Here's the latest
• Iran’s threat: Iran’s military declared it is ready to close the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely if US President Donald Trump carries out a threat to bomb its power plants. Separately, an Iranian source told CNN that Tehran is moving forward with monetizing control of the critical waterway.
• Strikes on Israel: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned Tehran after a missile attack on the southern Israeli city of Arad, which injured at least 84 people.
• Death toll climbs: The number of people reported killed in Iran and Lebanon since the start of the conflict is now into the thousands. Anti-war protests haven take place in several cities around the world this weekend.
NATO chief "absolutely convinced" alliance will reopen Strait of Hormuz
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Sunday that he is “absolutely convinced” that the alliance will be able to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to Fox News, Rutte addressed the sharp criticism US President Donald Trump has levied at the alliance.
Rutte argued that the secret nature of the military operation required NATO countries to take time to calibrate their response.
“European allies and partners all over the world have used the last couple of weeks to make sure that we come together. They start planning to see what we can do collectively as allies, as partners of the United States,” the NATO chief said.
He also called the US operation “crucial” due to the “existential threat” from Iran.
CNN’s Anna Cooban reports that analysts are warning that oil and gas prices could hit new highs the longer the Iran war blocks the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz if US targets energy infrastructure
Iran’s military vowed to close the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely if the US follows through on President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb power plants.
Iran’s military added that if the country’s energy infrastructure is targeted, the critical waterway would not be reopened until any power plants damaged or destroyed in US strikes are rebuilt. It also said that all Israeli energy and communications infrastructure will be targeted, as well as “similar companies in the region with U.S. shareholders.”
If you’re just tuning in, we’re tracking developments in the US-Israeli war with Iran. Catch up on the latest:
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals in the Middle East. This comes after the US threatened to target Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened within 48 hours.
- Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said threats against Iran “only strengthen our unity.” Pezeshkian posted on X, “The Strait of Hormuz is open to all except those who violate our soil. We firmly confront delirious threats on the battlefield.”
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has expressed hope that nuclear talks between the US and Iran could be reestablished in the event of a cessation of fighting. Asked whether he has spoken to the White House about IAEA inspections inside Iran, Grossi said: ‘We are considering these options, of course.”
- Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanese infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Sunday and said that they are a “prelude to a ground invasion” and in “clear violation” of international law.
- Israel’s military said it has intercepted the majority of more than 400 ballistic missiles that Iran has fired at Israel since the start of the US-Israeli war. The Israeli military also said in a statement that it is examining whether friendly fire killed a civilian in the northern Israeli community of Misgav Am.
- Iran’s latest internet shutdown, now in its fourth week, is heightening the “wartime distress” being experienced by millions of civilians across the country, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks.
- Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, called on Israel and the US to spare civilian infrastructure, following earlier reports that thousands of civilian units in the country have been damaged.
- A new poll from CBS News and YouGov found that two-thirds of Americans see the war with Iran as a choice rather than a necessity.
CNN’s Tim Lister, Eyad Kourdi, Kara Fox, Billy Stockwell and Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
Israeli settlers launch attacks in West Bank amid surge in violence against Palestinians
Israeli settlers launched widespread attacks on several Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, setting homes and vehicles on fire and injuring at least 11 Palestinians, according to eyewitnesses and activist groups.
In one of the most severe attacks, video obtained by CNN shows settlers torching cars and property in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, with thick plumes of smoke rising from the area. CCTV footage from the village shows dozens of hooded and masked settlers charging down a street armed with clubs.
The Sumud Network activist group said settlers attacked Jalud and nearby Qaryout in waves, vandalizing and torching more than 10 homes.
A similar attack unfolded in Fundiqmiya, which lies to the north of Nablus, where a large group of settlers raided the village, smashing cars and setting fire to at least two homes, according to Sumud and videos from the scene.
Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the Palestinian National Initiative, said settlers are exploiting the war with Iran “to launch massive terrorist attacks on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.” Barghouti said settlers even torched the emergency room in the medical clinic in Jalud.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on the overnight wave of settler violence.
The attacks came after an Israeli settler was killed in a car crash with a Palestinian resident in the village of Beit Imrin earlier Saturday. The Israeli military said it was examining the possibility of that the accident was an intentional attack. According to Israeli activists, settlers issued calls to avenge the settler’s death.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the start of the war with Iran. Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, said last week that there had been an average of 10 settler attacks per day on Palestinians since the beginning of March.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have done little to effectively stop the wave of attacks, despite condemnation of the violence by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
“Anyone who thinks these actions contribute to security is wrong. They are morally and ethically reprehensible, and they cause extraordinary strategic damage to the IDF’s efforts,” he said last week.
