Here's the latest
• War with Iran: Israel said it is conducting “simultaneous strikes in Tehran and Beirut,” targeting Iranian military sites and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, as its troops intensify their push in Lebanon. The UN has also confirmed damage to a nuclear facility in Iran for the first time since the US and Israel launched a military attack on the country. Here’s what we know so far.
• Embassies closed: As Iran continues to strike US targets and US allies in the Middle East, the US has closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and warned Americans to leave more than a dozen countries in the region.
• Trump on Iran: President Donald Trump said Iran is seeking talks with the US as military operations continue, but indicated he believes the opportunity for negotiations has passed. His administration has been shifting the goalposts and contradicting itself since the start of the operation.
Trump has said it is "too late" for talks with Iran. Catch up on the latest
US President Donald Trump has said Iran is seeking talks with the US amid its war with Iran, but that it is “too late” for negotiations.
Catch up on the very latest here:
- The US embassy in Saudi Arabia has warned of “imminent missile and UAV (drone) attacks” in the eastern city of Dhahran.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has targeted what it called counter-revolutionary groups in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, it said, according to semi-official news agency Tasnim.
- Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, been reported alive by Iranian outlet Mehr News Agency.
- Pakistan has reminded Iran of its mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia in an effort to prevent further Iranian attacks on Saudi territory, the country’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister said today.
- The Israeli military has shut all crossings into and out of the occupied West Bank in light of the US-Israeli war with Iran, leaving Palestinians unable to access urgent aid as settler attacks rise.
- The price of gasoline in the US soared 11 cents to $3.11 a gallon, on average, in the latest reading from AAA, marking the largest one-day increase since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo, Jennifer Hansler, Vasco Cotovio, Nechirvan Mando, Adam Pourahmadi, Azaz Syed, Zeena Saifi, Abeer Salman, Tal Shalev and Chris Isidore contributed to this reporting.
Asked about protection against sleeper cells, Noem says DHS is re-vetting some migrants
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that her agency has already started to re-vet certain migrant groups who came to the US under temporary protection laws, looking through social media and in some cases conducting new interviews.
“We work every single day with our intelligence agencies and law enforcement partners to make sure that we are investigating and finding any threats to the homeland here within our borders,” Noem said in response to a question from committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, on how DHS was protecting against so-called “sleeper cell” terrorists in the wake of the attack on Iran.
Noem, however, offered no specifics about possible threats as a result of the US actions in Iran.
Following the attack on Iran, the FBI tasked agents to keep close eyes on people of interest inside the United States who might be activated or triggered by Iran strikes, according to a person familiar with the plan.
DHS has also ramped up efforts to monitor for any threats stemming from the Iran conflict.
Key Republican: Senators “undoubtedly” will discuss more defense funding in briefing
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker said he expects senators to discuss a potential supplemental defense funding bill during a briefing with top Trump administration officials on Iran this afternoon.
Wicker said he “undoubtedly” expects it to be a topic discussed behind closed doors later in the day, telling reporters, “If something is needed, and if they make a case for it, I’ll be receptive to their arguments.”
Asked if he’s confident the US has the assets necessary to carry out the ongoing operation in Iran, Wicker responded: “I feel confident that with the president’s proposal for a 50% increase in defense spending this next fiscal year, we’re going to be in good shape.”
“I commend the administration and the leadership in the department for coming down strong in favor of of this quantum leap in national defense,” he said.
Iran strikes Kurdish groups in Iraq
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has targeted what it called counter-revolutionary groups in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the group said, according to semi-official news agency Tasnim.
“The positions of counter-revolutionary groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were destroyed with the launch of 30 drones,” the IRGC said.
Two Kurdish groups CNN spoke to confirmed the attacks but said the number of drones deployed were much smaller than claimed by the IRGC.
The Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) said it had been hit with three drones, which caused one light injury, and the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) said it was targeted with one drone.
$100 oil and $4 gas is on the way if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open soon, analyst warns
The spike in oil prices could get much worse if the situation in the Middle East doesn’t improve soon.
As of 9:30 a.m. ET, US oil prices were up 9.2% — on track for the biggest one-day increase since May 2020.
