Here's the latest
• “No room” for diplomacy: A top Iranian official told CNN that Tehran is prepared for a long war and signaled that it is willing to continue attacking Persian Gulf countries in an effort to convince President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict.
• On the ground: Israel said it was carrying out a “wide-scale wave” of strikes in three areas of Iran. Turkey said NATO air defenses shot down another Iranian missile as it entered Turkish airspace. Over 1,700 people have died since the war began.
• Oil prices soar: G7 nations “are not there yet” on releasing oil reserves, according to France’s finance minister, with oil surging past $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022. US gas prices have now increased nearly 50 cents since the start of the war.
• New leader: Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei has been named the next supreme leader, which Trump called “a big mistake.” The US president will hold a news conference at 5:30 p.m. ET.
British jets intercept drones in defense of Jordan and Bahrain, UK says
British fighter jets took out an unmanned aerial vehicle in defense of Jordan and intercepted another drone heading toward Bahrain overnight, the British Ministry of Defence said Monday.
The UK has also started conducting defensive flights in support of the United Arab Emirates, the ministry added.
The moves come after the UK announced it would deploy additional military resources to the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean to help defend its allies and bases.
The ministry said additional Wildcat helicopters have arrived in Cyprus after a British airbase on the Mediterranean island was hit by a drone attack last week.
US State Department has facilitated over two dozen charter flights from Middle East
The US State Department has facilitated “over two dozen charter flights and has safely evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East,” a senior State Department official said today.
Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson said in a statement Monday that “at this time, seats available on the Department’s charter options are significantly greater than the demand from Americans in the region.”
“Many Americans continue to depart on commercial options,” he said.
Johnson said the State Department’s task force had “directly assisted over 23,000 Americans abroad, offering security guidance and travel assistance.”
He called on US citizens in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel in need of travel assistance to complete the Crisis Intake Form.
“Americans in the Middle East who need assistance can call the U.S. Department of State, 24/7, at +1-202-501-4444,” he added.
Erdogan warns Iran against "provocative steps" after missile enters Turkish airspace
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Iran against any further “provocative steps” after an Iranian ballistic missile entered Turkish airspace.
He urged Iran to refrain from any actions that “cast a shadow over our thousand-year neighborly and brotherly ties,” saying it was continuing to take “extremely wrong and provocative steps” despite “sincere warnings” from Turkey.
His remarks, reported by state news agency Anadolu, came after a ballistic missile fired from Iran entered Turkish airspace before being neutralized by NATO air and missile defense assets in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey’s defense ministry said on X that debris from the missile fell on vacant land in Gaziantep in south-central Turkey, and that there were no casualties or injuries.
Erdogan said Turkish forces have been on alert since the start of the conflict and that Turkey is monitoring its airspace around the clock using F-16s, airborne early warning aircraft and tanker planes.
France to deploy 10 warships and aircraft carrier as defensive measure, Macron says
French President Emmanuel Macron has said his country will deploy eight frigates, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea as a defensive measure.
“Our objective is to maintain a strictly defensive posture, standing alongside all countries attacked by Iran in its retaliation, to ensure our credibility, and to contribute to regional de-escalation,” Macron said in Cyprus.
Speaking later to troops aboard the Charles de Gaulle, the president said France would also work to preserve freedom of navigation and potentially restore movement in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are not participating in an ongoing conflict, and we are operating within this framework. Your presence here today demonstrates France’s strength, that of a power for balance and peace alongside its friends,” he said.
Trump calls elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei to supreme leader a "big mistake"
President Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview today that the elevation of Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to be the the next supreme leader of Iran is a “big mistake.”
“I think they made a big mistake,” Trump said. “I don’t know if it’s going to last. I think they made a mistake.”
The president has previously said Mojtaba would be an “unacceptable” choice and Israel vowed to target any successor.
At least 192 Iranian students and teachers killed by US-Israeli strikes, state media says
The joint US-Israeli military assault in Iran has killed at least 192 students and teachers, Iranian state media reported citing the education ministry.
