What we covered here
• War with Iran: President Donald Trump told CNN the “big wave” of the US attack on Iran is yet to come. Trump laid out his war objectives for reporters, saying he wanted to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, annihilate its navy, end its nuclear ambitions and stop it arming militant groups.
• On the ground: Iran and its proxies are continuing to strike US allies in the Gulf, with the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia hit by suspected Iranian drones, booms heard in Iraq and sirens sounding over Bahrain. Israel, meanwhile, is striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
• Americans warned: The US State Department urged US citizens to leave the Middle East immediately. Trump told CNN “the biggest surprise” of the war has been Iran’s attacks against Arab countries in the region. Iran’s foreign minister said the “American people deserve better and should take back their country,” mirroring Trump’s repeated remarks to Iranians.
Our live coverage of the war with Iran has moved here.
Israel orders dozens more villages in south Lebanon to evacuate
Israel has issued evacuation orders for dozens more villages in southern Lebanon, adding to a similar list issued on Monday, as it continues strikes against Hezbollah.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee listed 50 villages and settlements in a post on X on Tuesday, urging residents to leave their homes.
“Hezbollah activities are forcing the Israel Defense Forces to act against it forcefully, and we have no intention of harming you,” said the IDF announcement.
It ordered affected residents to stay away from their villages by at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), warning that anyone near Hezbollah facilities was “endangering their life.”
It also reiterated an evacuation order for Beirut’s southern suburb neighborhood of Haret Hreik, and issued a new warning for a second suburb nearby.
This comes after the IDF posted a similar evacuation order on Monday morning for 52 villages.
Despite a US-brokered ceasefire in November 2024, Israel continues to strike targets in Lebanon, citing alleged Hezbollah violations — claims that the group denies.
Smoke seen rising above Beirut suburbs
Plumes of smoke could be seen rising and explosions heard in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday morning, according to video from Reuters news agency.
The Israeli military earlier issued evacuation orders for dozens of Lebanese villages and settlements and said it had begun attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Hezbollah said in a statement Tuesday said it launched drones into Israeli territory “in response” to Israel’s bombing in Lebanese towns.
The Israeli Air Force said earlier it intercepted two drones that crossed into Israeli territory from the direction of Lebanon early Tuesday.
Here's how many missiles and drones Gulf nations have intercepted so far
The joint US-Israel attack on Iran has triggered retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, including on countries hosting US military bases. Strikes have hit urban centers, energy infrastructure, airports and hotels, shaking populations long used to relative security.
Here’s a look at how many missiles and drones the Gulf nations have reported since the war began:
- Kuwait has intercepted 178 ballistic missiles and 384 drones, according to state media Kuwait News Agency on Monday.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has intercepted 169 missiles out of 182 detected, with the rest landing in the sea. It has also intercepted 645 drones, with an additional 44 hitting within state territory, according to its ministry of defense.
- Bahrain has intercepted 70 missiles and 76 drones, state media reported on Tuesday, citing the General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force.
- Qatar has intercepted 101 missiles out of a total of 104 detected, as well as 24 out of 39 drones, and shot down two Iranian SU-24 bomber aircraft, according to the state-run Qatar News Agency.
- Saudi Arabia hasn’t released a total figure of missiles or drones intercepted. The US Embassy in Riyadh was hit by suspected Iranian drones, according to two sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday. The Ministry of Defense later said eight drones were intercepted near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj.
- Oman has long played a mediating role between Washington and Tehran, and has largely stayed out of the line of fire. But Oman’s Duqm commercial port was targeted by two drones on Sunday, and an oil tanker was attacked about five nautical miles off the coast of Masandam.
US and Israeli strike damages UNESCO-listed palace in Tehran, state media says
Iran’s Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been damaged in the aftermath of a US-Israeli strike, according to semi-official agency Mehr News Agency.
The palace’s famous mirrored throne room, along with its museum artifacts, were previously moved to a secure vault following the January protests and during the 12-day war in June 2025, Mehr News Agency reported.
Golestan Palace first became the seat of power during the Qajar era, when the capital was moved to Tehran and continued that way under the Pahlavi era.
US envoy says by third meeting it was “impossible" to reach Iran deal before strikes
US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday described the final, unsuccessful efforts to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran that ultimately collapsed ahead of the United States launching major combat operations over the weekend.
“President Trump sent me and Jared there to really determine on his behalf whether they were serious about doing a deal that addressed his objectives,” Witkoff said, outlining a series of meetings he attended with Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son in law, in Geneva aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program.
According to Witkoff, the US delegation proposed a decadelong halt to uranium enrichment.
“We discussed with them ten years of no enrichment whatsoever, and we would pay for the fuel,” he said. “They rejected that, which told us at that very moment that they had no notion of doing anything other than retaining enrichment to the purpose of weaponizing.”
Witkoff said he and Kushner, who was tasked with brokering a deal with him, believed an agreement was likely unattainable by the end of the second meeting, but returned for a third round as a final effort.
