Here's the latest
• Expanding war with Iran: Iran’s top official said Tehran “will not negotiate” with the US. Explosions have been heard in Gulf cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, while Israel and Hezbollah are trading blows as the conflict widens. Here’s a look at the war in maps and charts.
• Fighter jets down: Three US fighter jets were accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, according to US Central Command. All crews have been recovered and are in a stable condition. Videos geolocated by CNN showed a fighter jet crashing in Kuwait and a pilot parachuting to the ground.
• Americans killed: President Donald Trump acknowledged there could be more US casualties after three US service members were killed in Kuwait.
• Global shockwaves: The war has disrupted air travel, hit US-friendly Gulf states usually regarded as safe, and hindered the flow of oil. Countries looking to evacuate their citizens also face major challenges.
Three US fighter jets accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, CENTCOM says
Three US fighter jets went down “due to an apparent friendly fire incident,” US Central Command has announced.
Kuwaiti air defenses accidentally shot the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets down late Monday evening ET time.
“During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses,” the statement said. “All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.”
The cause of the incident is under investigation, according to CENTCOM. The jets were flying in support of the military operation against Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.
Kuwait’s Minister of Defense said in the early hours of Monday morning that “several” US fighter jets crashed.
Countries across the Middle East are being swept up in the US' war with Iran. Catch up here
This weekend saw attacks on countries across the Middle East, after the US and Israel struck multiple cities in Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, several senior officials, and over 150 girls at an elementary school.
Tehran has retaliated in attacks across the region, striking many of its neighbors, including a number of US-allied Gulf countries.
With war spiraling, here’s what you need to know if you’re just joining us:
- At least 555 people have been killed in Iran since the joint US-Israeli strikes began on Saturday, according to the Red Crescent Society. Of those, at least 165 people were killed in a strike at a girls’ elementary school, according to Iranian state media.
- At least nine hospitals have been “seriously damaged” in Iran, according to semi-official outlet Mehr News Agency, citing a lawmaker.
- Israel has also launched attacks on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 140, the country’s health ministry said. Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group.
- Several United States military aircraft crashed in Kuwait today, the Gulf country’s defense ministry said, adding that “all crew members survived.” Videos geolocated by CNN appear to show a fighter jet pilot on the ground in Kuwait after ejecting from an aircraft.
- US President Donald Trump has said his country has sunk nine Iranian navy ships and “largely destroyed” the country’s naval headquarters. One Iranian Navy ship struck Saturday is now “sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman,” US Central Command said.
- Trump yesterday said that his conflict with Iran could last “four weeks or so,” adding: “It won’t be difficult.” The president told the Daily Mail: “We have tremendous amounts of ammunition. You know, we have ammunition stored all over the world in different countries.”
- Germany, the UK and France said they agreed to work with the US and other allies in response to Iran’s missile attacks. The UK has agreed to a US request to allow American forces to use its military bases for operations against Iranian missile sites. Iran launched a drone towards a British air base in Cyprus in response.
- Qatar has warned that “a price has to be paid” after Iran’s “blatant attack” on it. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari told CNN’s Becky Anderson that Doha is not in contact with Iran’s government as it focuses on defending the country and protecting key infrastructure.
CNN’s Tim Lister, Rhea Mogul, Samantha Waldenberg, Natasha Bertrand, Alejandra Jaramillo, Mitchell McCluskey, Jonny Hallam, James Frater, Laura Sharman, Helen Regan, Eyad Kourdi and Haley Britzky contributed to this reporting.
UN nuclear watchdog says no sign US-Israeli attacks have hit Iran's nuclear facilities
The UN nuclear watchdog said there was no indication that Israeli and US strikes on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said: “Regarding the status of the nuclear installations in Iran, up to now, we have no indication that any of the nuclear installations, including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the Tehran Research Reactor or other nuclear fuel cycle facilities have been damaged or hit.”
“So far, no elevation of radiation levels above the usual background levels has been detected in countries bordering Iran,” he said.
Grossi’s comments come after Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA said Sunday that Natanz — one of Iran’s three key Iranian nuclear facilities – had been attacked, Reuters reported.
US President Donald Trump has cited Iran’s potential nuclear threat as one of his reasons justifying US strikes on the country, contracting US intelligence on the matter, which has assessed that Iran is nearly a decade away from developing a “militarily-viable” intercontinental ballistic missile.
Middle East wakes to waves of fresh strikes as conflict widens
Residents in Gulf states awoke to the sound of fresh explosions this morning, after a night of attacks across the region that saw Iran-backed Hezbollah enter the widening conflict.
Here’s where things stand:
Explosions in major cities: CNN teams in the major Gulf cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha heard explosions Monday morning local time. In the Qatari capital, a CNN photojournalist filmed what appears to be missiles being intercepted in the skies. In Dubai, a CNN team heard “two back-to-back blasts,” jets flying overhead and what appears to be intercepters.
