What we covered
• Mixed signals: There have been conflicting statements from top Iranian officials underscoring possible rifts within the leadership. Iran’s top security official said President Donald Trump “must pay the price” for the war. Meanwhile Iran’s president apologized for strikes on Gulf states, only to backtrack shortly after following criticism from other Iranian leaders.
• Strikes continue: At least four people were killed in central Beirut after a strike hit a hotel building. Countries across the Gulf reported further aerial attacks and interceptions.
• Escalating conflict: Trump signaled that attacks on Iran will intensify this weekend. A series of major explosions rocked Tehran late Saturday as Israel launched new strikes.
• China’s response: Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for an end to the conflict, warning that the “flames of war” risk spreading. China’s growing concern about the war comes as leader Xi Jinping is preparing to host Trump in Beijing.
Gulf nations report strikes going into Sunday morning
Countries across the Persian Gulf reported a new wave of drone and missile strikes on Sunday morning.
The Kuwaiti Army said that a “wave of hostile drones” targeted fuel storage at the Kuwait International Airport on Sunday local time, and that shrapnel and debris from interceptions had damaged some civilian infrastructure. The armed forces also intercepted a number of ballistic missiles, state media reported.
Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security building was hit in a drone strike, according to state-run media. Footage geolocated by CNN showed the roughly 22-story building in flames in the early hours. State media said there were no injuries.
Two Kuwaiti border security personnel were killed on Sunday morning “while performing their national duty,” state media reported, without giving other details. It’s not clear if the incident was related to the strikes at the airport and government building.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense has also said it endured drone attacks, intercepting at least 21 drones in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Across the King Fahd Causeway in Bahrain, the Interior Ministry attributed a fire at a facility at the Mina Salman seaport to “Iranian aggression,” adding that emergency services are working to extinguish the blaze.
Air defenses in the UAE were “currently responding to a missile threat,” the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority wrote in a post on X early Sunday.
The various drone and missile attacks come after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to Gulf nations on Saturday for the many drone and missile attacks of the past week on US bases in the region, saying Iran would stop striking its neighbors unless it came under attack.
Pezeshkian’s office later clarified that he meant “if regional countries do not cooperate in America’s attack on us, we will not attack them.”
This post has been updated with additional information.
Video shows huge flames near oil storage site in Tehran
A huge fire was seen in the vicinity of a fuel storage site in Tehran, sending towering plumes of smoke into the night sky.
Dramatic footage from Saturday night shows thick smoke billowing from an area geolocated by CNN in the vicinity of a petrol storage facility in northeastern Tehran.
The Israeli military said it struck fuel storage sites in Tehran on Saturday evening.
This post has been corrected to remove reference to the Shahran Oil Storage facility in northwestern Tehran.
No injuries and minor damage after explosion hits US embassy in Oslo, local police say
The US embassy in Oslo sustained minor damage after it was hit by an explosion early on Sunday, Reuters reported, citing Norwegian police speaking to local media. No injuries were reported.
Police spokesperson Mikael Dellemyr told public broadcaster NRK that the blast occurred at the entry of the consular section of the embassy, adding that a search for suspects is underway, Reuters reported.
Eyewitnesses told local media that they heard a loud explosion near the embassy complex in western Oslo at around 1 a.m. local time, the news agency also reported.
It is not immediately known who was responsible for the attack. CNN has reached out to the embassy and the State Department for comment.
We must avoid the “flames of war” spreading, China’s top diplomat warns
China’s top diplomat has called for an end to the war with Iran by Israel and the United States, warning that the “flames of war” risk spreading.
“This was a war that should never have happened, and a war that benefited no one,” Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, told reporters during a press conference for the country’s annual “two sessions” where Communist Party leadership meets in Beijing.
“China has always advocated prioritizing peace and that all parties should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, resolve differences through equal dialogue, and make efforts to achieve common security,” he added.
Wang also said the “true masters” of the Middle East are those living in the region.
Crucial meeting: China’s growing concern about the war with Iran comes as leader Xi Jinping prepares to host US President Donald Trump in Beijing for crucial talks between the world’s two largest economies towards the end of this month.
Kuwait says government building hit, "huge fire" at airport fuel depot after drone strikes
A government building in Kuwait was targeted in a drone strike, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency on Sunday.
