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Isa Soares Tonight
Israel Strikes Iranian Nuclear Facilities And Military Leaders; Trump Warns Iran To Agree To A Deal; Israel Braces For A Response From Iran After Attack. Aired 14-14:15p ET
Aired June 13, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. We are beginning this hour with breaking news
because at this hour, Israel is moving forward with new attacks on Iran, triggering Iranian defenses, as well as fears of a wider regional war.
Israel's strikes targeting Iran's nuclear facilities we've been reporting here on CNN.
A number of Tehran's top military officials and scientists have been killed. And just a short time ago, the IDF said it struck a nuclear plant
in the city of Isfahan. Some of the biggest questions, though, tonight, we are asking, can a severely weakened Iran mount a major response? Israel
says it's intercepted some drones fired by the Iranians.
And will these attacks sway the regime from seeking nuclear weapons or only harden their resolve? U.S. President Donald Trump says he gave Tehran a 60-
day ultimatum to take -- his words, make a deal. That deadline, according to him, passed on Thursday. Now, Iran is warning the U.S. not to get in the
way of what they say is their legitimate response.
And then complicating matters further, Iran is allied with militias right across the region, and on those groups can also strike Israeli as well as
U.S. targets. Israel reported earlier, it was working to intercept a missile fired from Yemen at Israeli territory. Let's put it all into
context for you. Matthew Chance has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(ARTILLERY FIRE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are unprecedented strikes on Iranian targets. Israel says it's hitting
nuclear sites and missile systems as well as Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: We will not let the world's most dangerous regime get the world's most dangerous weapons. The
increasing range of Iran's ballistic missiles would bring that nuclear nightmare to the cities of Europe, and eventually to America.
CHANCE: Israel's pre-dawn raids involving more than 200 aircrafts, appear to have been carefully planned. Israel even says its spy agency smuggled
weapons and drones into Iran ahead of the attacks. Striking key uranium enrichment facilities like this one at Natanz, where Iran has for years
been processing nuclear material close to weapons grade levels.
Israel says Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commanders have also been targeted and killed, including their commander Hossein Salami, one of Iran's most
prominent military figures. On Iranian state television, reports that at least six scientists have also been killed. Women and children, it says,
are among the dead.
Iranian Foreign Minister says these Israeli strikes are tantamount to a declaration of war, while Israel says more than a 100 Iranian drones have
already been intercepted. This dangerous confrontation in the Middle East threatens to spiral. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Let's get some analysis here from our chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour. And these strikes, Christiane, seem to be continuing.
I'm seeing now from the Israel Defense Forces saying we can now confirm IDF has carried out strikes against nuclear plant in Isfahan. That's just in
the last 12 minutes.
And this is, of course, in addition to operations in Natanz. This is from the Israeli Defense Forces. But clearly, as Matthew just laid out,
incredibly dangerous moment and a huge blow, I assume, and humiliating one for Iran. How do you assess this moment?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, look, we've just had a series of conversations in the last hour. I spoke to the Israeli
former Prime Minister, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and he said, this was very successful, that this was something Israel felt it needed to do
because of the IAEA reports that show that Iran has been increasing its stockpile of near weapons grade uranium enrichment -- enriched uranium, 60
percent needs to be 90 percent for weapons quality.
But he also said that because of the type of underground facilities that are the most important ones, Natanz for the Natanz Fordow, et cetera. And
there may be others around the country that it's unlikely that this wave of bombs and bombings can push back their nuclear program by a huge amount.
[14:05:00]
It certainly won't destroy it --
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: And it might damage it or set it back for a little bit. So, it's a big gamble that's being taken. So, that's one thing. The other thing is,
President Trump has just said that he thinks -- he's told "Axios" that this Israeli attack on Iran will maybe spur Iran to come to the negotiating
table. But already, it's very unlikely, and a lot of -- even Trump is saying it's unclear whether the planned negotiations and, you know, over
the weekend in Oman will go ahead.
