Our live coverage has ended
• Follow the latest updates on the war with Iran here.
What we know so far
• Threats exchanged: Iranian military officials warn the “gates of hell” will open for the US and Israel if infrastructure strikes continue, echoing President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash “all Hell” if Tehran does not make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Monday.
• Search for service member: Sources say US troops are still searching for a crew member from an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran. Iranian tribesmen have reportedly shot at US helicopters taking part in the search-and-rescue mission, according to state media.
• Economic impacts: An oil crisis is having ripple effects across the consumer market. Average US gas prices rose to $4.10, according to AAA.
• Around the region: Israeli police broke up an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday, arresting at least 17 people. In Lebanon, a humanitarian crisis is deepening as Israel expands its military campaign against Hezbollah.
Trump renews threat over Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump said “time is running out” for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline of April 6.
President Donald Trump said “time is running out” for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline of April 6.
Trump, Iran both vow to unleash "hell" as search continues for airman. Here's the latest
Iranian military officials warned the US and Israel they face the punishment of “hell” if the conflict expands, echoing a threat from President Donald Trump earlier today.
Meanwhile, US troops are still searching for the second crew member from an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran on Friday, according to sources.
Iranian tribesmen reportedly shot at American helicopters taking part in the search-and-rescue mission, state media said Saturday. Iranian officials have offered rewards for the successful capture of the missing airman.
Here’s what else is going on today:
- Trump said many Iranian military leaders died in a “massive strike” in Tehran and posted a video showing explosions.
- Displaced Lebanese civilians say they are struggling to meet their basic needs as a widespread humanitarian emergency unfolds in the country due to Israeli strikes.
- Israeli police broke up an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv, dispersing hundreds of protesters and arresting at least 17 people.
- Syria temporarily closed the Masnaa crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order ahead of planned airstrikes.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel attacked Iran’s petrochemical plants, after Tehran reported that strikes damaged multiple petrochemical companies in the country.
- India purchased oil from Iran for the first time in years, its oil and natural gas ministry confirmed, as the ongoing war continues to roil global energy markets.
- The latest US jobs report showed an unexpected increase in jobs last month. Economists caution, however, the health of the country’s labor market and broader economy hinge on the scope and duration of the war.
CNN’s Aaron Blake, Mitchell McCluskey, Kareem El Damanhoury, Kit Maher, Riane Lumer, Tori B. Powell, Max Saltman, Dana Karni, Eyad Kourdi, Issy Ronald and Alicia Wallace contributed to this report.
Iran warns "gates of hell" will open for US, Israel if infrastructure strikes continue
Iranian military officials warned the United States and Israel they face the punishment of “hell” if the conflict expands, echoing a threat from US President Donald Trump.
They made the comments after Trump threatened to unleash “all Hell” on Iran unless it makes a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday.
Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters in Tehran, warned that the “gates of hell will be opened upon you” if Iran’s infrastructure continues to come under attack, the government-sponsored Mehr News Agency reported Saturday.
“Do not forget: if hostilities expand, the entire region will become hell for you. The illusion of defeating the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into a swamp that will engulf you,” said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the spokesperson for the central headquarters.
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters functions as the operational headquarters for Iran’s armed forces.
Syria temporarily closes border crossing as Israel warns of upcoming airstrikes
Syria temporarily closed the Masnaa crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order on Saturday ahead of planned airstrikes.
“Due to Hezbollah’s use of the Masnaa crossing for military purposes and for smuggling weapons, the Israeli army intends to carry out airstrikes on the crossing in the near future,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.
“Remaining in this area puts you in danger,” Adraee warned.
Following the IDF warning, the Syrian Authority for Border Crossings and Customs said that it would temporarily close the border crossing.
The agency said that the Masnaa crossing, known as Jdeidet Yabous on the Syrian side, is “designated exclusively for civilian passage.”
“It is not used for any military purposes, there is no presence of any armed groups or militias, and it is not permitted to be used for any activity outside civilian and legal frameworks,” the border authority said.
The reopening of the crossing will be announced “as soon as the situation is confirmed to be stable,” the statement read.
The border crossing was closed last month after fears the area could be targeted by Israeli shelling, but it was reopened after the strikes did not materialize.
Trump claims many Iranian military leaders "terminated" in "massive strike"
President Donald Trump said Saturday that many Iranian military leaders have died in a “massive strike” in Tehran.
The video is dark but loud blasts and the sound of aircraft can be heard.
CNN has reached out to the White House for further information on the video and the strike.