The Public Institution for Social Security headquarters sustained “material damage,” reported Kuwait News Agency. The building, around 22 stories tall, is situated in the upscale Al Soor district of Kuwait City centre, sitting next to the Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait and a short drive from shopping malls and bustling souks.
Several building guards were evacuated and no injuries were reported, the institution’s acting director general told the news agency, adding that all data was preserved.
Two fuel depots at Kuwait International Airport also came under a drone attack, resulting in a “huge fire” at one of them, Kuwait News Agency reported, citing the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA).
The Kuwait Fire Force said crews are currently working to put out blazes at the government building and at the fuel depot.
It comes as Kuwait’s air defenses continue to combat a wave of hostile drones that have breached the country’s airspace. The army reported earlier this morning that some civilian facilities were damaged due to falling shrapnel and debris.
Mixed signals from Iranian officials expose possible rift after Khamenei death
Conflicting statements and scattered messaging from Iranian officials on Saturday underscored a possible divide within Tehran’s ruling establishment following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued remarks apologizing for Iranian strikes on Gulf states. He backtracked shortly after following criticism from other Iranian leaders. Countries in the Persian Gulf reported airstrikes and interceptions early Sunday morning.
Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani gave a televised address to the nation later on Saturday, calling for unity and denying leadership rifts. He also said US President Donald Trump must “pay the price” for war.
The shifting tones reflect deep-seated competing pressures inside Iran’s political system.
While hardliners seek revenge over the killing of Khamenei, pragmatists still hope diplomatic efforts can resolve the conflict, Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute, told CNN.
“There have always been factions, rivalries and competition inside the Islamic Republic,” Vatanka said. “That’s true today as well.”
This comes as reports that Iran’s Assembly of Experts is set to choose their next supreme leader in the next day. But the rush to establish a new leader is not necessarily operational. “The Supreme Leader is more of a symbolic move to basically tell the regime base that nothing has changed fundamentally, that the Islamic Republic is still standing,” Vatanka said.
Iran has already established mechanisms to function without an immediate permanent successor. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has effectively shaped strategic decisions for at least two decades, will ensure no immediate personnel vacuum halts operations. They will also play the decisive role in any successor selection and broader policy direction, Vatanka explains.
Vatanka said the choice of the new supreme leader is more about what the IRGC wants to show to the rest of the world and the Iranian public. “It won’t amount to much in practice, but at least they can pretend that they care about hearing people’s expressions of frustration,” he explained, referring to anti-government protests which broke out in Iran earlier this year.
At least four killed in Israeli strike on hotel in central Beirut, Lebanon says
At least four people have been killed and ten others wounded after a Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The attack was unusual in that it hit the heart of central Beirut, rather than the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs where the vast majority of Israeli airstrikes have taken place since Lebanon was pulled into the latest conflict.
Shortly afterwards, the Israel Defense Forces said it had “conducted a precise strike” targeting key commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps who operated in Beirut.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munition and aerial surveillance,” the IDF said in a statement.
The statement did not say whether the strike they were referencing was the same as the one that hit the Ramada hotel. CNN is reaching out to the IDF for comment.
What it's like for CNN to report from Beirut amid airstrikes
CNN’s Matthew Chance reports from Beirut, where he and his team are navigating an increasingly unpredictable environment as Lebanon is dragged into the Iran war.
CNN’s Matthew Chance reports from Beirut where he and his team are navigating an increasingly unpredictable environment as Lebanon is dragged into the Iran war.
Trump: US ground troops could "possibly" be sent to Iran, but would require a "very good reason"
President Donald Trump said US troops could “possibly” be sent on the ground in Iran, as the war continues, but there would have to be a “very good reason.”
Pressed whether he would consider using ground troops to secure enriched uranium at Iran’s nuclear sites, Trump also said it’s a possibility, but not right now.
“We’ll find out about that. We haven’t talked about it. It was a total obliteration. They haven’t been able to get to it. And at some point maybe we will. It would be a great thing but right now we’re just decimating them but we haven’t gone after it,” Trump said.
“But something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now,” he added.
Part of the Trump administration’s justification for the war was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Sirens ring out during former Israeli official’s interview with CNN
CNN’s Erin Burnett speaks to former Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata, who says the country is making “a lot of progress” in the war with Iran.