Israel strikes crucial bridge in Lebanon as it accelerates attacks on infrastructure
Israel struck a critical bridge today over the Litani River, which connects southern Lebanon with the rest of the country.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports from the scene:
The Israeli military struck a critical bridge in Southern Lebanon over the Litani River on Sunday amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned Israeli attacks on infrastructure as a “dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier the military would accelerate its demolition of homes along the southern Lebanese border and destroy all bridges over the Litani River.
The military also confirmed the destruction of two major bridges over the Litani River this week, effectively isolating civilians south of the river who were unable to evacuate before the strikes, while also cutting off food and medical supply routes.
CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Kara Fox and Eugenia Yosef contributed to this report.
Israeli military examining whether friendly fire killed civilian in northern Israel
The Israeli military is examining whether friendly fire killed a civilian in the northern Israeli community of Misgav Am, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The IDF and emergency responders had initially blamed the incident on Hezbollah in Lebanon. It would’ve marked the first civilian killed by Hezbollah since the start of the war with Iran. It is unclear what led the IDF to examine the possibility that it was friendly fire.
“The IDF is conducting a comprehensive investigation involving all relevant authorities following the fire toward Misgav Am this morning, in which an Israeli civilian was killed. The possibility that the incident involved fire originating from IDF soldiers is being examined,” the IDF said in its statement.
US Agriculture secretary says US food prices unlikely to spike due to Iran war
US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said today rising fertilizer costs from the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz are unlikely to lead to higher food prices in the US, even as global supply chains face renewed strain.
Rollins told Fox News a majority of US farmers submitted fertilizer orders last fall, so there “shouldn’t be too much of a disruption or an increase in the cost of planting for at least most of our farmers.”
Rollins echoed previous remarks by President Donald Trump that the war’s impact on food prices is a “temporary conflict.”
Remember: Many countries in the Middle East rely on the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most critical shipping routes – for the transfer of a majority of food imports. The World Food Programme has warned supply chains could face their most severe disruption with the US-Israeli war with Iran since the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Son of Iran's last shah asks Israel and US to spare civilian infrastructure
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, called on Israel and the United States today to spare civilian infrastructure in their strikes on Iran, following earlier reports that thousands of civilian units in the country have been damaged.
Pahlavi did, however, express his continued support for the US and Israel’s targeting of the Iranian regime and its “apparatus of repression.”
Pahlavi went on to ask US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “continue targeting the regime and its apparatus of repression, while sparing the civilian infrastructure Iranians will need to rebuild our country.”
Strikes across Iran have damaged more than 80,000 civilian units, including medical centers, schools and ambulances, Iran’s Red Crescent Society reported earlier today, according to Iranian media. CNN cannot independently verify the figures or the circumstances of the reported damage and has reached out to US Central Command and the Israeli military for comment.
US envoy to UN echoes Trump’s threats to Iran power plants as tensions rise
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz addressed the latest tensions surrounding the war with Iran in a series of Sunday TV show interviews.
Here are key lines from Waltz:
- Trump’s threats against Iran’s power plants: Waltz reinforced President Donald Trump’s warning that the United States would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. “He will start by attacking and destroying one of Iran’s largest power plants,” Waltz said on “Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo” when asked what the president would do if the Strait was not reopened by Monday night. “There are gas-fired thermal power plants and other type of plants.”
- Potential war crime?: Asked whether targeting energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime, Waltz pointed to Iran’s own actions. “I would encourage and will encourage the (UN) secretary general to point out the 20 to 30,000 Iranians that the regime massacred at scale,” Waltz said on CBS’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” He added, “I have no doubt that the president, the Pentagon, their team, will ensure that what they target is geared towards the military infrastructure of Iran.”
- On the Strait of Hormuz: Waltz said the US could reopen the Strait of Hormuz either by itself or in coordination with allies. “I think it can be both. It’s not necessarily mutually exclusive,” Waltz said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Waltz’s comments follow Trump’s criticism of NATO allies on Friday, when he called them “cowards” for not helping the US reopen the strategic waterway.
Iran's president says threats "only strengthen our unity" following Trump ultimatum
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today that threats against Iran “only strengthen our unity” after US President Donald Trump vowed to attack the country’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz is “fully opened.”