What crews are trained to do if their plane is downed, per a former Air Force official
As the search continues for a US crew member from a fighter jet that was shot down in Iran, Ravi Chaudhary, former director of the Personnel Recovery Center in Iraq in 2008, expressed confidence in the US recovery effort.
Chaudhary described search-and-rescue operations as 24/7, happening “in perpetuity until we get that person back.”
Chaudhary, a retired Air Force C-17 pilot who also served as an assistant secretary in the Air Force, said the missing crew member is likely “maximizing their concealment” and trying to make contact with rescue teams.
“Our crews have specific techniques to achieve contact at the right moment, and so you don’t want to be detected by adversaries that are out looking for you in any number of ways,” he said.
Showing his own air crew survival manual from the Air Force Academy and a knife he made, crafting the handle out of a parachute cord, Chaudhary described improvisation training and information service members receive in case they go missing.
He also said the ejection sequence is about 1.5 seconds between the front seat and the back seat, which could explain why the two crew members who were aboard the jet may have ended up in different locations.
Chaudhary said he interprets the relative silence from the Trump administration on the search as giving US Central Command “maximum opportunity and the minimal distraction” to do their job.
Police disperse hundreds of anti-war protesters in Israel
Israeli police broke up an anti-war protest in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday night, dispersing hundreds of protesters and arresting at least 17 people.
Yuval Tzur, who has attended weekly protests since the war began, told CNN that police began dispersing people in HaBima Square soon after the demonstration began.
“We managed to protest for maybe about half an hour, and immediately the police started to clear us out,” Tzur said. “Everybody that I came with, we got pushed, we got thrown on the ground.”
Earlier, the country’s Supreme Court had issued an order allowing a protest of 600 people to proceed in Tel Aviv. On Saturday night, police arrived and told those gathered in the square that too many protesters were present.
“I strongly urge you, do not force the police to use force against you. I ask everyone to leave the area in an orderly and safe manner for your own safety.”
Israel’s national police later said they arrested 17 people on the scene, referring to the protesters as “rioters.”
Tzur said protesters contended with law enforcement for “a solid hour” as arrests began.
Then, something beyond the control of both the police and the protesters occurred: a siren, warning of an incoming missile.
Nearly everyone headed for the huge public shelter below HaBima Square, including police mounted on their horses. Police did not allow those who had been arrested to join them, Tzur said, alleging that the detainees were taken to a stairwell nearby.
Police later said in a statement that due to “congestion” at the shelter entrance, law enforcement evacuated the 17 detainees to “a safer location, all while risking their own lives.”
While the war with Iran is broadly popular in Israel, there have been small protests against it since the bombing began in late February.
This post has been updated with new information.
Iranian tribesmen search for missing US crew member in remote hills
Groups of Iranian tribesmen shot at American helicopters searching for a crew member missing after a fighter jet was shot down over Iran, state media reported Saturday.
In the remote mountainous areas of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province and the Bakhtiari region, tribesmen shot at two Black Hawk helicopters, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commended the tribesmen for serving as “courageous, valiant and victorious guardians of the borders,” according to Fars.
Fars released a video on Friday purporting to show nomadic Bakhtiari tribesmen, rifles in hand, searching for the American crew member in the mountains of Iran’s Khuzestan province.
“God willing, he will be found,” one of the men says.
Iranian officials have offered large cash rewards for the successful capture of the missing crew member.
CNN has reached out to the US Central Command on the reports of US helicopters coming under fire.
The IRGC also touted a new aerial defense system, which it said was used to shoot down a jet on Friday and to target the two Black Hawk helicopters.
In a video released by the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, the spokesman of the Central Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters warned of further attacks to come from the new system.
“We will certainly achieve full control over the skies of our country and will prove the enemy’s humiliation to the world more than ever before,” he said.
Displaced people in Lebanon struggle to meet basic needs
As a widespread humanitarian emergency unfolds in Lebanon due to Israeli strikes, displaced civilians say they are struggling to meet their basic needs.
“We are facing difficulties in everything,” Ahlam Ali Khalil Badak said in a video released by the World Health Organization. “We can’t even afford our medications.”
Zainab, a displaced mother of three, said no aid has reached the center where she is staying since Ramadan ended last month.
Some context: Israel has long been in conflict with the Iranian-backed paramilitary group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
When Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel following the start of the war in Iran, Israel launched an aggressive response, with a massive aerial bombardment of Hezbollah positions — including in densely populated cities — and a full‑scale ground incursion in the south of the country.
Israeli strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties and the displacement of more than 1 million Lebanese people, according to aid workers, who say many lack clean water, access to hygiene supplies and vital medications.
CNN’s Lauren Kent contributed reporting.