Kuwait: A fighter jet crashed near a US air base, according to online video geolocated by CNN. Footage geolocated by CNN to near Kuwait’s Al Jahra shows what appears to be a pilot parachuting to the ground. Loud bangs had rung out early local time as air defenses intercepted “hostile drones” approaching the country via “maritime routes,” state media reported. A major oil refinery was hit by falling shrapnel, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency. Reuters reported a witness as saying smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the US embassy in Kuwait.
Bahrain: One person has been killed and two others “seriously injured” after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media reported Monday morning.
Saudi Arabia: Two drones targeting the Ras Tanura refinery were intercepted and destroyed, according to state TV, citing the Saudi defense ministry.
Lebanon: The Israeli military launched a series of strikes in Lebanon, including the capital Beirut early Monday. The Israeli military said it had struck “senior Hezbollah terrorists in the Beirut area” and ordered evacuations across 52 settlements in the south of the country. Video geolocated by CNN shows the top floor of a building in flames in Ghobeiry, southern Beirut.
Israel: Iran fired a new barrage of missiles toward Israel on Monday, Israel’s military said. Hezbollah and Israel also traded strikes overnight after Hezbollah said it launched “missiles and a swarm of drones” at an Israeli army base south of Haifa “in revenge” for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Israel’s military also said it had intercepted a projectile fired from Lebanon, and that other fell in open areas.
Iran: Fresh blasts were heard in Tehran, and state media claim a deadly barrage of missiles struck the city of Sanandaj. Patients were evacuated from a hospital in northern Tehran on Sunday after it was badly damaged in strikes, Iranian state media reported. At least nine hospitals have been “seriously damaged,” according to semi-official outlet Mehr News Agency.
Cyprus: The UK’s Ministry of Defence said it responded to a suspected drone strike at a British military base on the eastern Mediterranean island.
Qatar warns "a price has to be paid" for Iranian strikes
Qatar “reserves the right to retaliate” against Iran after its “blatant attack” on Qatar’s people, foreign ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said, adding that Iranian strikes “cannot go unanswered” and that “a price has to be paid.”
Doha is not in contact with Iran’s government as it focuses on defending the country and protecting key infrastructure, al-Ansari told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Monday.
He added that Qatar has faced “more than 100 missiles and scores of drones,” and said the strikes were “targeting also civilian and commercial infrastructure.”
Asked about the risk to Gulf energy facilities after Saudi Arabia intercepted drones near an oil refinery, al-Ansari said Qatar was “gravely concerned” by attacks on non-military targets across the region.
He said Qatar’s military has taken precautions to defend onshore and offshore economic facilities while Gulf leaders coordinate closely with each other and the United States.
Qatar is one of the world’s biggest gas exporters.
French minister backs defense of Gulf nations, warns of "spiral of instability"
France “stands ready” to defend Gulf nations and Jordan against drone and missile attacks, its foreign minister said Monday, as regional violence triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran spiraled.
The European nation “did not take part” in the joint US and Israeli military attacks that killed Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
“To the friendly countries that have been deliberately targeted by the missiles and drones of the Revolutionary Guards and drawn into a war they did not choose: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan. France expresses its full support and solidarity. It stands ready,” Barrot told reporters in Paris.
Tehran has launched retaliatory strikes on US airbases in the region in recent days, while Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing projectiles from Lebanon into Israel.
The French foreign minister added that Lebanon “must be protected by regional conflagration,” after Israeli strikes killed 31 people there overnight.
“Only by being brought before the Security Council could such operations have acquired the legitimacy of international law,” added Barrot. Analysts and US lawmakers have repeatedly raised concerns over the legality of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on Iran.
Gulf states fear for future as conflict escalates, professor says
Gulf states fear an uncertain US contingency plan risks Iran becoming a volatile neighbor, according to a history professor at Kuwait University.
“Confusion reigns supreme in the US calculus,” Bader Al-Saif told CNN’s Becky Anderson, explaining that the exact goal of Washington remains unclear.
“Now, is this done on purpose as part of a master strategy? Or is this the lack of options or the lack of clarity? I seem to side with the latter,” he added.
The academic emphasized the long-term risks faced by Gulf states as strikes intensify across the Middle East. “Our fear in the Gulf states is … we’re going to see a rendition or repetition of the Iraq scenario during the Saddam years, where you end up with an isolated, paranoid neighbor,” Al-Saif said, referring to Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq between 1979 and 2003, a period fraught with conflict across the Gulf.
“We in the Gulf states would be bearing the brunt of all of that,” the professor said.
Saudi refinery fire heightens concerns over global energy supplies
A fire at the giant Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia has added to anxiety about global energy security. The kingdom is the world’s biggest oil exporter.
