Here's the latest
• Exchange of fire: US forces intercepted missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf region as sirens were activated in Kuwait and Bahrain. The US military also struck coastal sites in Iran. Tehran had fired shots as a “warning measure” that “may have been related” to US naval vessels in the area, according to Iranian media.
• Conflict in Lebanon: A general was among several Lebanese soldiers killed in an Israeli strike, the Lebanese army said Saturday, the day after Lebanese state media reported more than 20 people were killed. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister pushed back on Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s remarks in a CNN interview, in which he said Tehran was using his country as a bargaining chip.
• Peace talks: A top Iranian official told CNN that a potential peace deal hinges on the Trump administration agreeing to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and warned of the potential for a wider war.
General among several Lebanese soldiers killed in Israeli strike, army says
Several Lebanese soldiers, including a high-ranking officer, were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to an army statement.
“A number of military personnel, including an officer, were martyred in a barbaric Israeli raid targeting a military vehicle on the Khardali-Nabatiyeh road,” the army said in a statement posted to X.
The officer killed was a brigadier-general, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military on the reported strike.
The area around Nabatiyeh has seen multiple Israeli strikes in recent days, despite the renewal of a US-brokered ceasefire between the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
Two strikes in the area earlier this week killed a Lebanese soldier and injured two others.
The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, which has targeted Israeli troops inside Lebanon and communities in northern Israel, rejected the ceasefire so long as the Israeli military remains in Lebanon.
At least 21 people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday, according to a CNN tally of reports by NNA.
The Israeli military issued another evacuation order to residents of several villages and towns in southern Lebanon on Saturday due to what it called “the terrorist Hezbollah party breaching the ceasefire agreement.”
It ordered civilians to move north of the Zahrani River, which is some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the border with Israel.
A look at Israel's offensive in Lebanon
Israel’s military offensive against Hezbollah, a heavily armed Iranian-backed proxy, in Lebanon has killed more than 3,500 Lebanese people and displaced nearly a fifth of the population. Israeli forces have occupied dozens of villages in southern Lebanon to clear Hezbollah’s forces.
Take a look at the state of the offensive in Lebanese territory:
Catch up: US and Iran trade fire, strikes in Gulf region, fighting in Lebanon intensifies
The US and Iran exchanged strikes early Saturday local time, days after issuing contradictory messages about the status of ceasefire discussions.
Meanwhile in Lebanon, fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah has intensified despite a ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments.
What has happened in the region:
Strait of Hormuz: The US intercepted a wave of missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf region. American forces also struck coastal surveillance radar sites in Iran after shooting down four attack drones, said US Central Command. Iran had fired several shots as a “warning” near the Strait of Hormuz, which “may have been related” to the repositioning of US naval vessels in the area, reported the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Gulf states: Sirens were activated early Saturday morning in Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s army said it was responding to missile and drone threats, while Bahrain told residents to take shelter.
Lebanon: More than 20 people were killed in strikes in the south of the country on Friday, according to a CNN tally of deaths reported in the state-run National News Agency.
Other headlines:
Top diplomat hits back: Iran’s foreign minister pushed back on remarks Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made in a CNN interview that Tehran is using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its war with the US and Israel. Abbas Araghchi said: “Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” in an apparent reference to Israel.
War timeline: US President Donald Trump said that he’s “moving very fast” with the Iran war, despite his initial stated timeline of four to six weeks. “I’m into three months, you know. Vietnam lasted 19 years. I’m into my third month,” he told NBC News.
Nuclear lab visit: Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with a team of experts at a national laboratory in Tennessee on Thursday, a US official said, as the US works toward nuclear negotiations with Iran. Scott Roecker, the vice president for the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Program, explained that the lab has a history of removing highly enriched uranium.
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Eyad Kourdi, Kareem El Damanhoury, Aleena Fayaz, Mitchell McCluskey, Kit Maher, Jennifer Hansler and Zachary Cohen contributed reporting.
Iran's top diplomat rejects Lebanese leader's claim Tehran is using Lebanon as a bargaining chip
Iran’s top diplomat has pushed back on remarks Lebanese President Joseph Aoun made in a CNN interview that Tehran is using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its war with the US and Israel.
Aoun delivered a searing rebuke to Iran in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday, saying Tehran’s actions were against the wishes of the Lebanese people.
Responding to the clip of the CNN interview, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago.”
“Save Lebanon from your real foe, Mr. President,” he added, in an apparent reference to Israel –– which has been conducting an intense military operation targeting the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon since early March.
In the CNN interview, Aoun also said that he is committed to doing “whatever it takes” to save his country from conflict, and that the Lebanese people are “fed up” with war between Israel and Hezbollah, a heavily armed Iranian-backed proxy that has built strong domestic support by portraying itself as the defender of southern Lebanon and the Palestinian people.
CNN’s Mostafa Salem contributed to this report.
CENTCOM: US intercepts Iranian missiles and drones launched toward Hormuz and Gulf region
The US intercepted a wave of ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf region, according to US Central Command.
Six of the missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target, according to initial assessments. No US personnel was harmed, it said.
“Iranian claims of damaging U.S. 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” CENTCOM added. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had said it struck “enemy bases in the region.”
CENTCOM said the Iranian attack drones had “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic.”
The US forces struck Iranian surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island “to defend against further maritime attacks,” it said.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Saturday that Iran had fired several shots as a “warning” near the Strait of Hormuz which “may have been related” to the repositioning of US naval vessels in the area.
Top Iranian official says peace negotiations deadlocked over $24 billion
A potential peace deal between the United States and Iran hinges on the Trump administration agreeing to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, a top Iranian official told CNN on Friday, warning that the US would “enter into a dark corridor” should it resume fighting.
“The negotiations are at a deadlock and (US President Donald) Trump must break this deadlock,” Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran. “The ball is in Trump’s court.”
Iran has reportedly demanded the release of $12 billion in frozen funds as soon as an interim agreement is signed with the US, and another $12 billion at a later stage. US officials are concerned that any unfreezing of funds at this stage could remove a key leverage point over the regime.
In the rare interview with CNN, Rezaei shed light on the thinking inside Iran’s strategic decision-making circles about the country’s postwar vision, the fate of the Strait of Hormuz and how Iran may act if it is attacked again. Here’s what he said:
- Releasing frozen Iranian assets: He framed the demand as a trust-building measure, saying the Trump administration’s potential release of the funds would be “a new horizon for the future” of Iran and America: “If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump – this is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened.”
- Warning against return to war: Rezaei warned that Iran will “drag the war” beyond the Persian Gulf if the United States resumes the conflict, potentially expanding military operations from the Strait of Hormuz to the Indian Ocean, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. “We will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far.”
- On a potential meeting between Trump and Khamenei: He did not answer a question about Khamenei’s health and role in the country’s decision-making, but rejected prospects of him meeting Trump. “This will not happen, right now we are in the first stage of negotiations and Mr. Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill. This will not happen.”
Editor’s note: CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reports.