Israel claims strikes on Iranian petrochemical plants
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel attacked Iran’s petrochemical plants, after Tehran reported that strikes damaged multiple petrochemical companies in southwestern Iran’s Khuzestan Province on Saturday.
“I promised you that we would continue to crush the terrorist regime in Tehran, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said.
“After we destroyed 70% of their steel production capacity, which they use as raw material for their weapons against us, today we attacked their petrochemical plants. These two things are their money machine, to finance the war on terror against us and against the entire world,” he continued.
Israel’s military reported that it struck infrastructure at a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwestern Iran, and “two central facilities used to produce materials for explosives, ballistic missiles, and additional weaponry.”
“The damage to this infrastructure is expected to disrupt the regime’s ability to use the materials produced at the facility for manufacturing various types of weapons intended to target the State of Israel,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
Iran’s Mehr News reported that the fire has been “fully contained and extinguished.”
As part of its military campaign, Israel has increasingly targeted centers of Iran’s various industries, including steel plants, cement factories and petrochemical complexes.
Geography gives Iran the upper hand with Strait of Hormuz
Part of the challenge for vessels and any potential ship-escorting operations through the Strait of Hormuz is that the room to maneuver is highly constricted.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait has launched a global energy crisis, increasing US gas prices by 37% since the war began. US President Donald Trump said today that “time is running out” for Iran to meet his Monday deadline to fully reopen the strait.
CNN’s Lauren Kent, Annette Choi, Robert Ilich and Julia Benbrook contributed to this report.
India purchases oil from Iran for first time in years
India has purchased oil from Iran for the first time in years, its Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas confirmed Saturday, as the ongoing war in the Middle East continues roiling global energy markets.
The ministry’s statement marked a rare official acknowledgment that India is now importing oil from Iran, after seven years of steering clear due to US sanctions, Reuters reported.
India has also bought 44,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran, the ministry added, which is being discharged at the port of Mangalore.
Since India imports much of its fuel, including about 85% of its LPG, from the Middle East, it has been hit hard by Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to US-Israeli strikes.
This acknowledgment that India is buying Iranian fuel comes after the Trump administration granted a temporary license last month for Iran to sell the 140 million barrels worth of crude oil sitting at sea, in an attempt to reduce the pressure on the markets.
Here’s what you should know as the conflict in the Middle East enters its sixth week
As the war enters a sixth week, US President Donald Trump is renewing his threats over global shipping, telling Iran that “time is running out” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Tehran has 48 hours to make a deal on the vital waterway, or he’ll unleash “all Hell.”
Iran has said it will grant permission for vessels carrying “essential goods” through the strait but has not provided specific terms.
There has been a diplomatic scramble to secure the shipping lane as an oil crisis and other disruptions send ripple effects across every corner of the consumer market.
These are other headlines you should know:
- Search for service member: The rescue mission for a crew member whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran is still underway. A US special forces veteran spoke to CNN about what makes that mission “very dangerous and complex.” Meanwhile, Iran’s military has vowed to regain “full control” over the country’s skies, as Tehran frames the downing of the aircraft as a “humiliating” moment for the United States.
- Industrial targets: A growing range of key Iranian industries are being targeted by US-Israeli strikes, including steel plants, cement factories and petrochemical complexes. Saturday also saw an attack that killed one person at the perimeter of an Iranian nuclear power plant, according to state media. Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company said nearly 200 of its staff members have since evacuated the facility.
- Iranian universities: Iran’s science minister said more than 30 of the country’s universities have faced “direct attacks” during the war, according to the state-aligned Iran Students’ News Agency.
- Crossing struck: A border crossing connecting Iraq with Iran has been targeted in an airstrike, with Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reporting one Iraqi civilian was killed in the attack.
- Intercepted munitions: Projectiles from intercepted Iranian cluster munitions fired at Israel landed close to military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Saturday, an Israeli security source told CNN.
CNN’s Billy Stockwell, Catherine Nicholls, Tim Lister, Ibrahim Dahman, Aqeel Najim, Sophie Tanno, Bijan Hosseini, Issy Ronald, Svitlana Vlasova, Dana Karni and Julia Benbrook contributed reporting.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, health ministry says
The number of people who have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon has surpassed 1,400, according to an update shared by the Lebanese health ministry a short while ago.
The ministry said at least 126 children are among those who have been killed since March 2, when Israel began strikes in the country on what it says are Hezbollah targets. At least 54 health workers and 93 women are also among the dead.
Thousands of people have been killed since the current conflict in the Middle East began, according to a CNN tally of death tolls released by regional authorities. Fighting that began with the US-Israeli strikes on Iran has spread to involve proxy groups backed by Tehran, including Hezbollah, which operates in southern Lebanon.