The fire started after shrapnel from the interception of two Iranian drones on Monday fell on the refinery.
Video from the scene verified by CNN showed thick smoke rising from the complex.
The Saudi Energy Ministry said the fire was limited and had been brought under control and there would be no impact on supplies.
Reuters reported that production at the refinery had been suspended as a precaution.
Ras Tanura, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, is operated by state oil firm Saudi Aramco. It is the largest in the kingdom and has a refining capacity of 550,000 barrels per day. The complex serves as a critical export terminal for Saudi crude.
Meanwhile, a major oil refinery in Kuwait was hit by falling shrapnel early Monday, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency. Two workers at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery were wounded.
Production at the plant – which, according to the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, has a capacity of 346,000 barrels per day – was not affected.
The incidents come as shipments of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, which is partly controlled by Iran, have been severely curtailed amid Iranian warnings that tankers and other commercial ships should not use the seaway and as shipping insurance costs have spiked.
Pilot seen on the ground after multiple US planes crash in Kuwait
Videos geolocated by CNN appear to show a fighter jet pilot on the ground in Kuwait after ejecting from an aircraft.
In one of the videos, a man in a full flight suit and helmet can be seen kneeling on the ground next to an orange and white parachute and a parachute cord in a desert area near a fence line.
CNN has geolocated the video about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) from the Ali Al Salem Air Base, which hosts US forces.
In another video, the pilot is seen standing up as bystanders look on, with thick black smoke billowing in the distant background.
It’s unclear what caused the crashes of the aircraft.
It is also not clear what aircraft this pilot ejected from. Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense said “several United States military aircraft crashed” and that “all crew members survived.”
CNN had previously verified video showing a fighter jet in a tailspin and a pilot parachuting through the air over Al Jahra, Kuwait.
Israelis seek shelter underground as Iran crisis grows
Some residents of Haifa, Israel, have been sheltering in an underground parking lot since Sunday, as sirens warning of overhead missiles continue to blare from their phones.
“We’re here because our house in Haifa doesn’t have a bomb shelter, so it’s a bit scary for us … so we decided to just hang out with our friends … and just be safe,” 26-year-old Haifa local Lilit Karapetian told Reuters.
“I have a safe place in my house, but I don’t feel really safe over there, so I decided to go here to relax a little bit from all this war,” resident Daniel Aedskiy said.
Iran on Monday fired a new barrage of missiles toward Israel, with videos showing interceptions over Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Nine hospitals seriously damaged in Iran, lawmaker says
At least nine hospitals have been “seriously damaged” in Iran, according to semi-official outlet Mehr News Agency, citing a lawmaker, as US-Israeli bombing entered a third day.
“By attacking hospitals, international laws have been violated,” Mohammed Beigi, a member of the Iranian parliament, said Monday.
Five people were killed in a separate attack on Iran Street, in the capital Tehran, Beigi added, rendering residential homes “uninhabitable” and flattening buildings to debris.
The US and Israel launched a coordinated military assault on Iran Saturday – triggering retaliatory attacks from Tehran and other Iranian proxies in the region.
Energy prices surge as conflict widens across Middle East
Oil and natural gas prices jumped Monday as conflict intensified across the Middle East, threatening the flow of energy to global markets.
Futures contracts for Brent crude, the global benchmark, spiked almost 9% to trade at around $79 a barrel. WTI, the US benchmark, climbed 8% to $73 a barrel.
The price of Dutch natural gas, the European benchmark, surged 23% as concerns mount over potential disruption to supply. Around one-fifth of global trade in liquified natural gas passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is partly controlled by Iran. The strait also carries about one-fifth of global daily oil production.
Although Iran has not officially closed the strait, vessels are avoiding the waterway given the risks and after oil tankers in the region came under attack over the weekend.
Rystad Energy’s head of geopolitical analysis, Jorge Leon, said there was an “effective halt of traffic” through the vital shipping lane.
Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, on Sunday said it would raise its daily oil output by 206,000 barrels a day, following a smaller increase in December.
Despite the latest boost to global supply, the risk of oil price rises is still high, according to Jim Reid, head of global macroeconomic research at Deutsche Bank. “This is a decent rise (in output), but it would not change the bigger picture if there were a sizeable disruption to oil flows,” he said in a note today.
Lebanese face another round of cross-border conflict
Thousands of people in southern Lebanon had begun returning to their homes in recent months after more than a year of cross-border clashes involving Hezbollah rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes.
Now the area is again in the crosshairs, as are Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, after Israel responded to the group’s rocket and missile fire early Monday with intense airstrikes.
Dozens of villages south of the Litani river had already been extensively damaged or destroyed, after Israeli ground forces pushed in to create a buffer zone in October 2024. Amnesty International estimated that more than 10,000 structures were heavily damaged or destroyed between then and January 2025.
