitute. At the end of the day we are neighbors and we want a peaceful neighborhood."

We were joined by chairman and founder of the Gulf Research Center, Abdulaziz Sager now from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. It's really good to have you on. Thank you so much. I trust you and your family are good. Abdulaziz, let's start with that reporting on Saudi's view. How degraded would Iran's ballistic missile program need to be at this point from the Saudi perspective?

ABDULAZIZ SAGER, CHAIRMAN & FOUNDER, GULF RESEARCH CENTER: Good morning, Becky. Thank you for having me today. But I think in Saudi Arabia the air defense capability have been quite capable of responding to all this sort of attack and drones, very minor, you know, injury is there. But still I think the readiness and the willingness to respond to all of that.

Despite of that, Saudi have maintained the same policy since day one, that they will not be involved directly in attacking inside Iran. They do appreciate the effort now on the negotiation. They look at it seriously. There have been a phone call last night between the Prime Minister of Pakistan with the Crown Prince. But again, Saudi and the rest of the Gulf country, they have a very specific interest in whatever agreement might be reached between the U.S. and Iran, which is basically keeping the freedom of the Strait of Hormuz.

ANDERSON: Yes.

SAGER: This is extremely crucial. And also to have the sort of guarantee that this will not be repeated in the future against any one of the Gulf countries. At the same time, they want to have the stop of this war, you know, between all the parties. They will also have, sorry.

ANDERSON: No, I just want to just impress upon our viewers that we have seen Saudi oil fields take hits as well as its capital to be honest, like Qatar and the UAE where I am. There is a feeling that the impact of this war, certainly, you know, the impact of this war is very clear. And there's certainly a feeling that, you know, people don't want this to continue. And there is some fear about, you know, what might happen after this sort of current phase ends.

What needs to happen do you believe in this window of diplomacy to Donald Trump has given Iran sort of five days here to satisfy Saudi that Iran does not pose a long term threat?

SAGER: Well, definitely, we need to have this structural guarantee that this will not happen again. You know, the first war was focusing on destroying the nuclear capability. This war, it was a bit confusing from day one what is the real objective. Is it changing regime? Is it surrendering the regime? Is it modifying the regime? Is it, you know, the long range missile? Is it the unfinished job in the nuclear?

However, now that we have passed all these days, I think it will be interesting if there is any agreement to ensure that the war stop, there is no, you know, retain from the Iranian side to all these things. Some of, you know, but knowing the Iranian at this stage, they will still insist in their demand, thinking that they have been, you know, surviving and the regime continued.

And that's for them, it's a big victory. But in reality, what happened inside Iran is totally different, because people now are suffering from the shortage of services, high inflation, rate of exchange, a lot of economic impacts. And I think if there is any changes inside Iran, or an uprise, normally it will happen after the, you know, the war settled and the war ended, then we can see more inside Iran, how the uprise.

But to go back to the key point, I think we need to find a new security architecture in the region. The U.S. is part and parcel of the regional security, they cannot be excluded. So we need to see what sort of U.S. security structure with the region -- with the countries in the region.

[04:09:57]

ANDERSON: I think that's a really important point that you make. I've also heard Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, and de facto leader of Saudi, and others around this region for years. And you and I have had this discussion time and again. For years, we've heard talk about navigating a new Middle East, which is sort of code for deconflicted, forward looking sort of tech finance, sort of hubs. What does a new or different Middle East look like in the wake of this conflict?

SAGER: Well, we need to make sure that Iran does not apply the same policy and they have been adopting since the Iranian revolution, which is the interventionist policy in the neighborhood countries. The expansionist policy, which is they have, they've done that they've been to Syria, they were in Lebanon, in Yemen, stop supporting all their arms in the region and the militia and the militant group, the violent state actors, not endangering the free movement of the vessels and the sea movement, because there is an international law 1982 deals with that matters.

Also, the energy security, our energy, you know, have been attacked by the Iranians. So there are many issues that we need to look at it, you know, together. But still, they have to accept that no matter who comes in Tehran in the power, you still need to deal with the U.S. Without the U.S., you will not be able to get the sanction off, you will not be able to export your oil, you will not be able, many issues.

So as I said, the U.S. is part of this, you know, regional security. But we need to find out the formula and the structure, where we all can live in peace, we all can focus on development and economics issues. We all can increase our energy diversification and supply. Look at how much the world have been disrupted by, you know, the Strait of Hormuz impact.

Today, there is more than 1,000 vessels inside the Gulf --

ANDERSON: Yes.

SAGER: -- unable to leave, you know, the Strait of Hormuz. And I think that's extremely important to see the freedom and the free movement of flow logistically.

ANDERSON: Yes.