Here’s what the authorities have said about the number of people reportedly killed in the region since the war began on February 28. CNN is not able to independently verify these numbers.
- Iran: More than 2,000 people have been killed in Iran since joint US-Israeli strikes on the country began, the Iranian Red Crescent said on Thursday. In an update yesterday, Iran’s health ministry said at least 216 children are among those killed, including 17 children under five years old.
- Lebanon: At least 1,422 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since March 2, the country’s health ministry said today. At least 126 children are among those killed, the ministry said.
- Iraq: At least 107 people have been killed across Iraq since the war began, authorities have said. In the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, at least 13 people have been killed, according to the regional government.
- Israel: Some 19 civilians have been killed inside Israel since the conflict began, not including those who died indirectly because of strikes. At least 11 Israeli soldiers have also been killed in southern Lebanon, according to the military. That total includes a soldier whose death was announced Saturday.
- US: Thirteen US service members have been killed since the war with Iran began, according to the US Central Command.
Deaths due to the conflict have also been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, the occupied West Bank, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia since February 28, according to local authorities.
This post has been updated to note the increased death toll among Israeli soldiers.
CNN’s Issy Ronald, Charbel Mallo, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Dana Karni, Eyad Kourdi and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
Niece of slain IRGC commander to be deported from US, Rubio announces
The niece of Qasem Soleimani, a high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who was killed by the US in 2020, has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with her daughter, with both facing deportation, the State Department announced today.
“While living in the United States, (Hamideh Soleimani Afshar) promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the ‘Great Satan,’ and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization,” the State Department said in a statement, adding that Afshar had been living with her child in Los Angeles.
In a separate post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both Afshar and her daughter had US green cards, which he had since revoked.
“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” Rubio said in his post.
GOP senator convinced Trump will use "overwhelming force" if Strait of Hormuz not reopened
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said he had the ear of President Donald Trump today, and after a phone call, he’s convinced the president will make good on his threat to strike Iran’s power plants if they do not make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“After speaking with President Trump this morning, I am completely convinced that he will use overwhelming military force against the regime if they continue to impede the Strait of Hormuz and refuse a diplomatic solution to achieve our military objectives,” Graham posted on X. “If it’s not clear to Iran and others by now that President Trump means what he says then I don’t know when it will ever be.”
Graham said he “totally” supports Trump’s ultimatum to strike the energy sites if Iran doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz by April 6. The president in a social media post this morning told Iran they have 48 hours left.
Fourth aid worker killed in airstrikes on Iran, Iranian Red Crescent says
An aid worker with the Iranian Red Crescent Society in Iran’s Esfahan Province, Abolfazl Dehnavi, was killed on Saturday in an airstrike, according to the medical organization.
Dehnavi is the fourth Red Crescent aid worker to be killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the Iranian branch of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.
“The Red Crescent emblem is an internationally recognized symbol of neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian assistance; its use is established by law,” IFRC said in a statement earlier this week. “Ensuring the protection of humanitarians wearing the emblem is not only a moral issue, but an imperative international legal norm. The safety of those protecting and assisting others must be ensured.”
Trump says “time is running out” for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump threatened Iran today, telling the country’s leaders that “time is running out” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” the president wrote on social media this morning. “Glory be to GOD!”
Trump has threatened to target Iranian power facilities if Tehran does not reopen the crucial shipping route by his deadline of April 6.
When Trump first made the threat late last month, he said the country had just 48 hours to open up the Strait of Hormuz. He then pushed that deadline back several days before delaying it again to April 6, as he said talks were “going very well.”
During a White House address Wednesday, Trump said that the Strait of Hormuz would open “naturally” after the conflict ends.
“They are going to want to be able to sell oil because that’s all they have to try and rebuild,” Trump said. “It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.”
Iran said today it will grant permission for vessels carrying “essential goods” to pass through the choked Strait of Hormuz, according to state-run Tasnim news agency. But its unclear which items Iran defines as “essential,” or if it will maintain its blockade on vessels from what it deems as hostile nations.
The average price of US gas has climbed to $4.10
The average price of gasoline in the United States climbed to $4.10 a gallon, a 12-cent increase from last week, according to data from AAA.
Gas prices have soared by 37% since the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
The hike in gas prices is due to the near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that accounts for the transit of about 20% of the world’s oil, and a slowdown in Middle East oil production.
California has the highest average price of gasoline in the US at nearly $5.92 a gallon, while Oklahoma has the least expensive at $3.29.