The World Bank estimated the cross‑border conflict between October 7, 2023 and November 2024, when a fragile ceasefire went into effect, cost Lebanon $8.5 billion.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam appealed on Saturday “to all Lebanese to exercise wisdom and patriotism, placing the interests of Lebanon and the Lebanese people above all else.”
“I reaffirm that we will not allow anyone to drag the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity,” Salam posted on X.
His appeal appeared to go unheeded by Hezbollah, which fired projectiles into northern Israel in the early hours of Monday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has ordered the evacuation of more than 50 villages in southern Lebanon. IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday that “Hezbollah is the one who opened fire. It chose to launch this campaign, and it will pay a heavy price for it.”
“We targeted senior commanders, who were among the last remaining veteran leaders of the organization,” Defrin said.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said at least 31 people had been killed and more than 140 injured in the Israeli strikes.
UAE accommodation covered as Middle East airspace remains closed
Stressed travelers stranded in Dubai will have their hotel costs paid by authorities, according to guests and state media.
CNN previously reported that Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism would cover costs in that city for tens of thousands of travelers stranded during the conflict in the Middle East.
It’s some consolation for thousands of travelers stuck in the major transport hubs due to airspace closures that show no sign of ending soon.
Thousands of flights have been canceled since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, prompting retaliatory strikes on hubs and gulf states that host US military bases.
Travelers are urged to contact their airlines and stay across alerts from their country of origin.
Some countries are considering plans to repatriate their citizens. Others are waiting to see if there’s a faster chance of commercial flights resuming.
See here for more information on the travel paralysis triggered by the war.
Saudi Arabia intercepts two drones at top oil refinery
Two drones targeting Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery were intercepted and destroyed, Saudi defense ministry spokesperson Turki Al-Malki was cited as saying by state-run Al Ekhbariya TV.
The refinery is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest and has a capacity of 550,000 barrels a day.
Qatar says two Iranian drones attacked its energy facilities
Qatar said on Monday that two drones from Iran attacked its energy facilities.
The drones targeted a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed and an energy facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City linked to QatarEnergy, Qatar’s Ministry of Defense said.
Damage from the attack will be assessed and an official statement will be issued later, it said, adding that no human casualties were reported.
Qatar is one of the world’s biggest gas exporters.
What we know about the death toll in the Middle East
Here’s what we know about the number of the people killed in strikes in the Middle East since the war with Iran began.
- Iran: At least 555 people have been killed in Iran since joint US-Israeli strikes began, according to the Red Crescent Society. At least 165 people were killed in a strike at a girls’ elementary school, according to Iranian state media. A Chinese national was also killed in Iran, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said.
- Israel: At least 10 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in Israel since it began military operations against Iran, according to Magen David Adom. Nine of the fatalities were reported from the city of Beit Shemesh, where a missile hit a bomb shelter.
- Lebanon: At least 31 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and Beirut, the country’s Ministry of Public Health said.
- Iraq: Four members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-backed paramilitary group, were killed in a US-Israeli strike that targeted one of its headquarters, the militia’s Media Directorate announced in a post on Telegram earlier today.
- United Arab Emirates: Three people in the UAE have been killed in Iran’s retaliatory strikes, the country’s Defense Ministry said.
- Kuwait: Three US service members were killed, US Central Command said.
- Bahrain: One person has been killed after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media reported.
Several hundred killed in Iran by US-Israeli strikes, Red Crescent says
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran since joint US-Israeli strikes began on Saturday, according to the Red Crescent Society.
Iranian state media quoted the Red Crescent as saying there had been attacks on 131 cities.
A member of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Beigi, claimed that nine hospitals had been seriously damaged. A number of patients were injured in Sunday’s attacks, he said.
One person killed after vessel fire in Bahrain, reports state media
One person has been killed and two others “seriously injured” after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media reported Monday morning.
The fire is under control and fully extinguished, reported Bahrain News Agency.
The US Navy base in Bahrain was targeted by an Iranian missile attack previously. Videos obtained by Reuters showed large plumes of smoke rising over a US naval base on Sunday.
CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Israeli military says “all options" on the table for potential ground operation in Lebanon
The Israeli military spokesman said “all operations remain on the table” when asked about the potential for a ground operation in Lebanon following the opening of a new front for Israel.
Hezbollah fired six projectiles at northern Israel in the early hours of Monday morning, prompting a furious wave of strikes from Israel in Beirut and southern Lebanon.
Defrin said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck “dozens” of Hezbollah command centers and launch sites, as well as targeting senior commanders.
Israel has repeatedly struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since a ceasefire ostensibly went into effect in 2024, accusing the Iran-backed militant group of violating the truce by rebuilding its forces and rearming.
But the recent IDF strikes are on a far larger scale.
