Here's the latest
• War “not finished yet”: President Donald Trump said the war is “not finished yet” and the US has “another 3,554” targets left to hit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US can achieve its objectives “without any ground troops” and that the war could end in weeks.
• New deployments: The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is expected to deploy to an area near the conflict, according to a source. It’s unclear if it will join or replace either of the two US aircraft carriers already in the region. More than 1,000 service members are also being deployed.
• Iran nuclear sites targeted: The Bushehr nuclear power plant was hit for the third time. Separately, US-Israeli strikes in western Iran killed at least 20, according to a local official quoted in state media. And in Saudi Arabia, at least 10 US service members were injured in an Iranian attack.
MAGA's mixed reaction to Iran war at CPAC
The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is in full swing in Texas and inside reactions to the Iran war are mixed. CNN Senior Correspondent Donie O’Sullivan reports.
Footage shows damaged shops and buildings following Iranian strike on central Israel
Footage showed damaged shops and buildings in central Israel following an Iranian missile strike late on Friday night.
There were “several impact sites” in the Tel Aviv district shortly before midnight local time, Shay Tiram, the head of Givatayim police station, told the Reuters news agency, adding that no casualties had been reported in the area.
Reuters footage showed debris on the street and rescue teams on the scene.
Earlier in the night the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had reported it had identified missiles launched towards Israel from Iran.
At least one person was killed and four others injured in a cluster munitions strike on Israel. CNN teams witnessed cluster munitions exploding in the sky over Tel Aviv on Friday night.
CNN's Jim Sciutto reports on the latest missile strikes over Tel Aviv, Israel, where at least one person has been killed and four others injured, as cluster munitions rained down on the city.
"Historic hell": Iran’s propaganda warning to US military
With the US sending reinforcements to the Gulf, the Iranian regime has been rolling out propaganda on state media claiming they have more than a million troops organized to fight US forces. CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports.
With the US sending reinforcements to the Gulf, the Iranian regime has been rolling out propaganda on state media claiming they have more than a million troops organized to fight US forces. CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports.
At least 10 US service members injured in attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia
At least 10 US service members were injured in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a US official told CNN. No service members were killed.
At least two of the injured had shrapnel wounds considered not life threatening, and several other service members were “impacted,” though the nature of what happened to them was not immediately clear, another US official said.
A refueler tanker aircraft was also damaged, the first source said.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Australia to underwrite fuel imports to ensure supply amid high oil prices
Australia on Saturday announced new fuel security measures to ensure supply to the country as the conflict in the Middle East sent oil prices soaring.
The government will underwrite the purchase of fuel by the private sector, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a press conference.
“This support from the government will not be business as usual. It has to be additional supplies that are available on the international market, and it literally will be underwriting the purchase of shiploads of fuel to get here to Australia,” he explained.
Demand for fuel, particularly in rural Australia, is high “because agriculture is in a very busy time… and this supply is still not enough,” said Energy Minister Chris Bowen. “We are increasing supply and working in a very complicated supply chain to get the fuel where it needs to go.”
Earlier this month, Australia released 763 million liters of petrol and diesel from its reserves to ease supply shortages for farmers.
Israeli campaign inflicting “psychological scars” on children in Lebanon, UNICEF says
The Israeli offensive in Lebanon has trapped children there in a “relentless cycle of bombardment and displacement,” the UN’s children’s agency (UNICEF) warned Friday, disrupting access to education for hundreds of thousands of students.
About 20% of the population has been displaced, many for the second, third or even fourth time since March 2, the agency added. More than 367,000 of them are school-age children and they face disruption to their education.
There is “no safe space” for people to try and shelter in Lebanon, the UNICEF country representative there, Marcoluigi Corsi, added on Friday.
Another UN official cited Israeli strikes near makeshift shelters where displaced people were huddled close together. The attack in central Beirut “close to several collective shelters hosting displaced (people),” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, a representative for the UN’s refugee agency in Lebanon.
One aid worker warned the intensity and geographic spread of Israeli strikes and hostilities has created an “unpredictable” and “high-risk” environment for humanitarians trying to offer relief to displaced people in Lebanon.