“It’s a little bit funny to say this when we’re having sirens and we’re walking into a shelter, but this is actually the fact,” Hulata said.
CNN's Erin Burnett speaks to former Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata, who says the country is making "a lot of progress" in the conflict with Iran.
Trump spoke on the flight back from Delaware. Catch up on his comments and other headlines
US President Donald Trump reiterated Saturday that he wants to be involved in the selection of Iran’s next leader, saying he doesn’t “want to come back every 10 years.”
Here’s what else we heard from the president, plus other headlines from the past couple hours:
- Dignified transfer: Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance joined top military officials to observe the dignified transfer of the six US Army Reserve soldiers who were killed this week in Kuwait. In remarks to reporters on Air Force One following the transfer, Trump recognized the somber moment, saying, “It’s a very sad day.”
- More from Trump: The US president cast blame on Tehran for the strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers, despite analysis by CNN and experts suggesting the US military was likely responsible. Trump also slammed the United Kingdom for “finally giving serious thought” to deploying aircraft carriers in the Middle East, hours after the British defense ministry said one of its carriers has been put on an increased state of readiness. And the president said the United States does not want the Kurdish armed forces involved in the war with Iran, contradicting previous efforts by the CIA.
- Iranian official calls out Trump: “We will not let Trump go, he must pay the price,” Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, said in an interview. Larijani also said Trump’s war against Iran is the result of an “international miscalculation,” in that the US president thought he could repeat the Venezuela model, but is now caught in a strategic deadlock.
- More strikes coming: Israel will continue to strike Iran “with all our might,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday. In a recorded statement, Netanyahu claimed Israel and the US have achieved “almost complete control” over the skies of Iran and that there are “many more targets and surprises prepared.”
- Fresh attacks in Lebanon: The Israel Defense Forces is striking what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut. A CNN team saw thick smoke rising from the southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital.
- Word from Bahrain: A senior Bahraini official welcomed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s apology to neighboring states for recent strikes, saying in a statement that “Bahrain has always supported dialogue and de-escalation.” But the official added: “What we hear in statements must be reflected in actions on the ground, and unfortunately drones and missiles are still being launched toward Bahrain, and the Arab Gulf states.”
CNN’s Haley Britzky, Kit Maher, Alessandra Freitas, Aleena Fayaz, Riane Lumer, Rashard Rose, Kit Maher, Tal Shalev, Benjamin Brown, Dana Karni and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.
Anti-war demonstrators gather in New York to protest conflict in Iran
Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Manhattan on Saturday to speak out against the ongoing US military action in Iran, saying the White House should focus on issues affecting Americans, not an armed conflict abroad.
Protesters chanted, “No war on Iran,” and held signs reading, “Money for people’s needs not war with Iran,” and, “Stop the war on Iran.”
Etan Mabourakh, whose family fled Iran before the 1979 revolution, said the Iranian-American community is frustrated watching the conflict escalate without an end in sight.
Mabourakh, who is an organizing manager with the National Iranian American Council, also said President Donald Trump has broken his promise to not engage in wars abroad.
Dave Robinson, who joined the demonstration, expressed frustration with Congress for failing to act as a check on the executive branch.
Some demonstrators, including members of the Iranian-American community, said they were highly skeptical of Trump’s motivation to scale up the conflict, adding that they think regime change should be determined by Iranian citizens.
2 attack drones shot down over Erbil in northern Iraq, security source says
Two explosive-laden drones were shot down over the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil on Saturday, a security source told CNN.
According to the source, the drones were shot down around 11p.m. local time, the same time a CNN team on the ground heard loud explosions and air defenses firing into the sky.
Both drones were intercepted, the source said, but debris from one fell into a residential neighbourhood.
The source did not specify the intended target, but Iran and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq have repeatedly targeted the US Consulate and the American base near the Erbil airport since the US and Israel began their aerial bombardment.
Israel strikes Iranian oil storage sites in next phase of war, Israeli source says
Israel has begun striking oil storage sites in Iran as part of the next phase of the war, an Israeli source told CNN.
The Israeli military said it struck fuel sites in Tehran on Saturday evening that distribute fuel “to various consumers, including military entities in Iran.”
“This is a significant strike that constitutes an additional step in deepening the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Video from Reuters also showed flames and smoke rising from the Shahran oil refinery in Tehran.
On Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Israel was moving to the next phase of the operation, but he did not detail what the coming steps entailed. In a video statement, Zamir said, “In this phase, we will further dismantle the regime and its military capabilities. We have additional surprises ahead which I do not intend to disclose.”
Trump wants to be involved in picking Iran's leader, doesn't "want to come back every 10 years"
President Donald Trump reiterated Saturday that he wants to be involved in the selection of Iran’s next leader, saying he doesn’t “want to come back every 10 years.”
Earlier this week, Trump told Axios he must be “involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader.
He previously told CNN he was open to having a religious leader in Iran.
“Well, I may be, yeah. I mean, it depends on who the person is. I don’t mind religious leaders. I deal with a lot of religious leaders and they are fantastic,” Trump told CNN.
Trump rules out help of Kurdish forces in the Iran war
President Donald Trump said the United States does not want Iranian Kurdish groups involved in the war with Iran, contradicting previous efforts by the CIA, reported by CNN, to arm them in the hopes of sparking an uprising.
“We’re not looking to the Kurds going in. We’re very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don’t want to make the war anymore complex than it already is,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Saturday.
“Yeah, I have ruled it out. I don’t want the Kurds going in. … They’re willing to go in, but I’ve told them, I don’t want them to go in,” Trump said. “The war’s complicated enough without having — getting the Kurds involved.”
Sources previously told CNN that the CIA was working to stoke an uprising in Iran by arming the Kurdish forces, and they said that the Trump administration had been in active discussions with Iranian opposition groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq about providing them with military support.
As CNN has reported, the Kurds, an ethnic minority group, make up about 8% to 17% of the Iranian population, according to British government estimates, and they have historically sought greater independence and improved rights. There are also Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
Dignified transfer was a “sad day” but deaths are “part of war,” Trump says
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One following the dignified transfer of the six service members killed this week in Kuwait, recognized the somber moment, saying, “It’s a very sad day.”
When asked about whether the ceremony made him reconsider the war, Trump doubled down on the US military operation and said, “We’re winning the war by a lot.”
He went on to say that the parents of the killed service members “were so proud” and that such deaths are “always a very sad thing.”
The president has previously said there will likely be more US casualties in the Iran war. Asked Saturday whether he thought he would have to attend more dignified transfers, Trump said, “I’m sure. I hate to … but it’s a part of war.”
Trump blasts UK for "finally" considering deploying aircraft carriers
President Donald Trump on Saturday slammed the United Kingdom for “finally giving serious thought” to deploying aircraft carriers, hours after the British defense ministry said one of its carriers has been put on an increased state of readiness.
“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” Trump said on Truth Social.
The president then addressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer directly, threatening that the US will “remember” the move.
“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!,” Trump said.
Britain’s defense ministry also announced earlier Saturday that the US has started using British bases “for specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region.”
Asked by reporters on Air Force One about the British government’s offer of use of bases, Trump reiterated that the move it is too late.
“We don’t need them. It’s not the right time. It would have been nice to have had them two weeks ago,” Trump said.
Some context: The aircraft carrier’s state of readiness doesn’t mean that the British government has decided to deploy the HMS Prince of Wales nor that the warship cannot be involved in other planned missions, CNN understands.
Starmer has sought to distinguish between the Americans’ operations, and initally denied the US permission to use British bases for offensive strikes on Iran.
Trump says strike on girls' school was "done by Iran," contradicting analyses
President Donald Trump on Saturday cast blame upon Iran for the strike on an elementary school in southern Iran that killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers, contradicting analyses from CNN, other media outlets and experts that suggested the US military was likely responsible.
“Based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump further characterized Iranian munitions as “very inaccurate.”
Asked by a reporter whether that was true, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “We’re certainly investigating. But the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”
The White House has not previously ruled out that US military personnel carried out the strike. Iran has blamed the US for the Minab school strike, according to Iranian state media.
CNN previously reported that satellite imagery, geolocated videos, public statements from US officials and the assessment of munitions experts suggest that the Shajare Tayyiba elementary school in Minab was hit on February 28 at around the same time as an attack that American forces likely carried out on a neighboring Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval base.
CNN’s Caitlin Hu contributed to this report.
This post has been updated with additional information.