SAGER: Look at today, thousands of trucks, and I like very much the CNN report on the logistical issue in the Jeddah harbor, and how much that have really worked to fulfill the gap and the shortages happening in the Gulf due to the Strait of Hormuz. Yes.

ANDERSON: Yes. And Abdulaziz is speaking very specifically there to Nic Robertson's report from Jeddah, which you will find online, folks. It's a really good piece of reporting. Appreciate it, Abdulaziz. And your insight and analysis so important, not just today, but for me over the years. So thank you so much for your sort of closeness to us. Thank you.

Well, with many of Iran's top leaders killed in U.S. and Israeli strikes, one of the most senior surviving civilian figures is the speaker of Iran's parliament, 64 year old Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is part of a shrinking pool of officials now shaping the country's response to the war.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the U.S. was having very strong talks. And I quote him there and was dealing with the man who is most respected, he said in Iran, but he declined to name him. Some reports said that he was referring to Ghalibaf. But within hours, the parliament speaker denied there were any negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

Throughout the conflict, Ghalibaf has regularly used social media to goad President Trump and demonstrate a hard line on Iran's conditions for ending this war.

For more, let's bring in Ali Vaez. He's the Iran director, project director at the International Crisis Group. He joins me this hour from Geneva in Switzerland. It's good to hear to have you here today. Let's hear from Donald Trump very specifically about why he is feeling this optimism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They gave us a present. And the present arrived today. And it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. It was oil and gas related. And it was a very nice thing they did. But what it showed me is that we're dealing with the right people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Right. OK. So I don't think any of us have got any idea what that present might be. Perhaps you might, you know, suggest what it might be. And based on what you know about the Iranian regime, how do you read what we've just heard from the President?

ALI VAEZ, DIRECTOR, IRAN PROJECT INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: It's good to be with you, Becky. I have no idea what the President is talking about. The reality is that the Iranian regime has transformed, indeed. But it has become more hardline. I think more important than Mr. Ghalibaf is the appointment of the new National Security Advisor, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed last week by Israel, and was a relative of the appointment of the new National Security Advisor, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed last week by Israel, and was a relative pragmatic figure within the regime, with someone, General Zolghadr, who's an ultra-hawk.

[04:15:19]

And with the current head of the Revolutionary Guards also being in the same category, I think the Iranian regime has become just much more militarized and much more radical and hardline. So President Trump's expectation that anyone within that system would be able to become a Delcy Rodriguez, like in the case of Venezuela, is nothing but a mirage.

ANDERSON: You don't make of the idea that Ghalibaf could be that Delcy-type character. We've heard Donald Trump make those, draw those analogies, again, a number of times in the past couple of weeks.

VAEZ: Becky is just based on misunderstanding the Iranian political system. This is not a system in which there is one omnipotent, like the Supreme Leader or like Mr. Ghalibaf. This is a system that has multiple power centers that are constantly balancing each other out and competing for power. So if Mr. Ghalibaf were to make the kind of concessions that President Trump has in mind, which would basically be subjugating Iran to the United States, capitulating to U.S. terms, it would be the end of his political life.

And this is why you see that every time President Trump comes up with some sort of positive messaging, Mr. Ghalibaf goes out there and dash any hopes that Iran would show flexibility.

ANDERSON: It is also not entirely clear who is negotiating on the part of the United States. Trump said that Vice President J.D. Vance and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio were, and I quote him here, in negotiations right now. Iran's military spokesman focused on that, taunting the administration by asking, and I quote here, has the level of your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves? This is a pretty inauspicious start to any possible talks. To your mind then, is this Donald Trump wishful thinking?

VAEZ: I think to a large extent it is, because the President doesn't apparently take into account that twice in the past two years, in the middle of negotiations, he has bombed Iran. And so there is absolutely no trust in his credibility as a negotiating partner, in his administration's reliability as a partner for diplomatic engagement.

And so it doesn't matter who the Americans would put on the other side, whether it's Steve Witkoff or Jared Kushner or Vice President Vance. From the Iranian perspective, the most important thing here is for the United States to realize that coercion against Iran doesn't work. Whether it's economic coercion or military coercion, and this is why I don't think that the Iranians would engage in diplomacy in a serious way unless and until it is Trump who is willing to make some serious concessions to them. And the key concession that they have in mind is the recognition that they would remain in control of the Strait of Hormuz.

ANDERSON: Yes, I mean, let's just pursue this then, because you've argued that it is far from clear that Iran would agree to sit down without something meaningful in return. So I interrupted you. What do you think that meaningful concession would be?