“With hundreds of thousands of people moving, often multiple times, needs are increasing rapidly and in different locations, making it challenging for humanitarian actors to keep pace with both the scale and fluidity of the crisis,” Hovig Atamian, the assistant country director for programs at the NGO, CARE International, in Beirut, told CNN in a statement Wednesday.
Catch up on Trump's remarks on the Iran war today, one month after it began
President Donald Trump gave a speech today at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute summit in Miami Beach, Florida.
Here’s what he said about the Iran war:
- Trump said there are “another 3,554” targets left to hit in Iran. “That’ll be done pretty quickly,” he said, adding that the war is “not finished yet.”
- The president called on more countries in the Middle East to sign the Abraham Accords, the signature foreign policy accomplishment from his first term in office.
- He referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump.”
- Iran let oil tankers transit through the Strait of Hormuz in order to “make up for their misstatement” after the country denied being involved in negotiations, he said.
- There is a “legal reason” he calls what’s happening in Iran a “military conflict,” instead of a war.
- He suggested the US would scale back its spending to protect other NATO countries because “they’re not there for us.”
What else was going on today:
- US and Israeli strikes in western Iran killed at least 20 people – including children and a pregnant woman – and injured dozens of others, according to a security official quoted in state media.
- A cluster munitions strike killed at least one person and injured two others in Israel, the country’s national emergency service reported.
- An Iranian attack injured at least 10 US service members on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a US official told CNN. Thirteen service members have been killed since the start of war.
- US special envoy Steve Witkoff said he believes there will be meetings to negotiate with Iran “this week.”
- Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant was struck by a projectile late Friday night, the third such attack on the facility in recent days, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.
- US and Iraqi officials said the two countries will “intensify” their defense cooperation, while emphasizing the US aims to keep Iraq out of the ongoing war with Iran.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vehemently condemned a slew of Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in the country, threatening a “HEAVY price for Israeli crimes.”
- Images published by Iranian state media yesterday appear to show US-origin anti-tank land mines scattered across a residential area near Shiraz in southern Iran, according to a CNN analysis and two munitions experts.
CNN’s Tori B. Powell, Julia Benbrook, Samantha Waldenberg, Elise Hammond, Max Saltman, Dana Karni, Kristen Holmes, Michael Rios, Aqeel Najim, Eyad Kourdi, Adam Pourahmadi, Sana Noor Haq, Allegra Goodwin and Nadeen Ebrahim contributed to this report.
USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier expected to deploy to area near Iran war
The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is expected to deploy to an area near the ongoing conflict with Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source said the aircraft carrier will go to US Central Command’s area of responsibility, which includes the Middle East.
It is unclear if the Bush will join or replace either of the two US aircraft carriers already in the region that have been participating in the ongoing combat operations against Iran over the last several weeks.
President Donald Trump has recently been mulling several military options that would likely escalate the conflict while simultaneously asserting he is pursuing diplomatic talks with Iran — the status of which remains unclear, CNN has reported.
Trump suggests scaling back funding for NATO because "they're not there for us"
President Donald Trump suggested the United States would scale back its spending to protect other NATO countries after some European nations rejected his demands to help with his war against Iran.
“I think a tremendous mistake was when NATO just wasn’t there,” Trump said on Friday.
“It’s going to make a lot of money for the United States because we spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on NATO, hundreds of — protecting them, and we would have always been there for them, but now, based on their actions, I guess we don’t have to be, do we?” Trump said.
The president had asked other countries send their warships to open the Strait of Hormuz.
He had framed his demands as a test of loyalty, suggesting dispatching naval vessels would amount to a “very small endeavor” for countries that rely on the United States for their security.
“Why would we be there for them if they’re not there for us,” Trump said Friday.
Middle East death toll continues climbing one month into US-Israeli assault
Thousands of people have been killed in the Middle East nearly four weeks after the US and Israel first bombed Iran.
Scenes have emerged of neighborhoods reduced to rubble, homes blown out and families displaced on the streets.
In Iran, paramedics trying to rescue survivors from the rubble of buildings flattened by US-Israeli strikes have discovered the bodies of their own family members, the head of the delegation for the Iranian Red Crescent, Maria Martinez, told a UN Press Briefing on Friday.
- In Iran: At least 1,900 people have been killed and 20,000 others injured in Iran since February 28, the Iranian Red Crescent reported on Friday.