And so, the question is, how does one move forward --
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: From this? Israel has said that it's going to be prolonged. It doesn't look like America wants to get involved. And what is the ultimate
goal?
SOARES: Given what you just said then, what do you make of the -- of the timing of this, of the why now, given how far the negotiations -- were
supposed to meet this weekend, how do you interpret the timing?
AMANPOUR: Well, look, it's interesting. I mean, the bottom line is Netanyahu has wanted to do this for decades.
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: This is his thing, his lifelong mission, I want to destroy Iran, period, end of story. He'd like to see regime change. He'd like to do all
of this. He's -- as you remember, has gone to the U.N. several times, you know, with these cartoons of bombs. He's addressed the Congress, just
speaking to the Republicans after Obama signed the JCPOA.
He doesn't believe in any deals. He said Iran should have no enrichment, period, end of story. So, that's what's happening. But it's timed because
they say that the IAEA, the U.N., you know, surveillance and watchdog group, has been saying that there is -- as I said, this amount of near
weapons grade enriched uranium, and that they say Iran has been stalling on some of the inspections.
So, the question is, what next? Does Iran respond?
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Does it have to respond militarily? Does it respond by totally pulling out of the --
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: IAEA and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Does it go underground in terms of metaphorically with what it does outside the
auspices of any inspections?
SOARES: Very quickly. Two U.S. sources are telling CNN that this raises the specter of regime change. What do you make of that?
AMANPOUR: I think they wanted.
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: They certainly -- the Israelis do --
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: The Americans do. But let's just remember what happened in Iraq, I mean, again, you know, the United States hasn't won a war for a long
time. Israel hasn't won a war in its backyard in Gaza. You know, Hamas is still there and civilians are being literally and appallingly --
SOARES: Yes --
AMANPOUR: Slaughtered. So, it is a very difficult time to be doing this. And whether in the heat of a battle on your country, people are going to
come out and oppose the regime. It's unlikely. Might happen down the line, but it's unlikely that that's going to be the immediate reaction from
people.
SOARES: Christiane, thank you very much indeed. Christiane Amanpour there. Well, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel needs to
assume there will be a counterattack from Iran. And before launching the overnight attack, he says Israeli authorities discussed the price they'll
have to pay, his words for the strike. Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, explained his country's reasoning. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The goal of our operations are very clear, is to make sure that Iran will not have nuclear capabilities
and to stop their ballistic missile operation. And I will elaborate on that. You know, they're producing hundreds of missiles. They wanted to get
to a position where they can compete with Russia and the U.S. regarding ballistic missiles. So, we want to stop both the ballistic missile
operation and the nuclear reactor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more now from Gideon Levy, who is a columnist with "Haaretz", a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Gideon,
great to have you back on the show. Let me get your sense of what we've just been reporting. Do we have him? I think we've lost him -- oh, we've
got you back. Fantastic. What we've been reporting here in the last few hours, in fact.
We are seeing these strikes ongoing as we've reported in the last few moments. But you know, this would -- I would have assumed, would have
involved extraordinary level of planning. What can you tell us about how Mossad pulled this off and continues it seems, from what we're hearing,
continues to be pulling this off right this moment.
GIDEON LEVY, COLUMNIST, HAARETZ: So, first of all, excuse me for the --
SOARES: I think --
LEVY: The noise here, I hope you can hear me, because with the siren now, and it was clear that what we saw today was just the beginning, and now we
see the second phase, and there will be some more phases. The big question is obviously what will be the Iranian retaliation? You see, Isa, in Israel,
usually we are always enthusiastic when war starts, and it always looks very promising and very successful.
[14:10:00]
The problem comes when the price raises and when things get more complicated. So, we have -- when we want to really assess what this war
achieves or not, we should wait now a few days and not get to this euphoria, because in Israel, there is a sense of euphoria now, look what
capabilities which are really very impressive.