The figure emerged as media reports indicated a US strike on an Iranian base next to an elementary school in southern Iran likely killed 168 school children last week – in the single deadliest attack so far. The White House – which has not ruled out that US military personnel launched the strike – is “still investigating” the attack, US Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday.
A further 154 teachers and student have been injured since the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran on February 28, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said late Sunday. Sixty-six schools have been damaged or destroyed, the agency added.
On Monday, at least 15 students were killed at Payam-e Noor University in Tehran, according to Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA.
Over the weekend, a senior UN humanitarian official warned the “tolerance for the killing of children seems to be expanding.”
More than 1,700 people have died in the Middle East since the conflict started
It has now been nine days since the US and Israel first launched their attacks on Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran and escalating tensions in the region significantly.
Israel has also been bombarding Lebanon since last Monday, killing hundreds and injuring more than a thousand, according to the country’s health ministry.
Earlier today, a priest in south Lebanon was killed by Israeli tank fire, according to Lebanon’s state National News Agency (NNA).
As the conflict continues, here’s what we know about the death toll in the region since the war began on February 28:
- Iran: At least 1,205 civilians have been killed in Iran since the US and Israel began attacking the country, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The total includes 194 children. Another 187 members of the military have also been killed during this time, HRANA said.
- Lebanon: At least 486 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel began strikes on the country last week, the country’s health ministry said today. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in southern Lebanon early Sunday morning, according to the Israeli military.
- Iraq: Thirteen members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces have been killed in US-Israeli strikes on the country, the Iran-backed militia told CNN. Another three Iranian Kurdish fighters and one security member of the Kurdistan Regional Government have also been killed in the conflict, the groups and KRG confirmed to CNN.
- Kuwait: At least 12 people have been killed in Kuwait, including six US service members, two Kuwaiti service members, and two Kuwaiti security personnel, according to CENTCOM, Kuwait’s army and the country’s interior ministry.
- Israel: At least 11 people have been killed by strikes in Israel since the war began, according to Israel’s emergency services Magen David Adom. Nine of these people were killed in a direct missile hit on a residential building on the city of Beit Shemesh, MDA said.
- UAE: At least three people were killed by Iranian drones in the United Arab Emirates, according to the country’s defense ministry. A Pakistani national was also killed in Dubai after debris from a missile intercepted by air defenses fell into a neighborhood, Pakistan’s embassy in the United Arab Emirates said Sunday.
- Saudi Arabia: Two people were killed after a military projectile struck a residential facility in the city of Al-Kharj, Saudi Civil Defense said. A US service member has also died from their injuries after an attack on US troops in Saudi Arabia on the second day of the war.
- Bahrain: One person was killed after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media said last Monday.
- Oman: An Indian national was killed after an unmanned boat attacked an oil tanker he was working on 52 nautical miles off the Omani coast, the Oman News Agency reported.
CNN’s Charbel Mallo, Lauren Kent, Nechirvan Mando, Aqeel Najim, Haley Britzky, Ruba Alhenawi, Jessie Yeung, Sophie Tanno, Mostafa Salem, Abbas Al Lawati, Tal Shalev, Dana Karni, Oren Liebermann, Tamar Michaelis, Michelle Velez, Hanna Park, Rhea Mogul, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Antoinette Radford, Eyad Kourdi and Ayushi Shah contributed to this reporting.
Thousands of residential buildings damaged in airstrikes, Iranian Red Crescent says
The Iranian Red Crescent said Monday that thousands of civilian structures across Iran have been damaged since the US and Israel launched strikes on the country.
The humanitarian organization’s president, Pirhossein Kolivand, said a total of 13,785 civilian units had been affected. Of those, 11,293 were residential buildings, while 2,383 were commercial properties.
Educational facilities, including 65 schools, had also been damaged, Kolivand said.
The Iranian Red Crescent did not provide details on the locations of the damaged structures or the extent of the destruction at individual sites.