- In Lebanon: Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 1,142 people and injured 3,315 others since March 2, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported Friday. Of those, at least 122 were children and 42 were health workers, the Health Ministry said.
- In Iraq: At least 96 people have been killed across Iraq, according to authorities. In the Kurdistan Region, a semi-autonomous federal region of Iraq, at least 13 people have been killed, the regional government said.
- In Israel: At least 19 civilians have been killed since the latest escalation, the Israeli military said Friday. In addition, four Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon.
- In Israeli-occupied West Bank: An Iranian missile killed four Palestinians in the West Bank, the Israeli military said Thursday. At least five Palestinians have been killed amid a surge in Israeli settler violence since February 28, the Israeli human rights group B’TSelem said Thursday.
- In Gaza: Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 72,267 people since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported Thursday. Of those, 691 were killed after October 11, when Israel and Hamas signed a US-led “ceasefire” deal.
- US: Thirteen US service members have been killed since late February, according to the US Central Command.
- Elsewhere in the region: More than 30 people have been killed in countries along the Persian Gulf since February 28, according to local authorities. Several were migrant workers, an unprotected and exposed demographic there.
CNN’s Charbel Mallo, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Dana Karni, Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, Tal Shalev, Tamar Michaelis, Ibrahim Dahman, Haley Britzky, Brad Lendon, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Isabelle D’Antonio and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Bushehr nuclear power plant struck for third time, Iran's atomic energy body says
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant was struck by a projectile late Friday night, marking the third such attack on the facility in recent days, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.
No casualties, material damage or technical disruptions have been reported, according to the organization, which blamed the US and Israel.
CNN has reached out to the US Department of Defense and the Israeli military for comment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had informed it of the strike.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi again expressed “deep concern” and called for maximum military restraint to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.
Women displaced by Israeli strikes in Lebanon skipping meals and going without medicine
A young boy tenderly kisses his newborn sibling at an improvised shelter in Beirut, Lebanon. Nearby, an elderly woman cuddles her two new grandchildren swaddled in fluffy blankets.
Video published by Reuters on Friday showed families and midwives gathered at an improvised shelter in the Lebanese capital – where Israeli bombs have laid waste to entire neighborhoods, triggered mass displacement and depleted the healthcare system.
One woman recalled the psychological shock of being unable to give birth with her doctor after she was displaced by the military campaign. Another warned that newborn babies are unable to access adequate medication at sprawling displacement centers.
At least 620,000 women and girls, including those from Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian communities, have been forced to flee their homes, the UN women’s agency reported Friday.
Women are skipping meals so their children can eat, the UN Women representative in Lebanon, Gielan El Messiri, reported Friday. Older women are unable to access medication for chronic health conditions, said El Messiri.
One 64-year-old woman in the south recalled nervously stepping outside her home after a wave of bombing to find collapsed houses lining her street in Majdal Zoun.
Trump says war with Iran is "not finished yet”
In his remarks to the FII Summit in Miami, Florida, today, President Donald Trump said the war with Iran is “not finished yet”.
“It’s not finished yet. I’m not saying, it’s sort of finished, but it’s not finished. It’s got to be finished.”
Trump has previously claimed victory numerous times over Iran, including on Tuesday in the Oval Office: “You know, I don’t like to say this — we’ve won this, because this war has been won, the only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news.”
Trump calls on more Middle Eastern countries to sign the Abraham Accords
US President Donald Trump called on more countries in the Middle East to sign the Abraham Accords, the signature foreign policy accomplishment from his first term in office.
“We hope all of the countries are going to be in the Abraham Accords,” the president said Friday at a summit for the Future Investment Initiative Institute in Miami. “We have some very brave countries that did it.”
Some context: The Trump administration has made the expansion of the Abraham Accords one of its top foreign policy goals. The accords saw Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others.
CNN’s Tal Shalev, Jennifer Hansler, Betsy Klein and Alejandra Jaramillo contributed reporting.
Trump says the US still has “another 3,554” targets left in Iran
President Donald Trump said today that the US still has “another 3,554” targets left to hit in Iran.
“That’ll be done pretty quickly,” Trump said.
He claimed that Iran was once a powerful country, but “it’s not powerful anymore.”