Trump said Saturday he would “hit and obliterate” Tehran’s infrastructure if the critical waterway was not fully open to shipping within 48 hours.
Iran’s armed forces headquarters declared earlier today that it is ready to close the strait indefinitely if Trump carries out his threat.
Long war in Iran will help Putin, Zelensky warns as Russia begins Ukraine offensive
Russian forces have begun a spring offensive in eastern Ukraine which includes the use of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, according to the Ukrainian military and analysts.
The assault is gathering pace as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has a “very bad feeling” about the consequences of the Middle East conflict for his country.
“You see that our diplomatic meetings, trilateral meetings, are constantly postponed. There is one reason: war in Iran,” he told the BBC in an interview today.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin will want a long war. For Putin, a long war in Iran is a plus,” he said – as rising oil prices and the suspension of US sanctions on some Russian crude benefits the country’s economy.
Against that background, Russia is stepping up assaults in eastern Ukraine.
“With changing weather conditions, the Russian aggressor has stepped up pressure across several sections of the front,” Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Friday.
“This battalion-sized assault is considerably larger than most Russian mechanized assaults in recent months,” noted the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Read more about the developments in Ukraine in our full article here.
Deaths reported in Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Qatar, as conflict enters fourth week
The number of people reported killed in the Middle East continues to grow into the thousands as the conflict enters a fourth week, according to a CNN tally of regional figures.
Hundreds of children are among the dead in countries including Iran, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), and Lebanon, the country’s health ministry says.
CNN is not able to independently verify these numbers.
Here’s what we know about the number of people reportedly killed in the Middle East since the war began on February 28:
- Iran: Iranian authorities have not released information about the overall number of people killed in the country in some time. On Monday, Iran’s foreign minister said that “hundreds of Iranian civilians,” including more than 200 children, have been killed since the conflict began. The US-based rights group HRANA said yesterday that at least 1,406 civilians, including 210 children, and 1,167 military personnel have been killed in the same time frame. Another 657 people have been killed, HRANA said, but it has not yet been determined if they were civilian or military.
- Lebanon: At least 1,029 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since March 2, its health ministry said today. At least 118 children are among those killed, it said yesterday.
- Iraq: At least 61 members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have been killed since the conflict began, the paramilitary umbrella group said in a statement. An additional five people from Iranian Kurdish groups, an Iraqi Kurdish security member, and a French soldier have been killed in Iraqi Kurdistan, the groups and the Kurdistan Regional Government told CNN earlier this week.
- Israel: At least 16 people have been killed by strikes inside Israel in the past three weeks, including nine who were killed in a direct missile hit on a residential building the first weekend of the war, and a man who was found dead in a vehicle after a direct missile hit on an Israeli community on the border with Lebanon today. The IDF said late Sunday it is investigating the incident as a possible case of friendly fire. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon on March 8, according to the Israeli military.
- US: Thirteen US service members have been killed since the start of the conflict, including six who died when their refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12. Another six US service members were killed in an Iranian strike on a makeshift operations center in Kuwait on March 1, while a different US soldier died nearly a week after sustaining injuries during an attack on Saudi Arabia the same day, according to CENTCOM.
- UAE: In a statement yesterday, the United Arab Emirates said that two members of its armed forces have been killed because of “attacks” since the conflict began, as well as six other people of Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi and Palestinian nationalities.
- Kuwait: At least six people have been killed in attacks on Kuwait in the last three weeks, including an 11-year-old girl who died from injuries sustained when shrapnel fell on a residential area on March 4, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency.
- Qatar: Seven people were killed when on a helicopter crashed in Qatar this morning, according to the country’s interior ministry. Qatar’s Defense Ministry said the helicopter crashed due to a “technical malfunction” while on routine duty. Among those on board were three Turkish nationals, according to Turkey’s foreign ministry. It is unclear whether the deaths were related to the ongoing conflict.
- West Bank: Four Palestinian women, including a 32-year-old who was six months pregnant, were killed after rocket fragments struck a hair salon in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian authorities said. The Israeli military said an Iranian ballistic missile packed with cluster munitions was to blame.
- Oman: At least three foreign nationals have been killed in or off the coast of Oman since the conflict started. Two foreign nationals were killed in a drone “crash” in the country’s Sohar district, its defense ministry said on March 13.
- Bahrain: At least two people have been killed in Bahrain since the conflict began, including a 29-year-old Bahraini woman who died after an Iranian strike on the capital Manama, according to Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior.