“It was very clear it was going to be impossible, probably by the end of the second meeting, but then we went back to the third meeting just to give it the last college try,” he said. “They wanted us to report positivity,” Witkoff added. “It was not positive that meeting.”
The collapse of the talks led to Trump’s announcement of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Around the time of the operation, Trump publicly urged Tehran to make concessions. “They should make a deal, but they don’t want to quite go far enough,” he said Friday during a stop in Texas. “They don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.’”
Iran keeping up strikes on US allies in the Gulf
Iran and its proxies are continuing to strike US allies in the Gulf Tuesday morning, with the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia hit by suspected Iranian drones, a series of loud booms heard in Iraq’s Erbil and sirens sounding over Bahrain.
Here’s what we’re seeing Tuesday morning:
Saudi Arabia: The US Embassy in Riyadh was hit by two suspected Iranian drones, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The Saudi defense ministry confirmed the attack, saying it had caused “limited fire and minor material damages.” There were no initial reports of injuries, one of the two sources told CNN. The Ministry of Defense later said eight drones were intercepted near the cities of Riyadh and Al-Kharj.
Iraq: In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, a CNN team on the ground in Erbil heard “a series of loud booms coming from that direction… where the Erbil airport is” and military helicopters flying overhead early Tuesday local time. “We are learning that these Iran-backed Iraqi militias are really upping the tempo in terms of the amount of attacks on US targets, or what they deem to be US targets,” chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Kuwait: Armed forces were responding to a “wave of missiles and drones” detected in Kuwait airspace, the General Staff of the Army said early Tuesday.
Bahrain: Sirens sounded in Bahrain early Tuesday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
Israel: Alerts were activated early Tuesday and missiles launched from Iran were detected in several areas of the country, the Israeli military said. And the Israeli Air Force said it intercepted two UAVs that crossed into Israeli territory from the direction of Lebanon early Tuesday.
Lebanon: Meanwhile, a loud explosion rocked Beirut Tuesday morning and sent a large plume of smoke into the sky, Reuters video shows. The blast comes after the Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage facilities in the Lebanese capital. Israel also issued a new evacuation warnings for parts of Lebanon.
Israel says it has intercepted two drones entering from direction of Lebanon
Israel has intercepted two drones that crossed into the country’s territory from the direction of Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said early Tuesday morning.
Read the full statement:
Building collapses after Israel strikes southern Lebanon
A social media video geolocated by CNN shows a high-rise building collapsing in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after Israeli strike on Monday.
A social media video geolocated by CNN shows a high-rise building collapsing in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after Israeli strike on Monday.
Saudi military says intercepts and destroys 8 drones near Riyadh and Al Kharj
Saudi Arabia’s military intercepted and destroyed eight drones near the capital Riyadh and the central city of Al Kharj, the kingdom’s Defense Ministry said early on Tuesday local time.
The statement, attributed to ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Turki Al-Maliki, did not say whether any damage or casualties resulted.
Al Kharj is around 55 miles (85 kilometers) to the southeast of Riyadh. The Prince Sultan Air Base is located close by. It is a Saudi airbase but is previously known to have housed US military aircraft.
"This is not an endless war," Netanyahu claims in Fox interview
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against criticism that the latest conflict would spiral into an “endless war” in the Middle East, claiming instead that it would lead to peace and democracy in Iran.
Speaking in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Netanyahu said: “This is not an endless war. This is in fact something that will usher in an era of peace that we haven’t even dreamed of.”
Netanyahu added that Operation Epic Fury would create the conditions “for the Iranian people to get control over their destiny, to form their own democratically elected government,” and to “free themselves from the yoke of this terror machine.”
He repeated claims that action had been necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon, without providing any evidence that it was any closer to obtaining one.
Those claims, echoed by US President Trump, contradict US intelligence on the matter, which has assessed that Iran is nearly a decade away from developing a “militarily-viable” intercontinental ballistic missile.
US Embassy in Saudi Arabia struck by 2 suspected Iranian drones, no injuries reported
The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit by two suspected Iranian drones, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The Saudi defense ministry confirmed the attack, saying it had caused “limited fire and minor material damages.”
There were no initial reports of injuries, one of the two sources told CNN.
An additional two suspected Iranian drones struck “at or near” the embassy, a source familiar with the matter said.
Afterward, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had begun efforts to destroy “American political centers” in the region.
President Donald Trump reacting to the attack, told NewsNation “you’ll find out soon,” on what his retaliation will be.
The US Embassy in Riyadh is among several US military and diplomatic installations that have been targeted by Iran. CNN reported that the US Embassy in Kuwait was also hit on Sunday and Monday.
The US Mission to Saudi Arabia said it had issued “a shelter in place notification for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and are limiting non-essential travel to any military installations in the region.”
“We recommend American citizens in the Kingdom to shelter in place immediately,” it said in a post on X after the drone strikes.
CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment.