“They’ve never seen anything like it,” the president said.
Trump says there's "legal reason" he calls what's happening in Iran a "military conflict," rather than a war
President Donald Trump said during remarks on Friday that there is a “legal reason” that he calls what’s happening in Iran a “military conflict,” instead of a war.
“They call it a war. I call it a military conflict, but there’s a legal reason for that,” the president said.
Trump has used the term “war” to describe the situation in the past. But his remarks appeared to nod to the legal requirement that he seek Congressional authorization to launch a war.
Some historical context: In 1973, lawmakers passed the War Powers Resolution “to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and ensure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities.”
It requires the president remove US forces within 60 days of reporting a new military action to Congress unless Congress declares war or authorizes the use of force. The president can extend the use of the military once for 30 days under the War Powers Act.
Trump has said the Iran operation could be concluded within five weeks, which is well within that 60-day threshold. But the action in Iran is the most extensive military operation undertaken without a use of force authorization by Congress.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf contributed to this report.
Trump calls Strait of Hormuz "Strait of Trump" in speech
President Donald Trump referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Strait of Trump” during his speech at the FII Priority Summit in Miami Beach, Florida.
“They have to open it up, they have to open up the Strait of Trump. I mean Hormuz,” he told the crowd.
“Excuse me, I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake,” he said jokingly. “Fake news will say ‘he accidentally said.’ No, there’s no accidents with me. Not too many.”
Trump has demanded that Iran fully reopen the critical waterway in the coming days or he would “obliterate” the country’s power plants. On Thursday, he said he was extending his deadline for 10 days as “talks are ongoing” with Tehran. His new deadline is Monday, April 6.
Trump: Iran let oil tankers through Strait of Hormuz to "make up for their misstatement"
President Donald Trump said during remarks on Friday that Iran let oil tankers transit through the Strait of Hormuz in order to “make up for their misstatement” after the country denied being involved in negotiations.
“They are negotiating. They’re begging to make a deal. They’re begging to make a deal. Turned out, I was right. They were negotiating, which they admitted two days later, and in order to make up for their misstatement, they said we’re going to send you eight ships of oil,” the president said. “And then they actually said we’re going to add an extra two.”
The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed for almost four weeks – while the war with Iran has been ongoing. The closure of the key waterway has thrown global oil markets into chaos.
Watch what Trump said on Thursday:
In a cabinet meeting Thursday, President Donald Trump revealed the mystery “present” he had told reporters about earlier in the week as part of negotiations in the war between Iran, the United States and Israel. The ongoing conflict has effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, an important shipping lane which handled around 20% of the global shipping of oil before the war. CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.
Iranians are split over war's endgame
As the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on, those inside the country are divided on the war’s endgame. Some told CNN that stopping short of regime change would leave everyone worse off, while others say outside powers were never coming to “save” Iran.
CNN’s Leila Gharagozlou reports:
As the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on, those inside the country are divided on the war’s endgame. Some argue stopping short of regime change would leave everyone worse off, while others say outside powers were never coming to “save” Iran. CNN’s Leila Gharagozlou reports.
Israeli destruction of Litani River bridges severing southern Lebanon from aid lifelines
Israeli forces’ demolition of crossings through the Litani River will cut off tens of thousands of residents in southern Lebanon from “essential lifelines,” human rights workers have warned, as the rate of killings, destruction and displacement across the country spiraled.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reported earlier about an Israeli airstrike on a bridge over the Litani River:
The Israeli military struck a critical bridge in Southern Lebanon over the Litani River on Sunday amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah.
The destruction of critical infrastructure, including bridges and road networks, will inflict “significant humanitarian consequences” on Lebanese communities under Israeli bombing, according to Hovig Atamian, a senior relief worker for the international NGO, CARE International, in the capital Beirut. “Such infrastructure serves as essential lifelines connecting communities,” he said.
The Israeli military has blown up several bridges over the Litani River – which bisects Lebanon – in recent days, as part of a broader assault in the south. Just on Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister claimed those links were used by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah “for the transfer of terrorists and weapons.” At least three of those bridges were destroyed in the space of 10 days, the UN reported on Monday.
CNN’s Eugenia Yosef contributed reporting.