- Saudi Arabia: Two people, an Indian and a Bangladeshi national, were killed after a military projectile struck a residential building in the city of Al-Kharj on March 8, Saudi Civil Defense said.
CNN’s Eyad Kourdi, Charbel Mallo, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Dana Karni, Tal Shalev, Oren Liebermann, Tamar Michaelis, Eugenia Yosef, Ibrahim Dahman, Haley Britzky, Brad Lendon, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Isabelle D’Antonio, Jessie Yeung, Abeer Salman, Hira Humayun, Jeremy Diamond, Laura Sharman, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Rhea Mogul contributed to this reporting.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Israel's attacks on Lebanon are a "prelude to a ground invasion," Lebanese president says
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanese infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Sunday, saying that they are a “prelude to a ground invasion” and in “clear violation” of international law.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military was to accelerate their demolition of homes along the southern Lebanese border and destroy all bridges over the Litani River, which connects southern Lebanon with the rest of the country.
Aoun said that the targeting of the Litani River bridges “falls within suspicious plans to establish a buffer zone, entrench the reality of occupation, and pursue Israeli expansion into Lebanese territory.”
The Lebanese president called on the international community, including the UN and members of the Security Council to take action to “deter Israel.”
IAEA chief hopes US-Iran talks can be reestablished
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi has expressed hope that nuclear discussions between the US and Iran could be reestablished in the event of a cessation of fighting.
Asked whether he had spoken to the White House about the prospect of IAEA officials entering Iran to inspect the country’s nuclear program, Grossi said: “We are considering these options, of course.”
“Iran is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, so they have a contractual obligation to allow our inspectors in,” he told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” in an interview aired earlier today.
The IAEA chief added that “there are some contacts, and we hope to be able to reestablish that line.”
War with Iran will persist “until we bring the regime to its knees,” Israeli diplomat says
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Leiter told CNN’s Dana Bash that Iranian strikes in Arad, Dimona and in the north of Israel, resulted in “a number of fatalities” as well as more than 150 people injured.
Leiter said that Israel will respond by pressing on “until we bring this regime to its knees.”
Bash pressed Leiter on Iran’s missile capabilities despite President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that Tehran’s arsenal has been destroyed.
She brought up Tehran’s recent launch of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean.
Leiter said that Iran launching those missiles underscores what Trump and Netanyahu have said — that Tehran cannot be trusted. “They said they don’t have intercontinental ballistic missiles. Well, now they proved that they do have them.”
Some background: While the attack was unsuccessful, it shows that Iran may not be adhering its self-imposed missile range limit of 2,000 kilometers, raising concerns about whether Tehran could hit US and European interests farther away than previously thought.
However, sources told CNN late last month that there was no intelligence to suggest that Iran is pursuing an intercontinental ballistic missile program to hit the US at this time.
Two thirds of Americans call war with Iran a "war of choice" in new CBS News poll
A new poll from CBS News and YouGov finds deepening opposition to the war with Iran, as two-thirds of Americans see it as a war of choice rather than necessity.
All told, 66% say they would describe the war as one of choice while 34% say it’s a war of necessity. Democrats (92%) and independents (73%) broadly see it as a conflict of choice, while Republicans mostly see it as a war of necessity (67%) with a sizable minority saying it is a war of choice (33%).
Americans are almost universally agreed that it’s important to “end the conflict as quickly as possible.” 92% feel that way, while 80% consider it important to “make sure Iran’s people are safe and free,” 73% to “permanently stop Iran’s nuclear programs,” and 68% to “stop Iran from threatening other countries.”
The public splits, though, over whether it’s important to “change Iran’s leaders to ones that are pro-US” (49% say it is, 51% that it’s not) and over whether it’s acceptable to end the conflict with Iran’s current leadership and regime still in power (47% say that’s acceptable, 53% that it is not).
The CBS News/YouGov poll was conducted online March 17-20 among a random national sample of 3,335 adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
Iran's military says Hormuz will be "completely closed" if US bombs power plants
Iran’s armed forces headquarters has declared it is ready to close the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely if US President Donald Trump carries out a threat to bomb Iran’s power plants.
Its statement Sunday is the latest warning from Tehran of retribution for any attacks on the country’s power industry.
Trump said Saturday he would order the bombardment of such infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully open to shipping within 48 hours.
Iran’s military responded Sunday that if the US threats regarding Iran’s power plants are carried out, the Strait of Hormuz will be completely closed and will not be reopened until destroyed power plants are rebuilt.