Trump will hold news conference tonight as war enters second week
President Donald Trump says he will convene a press conference Monday evening as the war in Iran enters a second week. It’s his first formal question-and-answer session since the conflict began.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said he would hold the event at the ballroom of his golf club in Florida.
“I will hold a News Conference from a Doral Ballroom at approximately 5:30 P.M.,” Trump wrote.
He said he had been taking “many important meetings and phone calls taking place today” while he is in Florida.
Trump was seen driving a golf cart Sunday while spending the weekend in South Florida.
Exclusive: Iran is ready for long war, senior Iranian official tells CNN
A top Iranian official has warned that the government is prepared for a long war with the US and signaled that it is willing to continue attacking Gulf countries in an effort to persuade them to convince President Donald Trump to step back from the conflict.
The warning came in an exclusive CNN interview in Tehran with Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to the office of the Supreme Leader, who ruled out diplomacy for now and said the war would only end through economic pain – signaling a hardening of the government’s stance on day 10 of the conflict.
“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kharazi told CNN on Monday.
“There’s no room unless the economic pressure would be built up to the extent that other countries would intervene to guarantee (the) termination of aggression of Americans and Israelis against Iran,” Kharazi said, suggesting that Gulf Arab countries and beyond need to put pressure on the US to end the war.
“This war has been producing a lot of pressure – economic pressure – on others, in terms of inflation, in terms of lack of energy, and so if it will be continued, this pressure will be built up more, and therefore others have no choice (but) to intervene,” he said.
Editor’s note: CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the Iranian government, as required under local regulations, but maintains full editorial control over what it reports.
Israeli foreign minister on if Mojtaba Khamenei is a target: "You’ll have to wait and see"
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said “it is clear” that Iran’s newly named Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei continues the “very extremist and mad policies of his father,” the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Asked whether Mojtaba Khamenei is target for Israel, Sa’ar told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga: “Well, you’ll have to wait and see.”
Sa’ar described the newly named supreme leader as a “hardliner” who is also “anti-American, he’s anti-Western and you can see already the cracks inside his regime.”
“It is clear that the hardliners are still calling the shots there in Tehran. And frankly with these people you cannot do anything serious if you want to solve conflict,” Sa’ar said, while noting past failed negotiations with the US and Israel.
"This government could be more bloodthirsty": Iranians react to new supreme leader
Waving flags and parading in support of their new head of state, people across Iran pledged their allegiance to new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday. But amid the public ceremonies being held in city squares, there is a quiet undercurrent of fear and unease among many Iranians.
The elevation of Mojtaba — the second son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — suggests that certain factions in the Iranian government, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are determined to double down on his father’s legacy and policies of repression.
“I think people don’t realize that these people, this government could be more bloodthirsty, more coldblooded,” one man in Tehran told CNN. “Honestly, I think people underestimated this whole thing. Things have been bad here, [Ali] Khamenei was terrible, but we had gotten some freedoms.”
Multiple other Khamenei family members were killed in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes as well, according to Iranian state media, which reported the deaths of Mojtaba’s wife, mother, sister and brother-in-law.
Everyone in Iran who spoke to CNN did so remotely and asked for their name to not be published, for fear of retribution.
Even some of those more favorable to the regime expressed uncertainty about the relatively unknown new leader.
“Overall, it seems to be a positive development… I hope that once the war ends, good programs and policies can be proposed afterward,” one man in Tehran said. “One of the main uncertainties, however, is that almost no one is familiar with his precise political positions.”
Trump says Australian prime minister will ensure safety of Iranian soccer players
President Donald Trump said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will ensure the safety Iranian soccer players on the women’s national team after concern spread over their return to their home country.
Trump said Monday that he spoke to Albanese, who he said is “doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation.”
“Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way. Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don’t return,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump’s post came shortly after he said the US would grant asylum to Iranian women’s soccer players if Australia didn’t. Five members of the squad have applied for asylum and are safe with police, a source told CNN Sports.
“Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman’s Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed. Don’t do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won’t,” he said earlier on Truth Social.
There are growing calls to block the players’ exit from Australia for fear of persecution in Iran. Before their first match last week, the players stood silent during the Iranian national anthem, a gesture they didn’t explain but one that was interpreted by some hardliners inside Iran as a sign of treason.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Lebanese women forced to give birth in the street amid ongoing conflict, UN says
Pregnant women fleeing Israeli bombardments in Beirut are resorting to giving birth on the streets while gridlocked in traffic, a Lebanese official to the United Nations (UN) said.
“Women and girls who… are often the hidden victims in a conflict, those are the ones that require our support the most,” UN Population Fund (UNFPA) spokesperson Anandita Philipose told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“We have had reports of women giving birth on the streets of Beirut because they’ve been stuck in traffic trying to get to somewhere safer,” she explained. “Women do not stop giving birth just because there is a conflict. Our job is to make sure that they’re able to do it safely.”
UNFPA are taking action to support vulnerable women and girls by deploying midwives, social workers and mobile support teams to reach women and girls displaced, she said.
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese citizens have been displaced following mass evacuations prompted by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
At least 394 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli attacks since March 2, including 83 children, according to the country’s health ministry.
G7 nations "not there yet" on releasing oil reserves, France says
Finance ministers from the Group of Seven major developed economies met Monday to discuss the possible joint release of strategic oil reserves in response to surging oil prices, but no decisions were made.
“We’re not there yet,” France’s finance minister Roland Lescure told reporters when asked whether the United States, another G7 nation, had agreed to release its oil stockpiles.
“What we’ve agreed is to use any necessary tools, if needed, to stabilize the market, including the potential release of necessary stockpiles. The work is going to continue in the next couple of days… We will obviously keep you posted as we continue working,” he added.
Lescure noted that there were not yet supply problems with oil or natural gas, either in the United States or Europe.
The G7 finance ministers held a virtual meeting, together with the heads of the International Monetary Fund, the International Energy Agency, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and discussed the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and developments in the energy markets and will meet as needed to exchange information and to coordinate within the G7 and with international partners. We stand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release,” the G7 said in a statement after the meeting.
CNN analyst says new supreme leader faces war on 3 fronts, including from his own people
As Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei will confront many challenges as he attempts to navigate war, avoid assassination and quash anti-regime defiance at home, according to a CNN global affairs analyst.
“Mojtaba Khamenei is inheriting a terrible situation from his father,” Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told CNN’s Becky Anderson a short while ago.
“He’s fighting three wars: against America, Israel and his own population,” the fellow observed. “And he’s now trying to elude assassination.”
Sadjadpour said that Mojtaba is likely in hiding underground, “and he’s trying to fight the greatest superpower in the world and the greatest military power in the Middle East … I think he’s, you know, inherited a situation which is going to be very difficult for him to manage.”
But Sadjadpour described the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the power behind Mojtaba, referencing former IRGC intelligence chief Hossein Taeb as an ideologically aligned ally.
Sadjadpour noted that Mojtaba is “dogmatic” like his father and predecessor, who the expert described as “willing to die a martyr rather than compromise.”
Israeli attacks on Iran's fuel facilities prompt concerns inside Trump administration
Israel’s weekend attacks on Iranian oil facilities prompted concern inside the Trump administration and among President Donald Trump’s allies over the scale of the destruction, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the US was aware that Israel planned to target some Iranian fuel depots, some inside the administration were surprised at the scope of the attacks, which created huge plumes of thick black smoke.
The images provided a stark reminder of the war’s toll on Iran’s oil industry, and the wider impact on energy prices. Axios first reported on the administration’s concern over Israel’s targets.
While Trump has appeared nonchalant about rising oil prices — he wrote Sunday they would fall quickly when the war is over — some of his advisers are acutely aware of the political peril of increased fuel costs.
And GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham — perhaps the most staunch supporter in Washington of US military action in Iran — gently suggested Israel be more careful in selecting targets.
“Our allies in Israel have shown amazing capability when it comes to collapsing the murderous regime in Iran. America is most appreciative,” the South Carolina Republican wrote on X. “However, there will be a day soon that the Iranian people will be in charge of their own fate, not the murderous ayatollah’s regime.”
“In that regard, please be cautious about what targets you select,” he went on, linking to an article about the targeted facilities. “Our goal is to liberate the Iranian people in a fashion that does not cripple their chance to start a new and better life when this regime collapses. The oil economy of Iran will be essential to that endeavor.”
After weekend reports that Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were planning to visit Israel in the coming days, a White House official said Monday the pair would not be going. It wasn’t clear whether a trip had ever been firmly on the books.
Gulf nations report fresh aerial attacks as criticism of Iran mounts
Nations in the Middle East have reported fresh aerial attacks today as Iran stands accused of escalating the conflict due to its retaliatory strikes across the region.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that Tehran would stop striking its neighbors unless any attacks on Iran originated from those countries, during an apology he made to Persian Gulf neighbors.
Saudi Arabia accused Iran today of not reflecting that statement “in practice,” while saying the “continued Iranian attacks represent further escalation.” Not all of the Gulf countries directly named Iran in their statements today.
The UAE’s ministry of defense said it had detected 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones today, as of 3.30 p.m. local time. Two people were injured in Abu Dhabi as a result of falling debris following a “successful interception” by air defence systems, the city’s media office said.
Qatar’s armed forces intercepted a fresh “missile attack” on Monday afternoon, the ministry of defense said. As of Monday afternoon, 17 ballistic missiles and six drones from Iran had been intercepted, it said.
Sirens sounded in Bahrain earlier today, according to the country’s interior ministry, which urged residents to head to the “nearest safe place.”
Saudi Arabia accused Iran earlier today of continuing its attacks on the country based on “baseless claims,” including what it said were false allegations that fighter jets and refueling aircraft in the kingdom were going to participate directly in the war.
Tehran warns Washington it has “many surprises in store”as oil prices surge
Iran warned the US that Tehran is “fully prepared” for battle, and has “many surprises in store,” as the war with the and Israel enters its ninth day and global energy markets remain on edge.
In a post on X today, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Washington of “plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock”.
“Iran is fully prepared. And we, too, have many surprises in store,” he wrote.
Separately, Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, warned security in the Strait of Hormuz will not be easy to achieved.
“It is unlikely that any security will be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amidst the fires of war ignited by the United States and Israel in the region,” Larijani wrote on X, adding that the risk would be heightened if additional parties become involved.
Larijani was responding to French president Emmanuel Macron’s earlier remarks that France was preparing a defensive mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil shipments.
Oil prices have surged amid fears of a wider regional conflict and potential supply disruptions. Crude prices broke above $100 a barrel on Monday for the first time in nearly four years, and analysts have warned prices could climb further if the conflict drags on.
Surging oil prices and tumbling markets: Here's the business news you need to know today
The war in the Middle East has caused the biggest oil disruption in history, according to historical data from Rapidan Energy Group.
Take a look at some of our reporting today about the global oil situation:
- Asian markets endured a day of steep losses as the war with Iran intensified, with oil prices surging past $100 per barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
- European stock markets and US futures also tumbled today.
- G7 finance ministers met today to discuss the potential joint release of strategic oil reserves.
- South Korea will impose its first fuel price cap in almost 30 years amid the global jitters.
- Bahrain’s national oil company has declared force majeure on its operations as the war continues to threaten regional energy sites.
- US gas prices have now increased nearly 50 cents, or about 17%, since the start of the war on February 28.
CNN’s Matt Egan, John Liu, Hanna Ziady, Sebastian Shukla, James Frater, Laura Sharman, Gawon Bae, Martin Goillandeau, Ross Adkin and Chris Isidore contributed reporting.