The high-tech weapons and hardware the US is using to attack Iran
Before the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Washington assembled its largest force and some of its most powerful weaponry in the Middle East in decades.
President Donald Trump had warned the US was “locked and loaded” – and Saturday’s strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader gave that force a destructive purpose.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) yesterday released a list of the US weaponry that has been used so far in the war with Iran, including B-2 stealth bombers, LUCAS one-way drones, US warships, Patriot and THAAD missile defense systems, and more.
Read more about the country’s fleet of sophisticated arsenal here.
Civilian deaths in Gulf highlight region's heavy reliance on South Asian workforce
Many of the reported civilian deaths in the Gulf states in the escalating conflict are South Asian nationals, highlighting the region’s reliance on a migrant workforce that can often operate in precarious conditions.
Laborers from South Asian countries are a key part of the region’s economic engine, essential to the Gulf’s prosperity. Yet, they remain among its most exposed and unprotected demographic.
Three people killed in the United Arab Emirates were nationals of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh who died because of Iranian drones that made it through the air defenses, causing damage on the ground, the UAE Defense Ministry said.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry confirmed that another national was killed in Bahrain in a statement on X.
The International Labor Organization estimates there are more than 24 million migrant workers in the Arab states.
Many of them are in low-income work and rights groups have repeatedly warned that migrant workers in the tiny but hugely wealthy state face miserable conditions.
Air base near Dubai used by Australian military hit early in Middle East conflict
Iranian drones attacked an air base near Dubai used by Australia, Australia’s defense minister confirmed Tuesday.
No-one was injured in the weekend strike on the Al Minhad Air Base, which the Australians have long used as a staging hub for military operations in the Middle East.
Defense Minister Richard Marles said all defense personnel were accounted for and safe.
The Australian government supports the US-Israeli action to kill Iran’s supreme leader but was not involved in the operation’s planning or execution, officials have insisted since the fatal strike on Saturday.
The Al Minhad Air Base, about a half-hour drive from central Dubai, is one of a number of sites in the United Arab Emirates hit by Iranian drone strikes – or debris from intercepted munitions.
On Sunday night an air base used by the British military on the mediterranean island of Cyprus was hit by an unmanned drone causing limited damage.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the strike on the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus “was not in response to any decision that we have taken.”
He said the UK bases in Cyprus were not being used by US bombers.
Americans "should take back their country," Iran's top diplomat says
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the “American people deserve better and should take back their country” as war spirals across the Middle East and the US prepares for a “major uptick” in attacks.
Araghchi’s comments Tuesday morning local time mirrors US President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks telling the Iranian people to “take back your country” following joint US-Irsaeli strikes.
Araghchi was responding to comments made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday, saying Israel was planning military action on Iran and the US joined the action expecting an “imminent threat” of retaliation.
“Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: US has entered a war of choice on behalf of Israel. There was never any so-called Iranian ‘threat’,” Aragchai said in a post on X.
Peaceful protests across the US denounce military operation against Iran
Across the United States, thousands of people gathered peacefully to denounce and protest the US-Israeli military operation in Iran throughout Monday.
Bostonians took to the streets amid low temperatures: One protester, speaking to the crowd, expressed his opposition for “these endless, stupid, immoral, dangerous wars,” according to CNN affiliate WCVB.
In New York City, a crowd of demonstrators gathered in Manhattan for a short rally before peacefully marching through the city streets while chanting “hands off Iran now” while holding banners and posters.
Similar protests unfolded in Chicago, Portland, Oregon and Madison, Wisconsin.
The ANSWER Coalition, an organization against war and occupation, announced over the weekend on social media platforms Monday would be a national day of protest to “Stop the War in Iran.” Its website listed a number of demonstrations scheduled across the country for Monday.
What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran warns vessels to stay out
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway that bypasses Iran and Oman, is the main route for shipping crude from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the rest of the world.
An adviser to the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned that vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be targeted.
Even before the adviser’s comments, traffic through the waterway had effectively stopped due to safety concerns and after oil tankers in the region came under attack over the weekend.
Iran controls the strait’s northern side. About 20 million barrels of oil, or about one-fifth of daily global production, flow through the strait every day, according to the US Energy Information Administration, which calls the channel a “critical oil chokepoint.” According to the EIA, “very few alternative options exist to move oil out of the strait if it is closed.”
The strait also carries about one-fifth of global trade in liquefied natural gas.
Energy analysts have warned that oil and natural gas prices are likely to remain elevated until the strait is passable.
Major container shipping companies, including Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM, are also diverting vessels away from the waterway and the region, according to logistics firm Freightos.
Siren sounds over Bahrain, authorities call for residents to take shelter
A siren was sounded in Bahrain early on Tuesday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
“The siren has been sounded. Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the ministry wrote on X.
Iran’s leadership faces biggest crisis in its history
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports how the leadership void left in the wake of the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could prolong the conflict.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports how the leadership void left in the wake of the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could prolong the conflict.