It also said that all Israeli energy and communications infrastructure will be targeted, as well as “similar companies in the region with U.S. shareholders.”
The “power plants of regional countries hosting US bases will be legitimate targets for us,” the military headquarters added.
Earlier, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a post on X that critical infrastructure and energy facilities in the Middle East could be “irreversibly destroyed” should Iranian power plants be targeted.
People around the world have protested against the war in Iran
People in countries across the world have demonstrated against the US and Israel’s war with Iran this weekend.
Here’s a look at where some of these protests took place:
Israel: In Tel Aviv, some protesters painted their hands red, while others held up signs. One large sign read “stop the war,” while another stated “arms embargo now.” People also held homemade placards with a variety of slogans, including “US and Israel = the axis of evil” and “who will protect Palestinians from Israel’s oppression?”
UK: People holding placards reading “stop (US President Donald) Trump’s wars” and “stop bombing Iran” took to the streets of London yesterday, with some gathering outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the prime minister.
At a Royal Air Force base in Fairford, Gloucestershire, which is also used by United States Air Force (USAF) personnel, demonstrators held posters including “hands off Iran,” “stop killing people” and “how many kids did you help kill today?”
Germany: Crowds also demonstrated in Berlin yesterday. At one stand dedicated to the victims of a strike on an Iranian elementary school at the start of the war, a poster read “Killed by USA and Israel - 168 little schoolgirls”
Spain: Protesters in Madrid held banners including “no to war” and “peace” in demonstrations yesterday. Many people also waved Palestinian flags.
India: In Indian Kashmir, Shi’ite muslims took to the streets yesterday holding portraits of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wearing black clothes in mourning.
Israel escalates attacks in Lebanon as Iran vows retaliation if US bombs power plants
The US-Israeli war with Iran and the subsequent regional fallout has now entered a fourth week, with thousands of people killed across the region.
Strikes on Iran and Lebanon continued today, as have Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on its neighbors.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know.
- Israel’s military has been ordered to speed up the demolition of homes along the southern Lebanese border and to destroy all bridges over the Litani River, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
- Iran has vowed to “irreversibly” destroy infrastructure across the region if US President Donald Trump carries out his threat to bomb Iran’s power plants.
- Seven people on board a helicopter in Qatar were killed after it crashed, according to the country’s ministry of defense.
- Strikes across Iran have damaged more than 80,000 civilian units, including medical centers, schools and ambulances, Iran’s Red Crescent Society reported, according to Iranian media.
- Iran’s parliamentary speaker appeared to reject the Trump administration’s move to grant a temporary license for Iran to sell oil that has been sitting afloat on tankers.
- Pope Leo condemned war in the Middle East as a “scandal to the entire human family and a cry before God,” in his weekly prayer at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, according to the Vatican’s official news outlet.
- An Iranian source told CNN that Tehran is moving forward with monetizing control over the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran controls who passes and on what terms.
CNN’s Kara Fox, Eugenia Yosef, Tim Lister, Ibrahim Dahman, Billy Stockwell, Frederik Pleitgen and Sophie Tanno contributed to this reporting.
Treasury Secretary says "all options on the table" as threats to Middle East escalate
President Donald Trump will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals in the Middle East, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, after the US threatened to target Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened within 48 hours.
Strikes targeting oil and gas facilities in the Middle East, combined with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, have pushed oil prices higher since the start of the war.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled above $112 a barrel on Friday. US crude oil rose 2.27% to $98.32 per barrel. Goldman Sachs suggested those triple-digit prices could stay until 2027.
When asked about the war’s effect on the US economy, Bessent said Americans would choose “50 days of temporary elevated prices,” if it meant 50 years of peace in the Middle East.
But the “50 days” were just an example, he said, declining to say when prices could begin to come down.
Bessent said the $14 billion that Iran could get in oil revenue from the US lifting sanctions is “overstated” because the US is using Iran’s oil against them.
“In essence, we are ‘jiu-jitsuing’ the Iranians: we are using their own oil against them,” he added.
Israeli military says it has intercepted 92% of Iran's ballistic missiles
Israel’s military says that it has intercepted the majority of more than 400 ballistic missiles that Iran has fired at Israel since the start of the US-Israeli war.
“We have had great interception rates — approximately 92% successful interception rate,” Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said at a press briefing today.
His comments come after Iranian missiles struck the cities of Arad and Dimona in southern Israel on Saturday night, which injured over 85 people.
The strike of Arad injured at least 84 people and several people were also wounded in the attack on Dimona.