Crude rose to as high as $77.98 a barrel today, the highest intraday level since US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
“We still have a ways to go,” Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNN.
Oil traders are getting increasingly nervous about the fact that vessels have effectively stopped going through the Strait of Hormuz, the most critical oil chokepoint in the world.
If the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open “soon,” McNally said oil prices are likely heading to $100 a barrel and above. He said such a price move would likely require a “prolonged” blockage of the Strait of Hormuz that could last for weeks.
McNally warned that gasoline prices, which spiked today by the most since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, could catapult from $3.11 per gallon nationally now to $4 a gallon.
CNN team reports live from Iranian strike site in Tel Aviv, Israel
Emergency services have been responding to a strike on the city of Ramat Gan on the edges of Tel Aviv, Israel today.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond and team travelled with Israeli first responders, Magden David Adom, to a residential area in the city where damage was wrought by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.
Seven people sustained light injuries during this incident, first responders told CNN.
Thousands gather at mass funeral for children killed in US-Israeli strikes on school
Massive crowds have gathered in the southern Iranian city of Minab to mourn the deaths of at least 168 children and 14 teachers killed in the US-Israeli attack on a girls’ elementary school on Saturday, according to state media.
Some mourners held pictures of the children killed – some as young as 7 – a stark reminder of the human tragedy at the heart of this escalating conflict. While few details have emerged about those killed in the strikes in Iran, at least 780 people have been killed across 153 counties, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Video and imagery from the funeral showed crowds of mourners reciting prayers around small coffins draped in the Iranian flag.
On Tuesday, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, demanded a “prompt, impartial and thorough” investigation into the strikes on the school, warning that “indiscriminate attacks” are “serious violations” of international humanitarian law.
It came after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US and Israel of killing the children in a post to X on Monday, which was accompanied by an image of freshly dug graves.
“These are graves being dug for more than 160 innocent young girls who were killed in the US-Israeli bombing of a primary school. Their bodies were torn to shreds,” Araghchi said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mark Rubio told reporters Monday that the US “would not deliberately target a school.”
“The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them,” he said.
It comes as Israel continues to escalate its strikes in Iran, with imagery emerging Tuesday from Tehran of residential blocks turned into rubble.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Pictures show damage to Golestan Palace in Tehran after strike
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.
A UNESCO spokesperson said “it has communicated to all parties concerned the geographical coordinates of sites on the World Heritage List as well as those of national significance, to avoid any potential damage.”
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.
Pakistan reminded Iran of its defense pact with Saudi Arabia, foreign minister says
Pakistan reminded Iran of its mutual defense pact with Saudi Arabia in an effort to prevent further Iranian attacks on Saudi territory, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said at a news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday.
“I informed the Iranian side about our defense agreement,” he said. “The Iranian side said Saudi Arabia should ensure that its territory is not used against Iran.”
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement in September.
Ishaq said there are 2.5 million Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia, and 33,000 stranded Pakistanis in Iran.
Suicide or strategy? Analysts on why Iran's retaliation has been so widespread
As an escalating conflict threatens to engulf the Middle East, analysts are seeking to explain the scale of the retaliatory strikes Iran has launched on its neighbors. CNN’s Sara Sidner sat down with two experts to try to make sense of what is happening.
“It seems very counterproductive,” CNN’s National Security Analyst Peter Bergen said of Iran’s attacks on its own neighbors, pointing out that targeting Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with airstrikes could have negative consequences for the regime.
“They’ve attacked Dubai international airport … All of Iran’s financial logistics are conducted through Dubai. They’ve attacked Qatar, which they share the world’s largest gas field with. So, they’re effectively attacking their own assets,” Bergen said. “They’ve attacked Saudi Arabia, which in recent years … was doing some kind of rapprochement with Iran.”
Iran’s attempts to close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow channel through which a large quantity of the world’s oil passes, represent “economic suicide” for the country, he said.
However Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, a foreign policy think-tank, indicated that Iran’s strategy was to cause as much damage as possible, even if it damages itself in the process.