Look how they are doing. Nothing. But let's be more patient because things can get much more complicated yet. We are dealing with a huge country,
Iran.
SOARES: And as you're speaking, Gideon, I'm seeing the -- comments from the IDF spokesperson saying the IDF has identified missiles were recently
launched from Iran towards the territory of the state of Israel. Defense systems are working to intercept the threat. You know, I know they said
earlier they're to prepare for a prolonged operation.
How is then on that point, how Israel preparing itself for retaliation? We heard the Supreme leader talking about severe punishment. What would that
look like do you think, Gideon?
LEVY: It can be hell -- (INAUDIBLE)
SOARES: Gideon, we're going to leave that here because we're having a connection -- we're having -- we're struggling to hear you. So, we're going
to leave you -- we're going to leave that, we're going to try to --
LEVY: Yes --
SOARES: Fix it and come back to you. Thanks very much, Gideon, let's try and fix that and return to Gideon Levy. In the meantime, we are still
awaiting word on whether U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually spoke by phone. Officials from both
sides confirmed that they would.
Mr. Netanyahu, meanwhile, says the Trump administration knew about the attack and coordinated it with Israel in advance. On Thursday, U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington had no involvement. And then on social media earlier, the President threatened, quote, "even more brutal
attacks", as you can see there if Iran doesn't agree to a deal.
And he warned an agreement should be made, quote, "before there is nothing left". So, let's go to our senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes
joins us now. And Kristen, President Trump, as we laid out, expected to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Netanyahu. Talk us through
what the administration is saying about these strikes by Israel, because I'm seeing that President Trump told "Reuters", quote, "we knew
everything". Just give us a sense of what you're hearing.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And Donald Trump is known to hyperbolize in some ways. So, it's not clear what exactly he knew,
but it is clear that they knew about these strikes. I can tell you, one of the things I reported yesterday was that White House officials told me that
Donald Trump and the team were expecting these to likely happen last night.
So, they were certainly aware. We've also learned since then that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke a number of times yesterday, including
before those strikes already -- eventually, excuse me, took place. And one of the things that we've been trying to get to the bottom of, is what
Donald Trump told Netanyahu.
Did he push back on Netanyahu at all? Now, you see Donald Trump coming out and saying, I knew everything, and saying in certain interviews that he
still supports Israel, so giving you an idea of what he might have told Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, this might make things more complicated because,
as you noted, one of the things Donald Trump continues to post about is Iran coming to the table.
He has said that hopefully this will bring them to the table, that they had a chance before, we've given them chance after chance, now, they should
come to the table to negotiate on that Iran deal before it's too late. Saying that all of the hardliners that he was dealing with are dead.
Obviously, a loose threat there.
One thing to keep in mind is that the sixth round of these talks was supposed to happen in Oman, between Iran and special Middle Eastern envoy
Steve Witkoff on Sunday. I am told the administration is still hopeful that any kind of peace -- excuse me, talks about the nuclear Iran deal, it would
still happen, but it remains unclear.
And there are a lot of officials who are doubtful that this is going to play out the way that the administration would like it to. We're still
trying to figure out if Netanyahu and Trump have spoken today, but it is obviously more clear today than it was yesterday that the administration,
Donald Trump, was well aware of what exactly was happening yesterday when this occurred.
SOARES: So, where do we go from here? I mean, what is the sense then in terms of these scheduled talks? Because there seems to be some sort of
contradiction, of course -- let me just interrupt right now, because I just want to bring viewers up-to-date with what you are seeing. These are images
coming to us, I believe, out of Jerusalem.
In the last few moments, I had mentioned that the IDF had sounded sirens across several areas of Israel, and it seems they identified missiles from
Iran coming in towards the state of Israel. You're seeing those flashes of light in your screen. This is something that we would -- we had heard from
the IDF.
[14:15:05]
They were anticipating, of course, some sort of response. We have also heard from the Iranians. Let's listen.
(EXPLOSIONS IN ISRAEL)
END