VAEZ: Well, you know, I think the most important is the U.S. recognition that Iran would remain in control of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, there might be some arrangements that could also be acceptable to other parties, including the GCC, but Iran doesn't want to go back to status quo and is not going to accept any kind of ceasefire because it wants this war to end and end for good. It doesn't want to get caught up in a cycle of aggression every six months.

In a way, Becky, I think it is better for Iran to continue staying in this hot war than to basically freeze out in a cold peace. It understands that unless it can get some sort of economic benefit at the end of this war, which doesn't come in the form of sanctions relief, it comes in the form of control of the Strait, it is not going to come out victorious. And this is why reaching a deal is going to be so difficult.

[04:20:08]

ANDERSON: That's fascinating. It is really important to point out that, frankly, the Gulf region, at least the UAE, Saudi, and I think others, also not looking for a ceasefire necessarily now. I mean, Anwar Gargash, who is the advisor to the President here in the UAE, has said, you know, we need a lasting solution that goes beyond a ceasefire for exactly the reason that you are suggesting Iran is looking for this sort of comprehensive deal as well, because you can't keep going back to this kind of cycle of escalation and these sort of threats again and again and again.

It's an interesting sort of colliding of thoughts at this point and strategy. All right. It's great to have you, Ali. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Still to come, hundreds of TSA workers quitting their jobs and thousands more calling out of work. We're going get you the very latest on how partial government shutdown in the U.S. is affecting airports.

Plus, hundreds of Russian drones terrorize cities across Ukraine. And updating, one of Moscow's largest attacks of the war so far is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:25:56]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Since the partial government shutdown started, U.S. officials say that more than 450 TSA agents have resigned. In fact, more than 3,200 TSA workers called out on Monday. That's after nearly 12 percent of all workers across the U.S. called out on Sunday.

TSA employees have been working without pay, and union leaders say that they feel abandoned and unvalued, especially as ICE agents who are getting a paycheck have stepped in to assist at select airports. Extended passenger wait times are already expected for Wednesday in some places. Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport warns travelers may have to wait upwards of four hours before catching their flights.

Our Ed Lavandera spoke to passengers as they waited in line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like going through a third world country.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LAVANDERA: Just an -- you're that annoyed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were prepared for it, but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's sad that we're going to be three and a half, four hours getting through a line, and we're supposed to be what we're supposed to be.

LAVANDERA: Yes. Are you going to miss your flight or?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we're not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got airplane time.

LAVANDERA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our flight's not until tomorrow.

LAVANDERA: Who do you blame for all this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the President.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it's the government in general.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: The details, meantime, are emerging in the investigation into the deadly runway collision at New York's LaGuardia Airport over the weekend. The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday revealed the final few minutes leading up to the crash between an Air Canada flight and a fire truck and what potential role a missing piece of technology may have played. Marybel Gonzalez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, CHAIR, U.S. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: There are transponders on other trucks at other airports, you know, across the nation. In this case, they did not have transponders.

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A transponder helps air traffic controllers identify and track vehicles on the airfield. Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board revealed the fire truck involved in Sunday's deadly collision with an Air Canada plane was not equipped with such technology. But that's not the only potential problem they've uncovered so far.

HOMENDY: There are multiple, multiple layers of defense built in to prevent an accident. So when something goes wrong, that means many, many things went wrong.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): The NTSB added the airport surface detection equipment didn't generate an alert ahead of the collision.

HOMENDY: ASDE-X did not generate an alert due to the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway, resulting in the inability to create a track of high confidence.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): Just three minutes elapsed between when the flight was cleared to land and when it collided with the fire truck.

REBECCA LIQUORI, PASSENGER ON SUNDAY'S AIR CANADA FLIGHT: You hear the pilot try to brake and it was like a grinding noise. And then after that, it was a huge just boom. And we just all jolted out of our seats.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): The NTSB says staffing in the control tower was standard operating procedure.

HOMENDY: You would have two controllers in the tower cab during the midnight shift.

GONZALEZ (voice-over): I'm Marybel Gonzalez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Russia appears to have launched one of its largest attacks in the war with Ukraine so far. Ukraine's president says that at least 40 people were injured across the country after Moscow reportedly fired almost a thousand drones in just 24 hours. More than half of those strikes occur during a rare daytime assault. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arguing that the escalation is a clear sign that Russia is not trying to resolve the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): The scale of this attack clearly shows that Russia has no real intention of ending this war. And considering that Russia is also helping the Iranian regime carry out strikes across the region, the conclusion is obvious. Without additional and strong pressure on Russia, without tangible losses for them there in Moscow, they will not develop any desire to move away from the war or return to peace. It is precisely pressure that is currently lacking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:30:04]

ANDERSON: According to Ukraine's air force, the drones mainly targeted the country's central and western regions.