“Their calculation is that the only way this war ends in a durable way, meaning that Trump and the Israelis don’t come back six months later with another war campaign, is if … it’s been really costly to everyone,” said Parsi.
Iran wants to ensure that “no one thinks that it was a good idea to start it (the war), and no one thinks that it’s a good idea to start it again,” Parsi added.
Mojtaba Khamenei, potential successor to supreme leader, reported alive
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a figure long seen by some analysts as a potential successor, has been reported alive by Iranian outlet Mehr News Agency.
“Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader, is in full health,” Mehr said.
The outlet added that Mojtaba is also reviewing “important issues” related to the country, without providing details.
Mojtaba, the supreme leader’s second son, is widely understood to wield influence behind the scenes, with deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the most powerful military force in Iran, as well as the Basij, its volunteer paramilitary network.
Still, any move toward a father-to-son succession would collide with political and religious sensitivities inside Iran. Dynastic-style transfer of power is frowned upon within Shiite clerical tradition, and especially in a system born from a revolution that toppled a monarchy.
There are practical barriers, too: Mojtaba is not widely known as a high-ranking cleric and holds no official government position. He was sanctioned by the United States in 2019.
Here’s what we know so far about the death toll in the Middle East
Hundreds of people, including children and school teachers, have been killed in recent days, after the US and Israel launched a fierce bombing campaign on Iran – wiping out the country’s Supreme Leader and setting off a wave of violence in the region.
Tehran launched retaliatory attacks on US airbases in the region, while Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing projectiles from Lebanon into Israel.
Scenes have emerged of huge, gray smoke clouds tumbling over buildings, heavily damaged hospital rooms and entire homes hollowed out as communities struggle to reconcile the death and destruction.
Here’s what we know about the death toll in the region:
- Iran: At least 787 people have been killed by US and Israeli bombing across Iran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Tuesday, citing the Iranian Red Crescent. Among those killed were 168 children and 14 teachers following the US-Israeli attack on a girls’ elementary school on Saturday, according to state media.
- Lebanon: At least 52 people were killed and 154 were wounded in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese government said.
- Israel: At least 10 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in Israel since it attacked Iran, according to Israel’s emergency services Magen David Adom.
- Iraq: At least four Popular Mobilization Force soldiers were killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on Diyala, Iraq, the militia’s media directorate said Sunday.
- Kuwait: At least nine people have been killed in Kuwait since Saturday, including six US service members, according to CENTCOM, and two Kuwaiti service members, the country’s army said on Tuesday. One person was killed in an attack Sunday, the country’s health ministry said.
- UAE: At least three people have been killed in the United Arab Emirates, according to the country’s Ministry of Defence.
- Bahrain: One person was killed after debris from an intercepted missile sparked a fire on a “foreign vessel” in Bahrain’s Salman Industrial City, Bahraini state media said Monday.
Israel shuts West Bank crossings as settler attacks intensify amid war
The Israeli military has shut all crossings into and out of the occupied West Bank in light of the US-Israeli war with Iran, leaving Palestinians unable to access urgent aid as settler attacks rise.
According to a statement from the military’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), opening the crossings “under fire” puts lives at risk, adding that they will reopen “as soon as the security situation allows.”
Israeli activists on the ground who spoke to CNN said movement between districts and governorates in the West Bank has also been completely prohibited.
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem says settler attacks against Palestinians have intensified as media attention has shifted away from the West Bank as Israel is engaged with war in Iran.
Videos shared by activists with CNN showed dozens of masked and armed settlers firing into a home in the village of Qaryout, south of Nablus. Two brothers, Mohammed, 52 and Fahim Mu’amer, 48, were killed in the assault, according B’Tselem.
Due to Israel’s closure of the territory, ambulances weren’t able to reach or evacuate the wounded for over an hour, the group said, adding that the army arrived shortly afterwards and arrested 20 Palestinians.
CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.
German chancellor to meet Trump amid concerns over escalating Middle East conflict
By a quirk of scheduling, the German chancellor will become the first leader to meet Donald Trump since the US president ordered attacks on Iran, sparking regional conflict that is escalating rapidly.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz will hold talks with the president in the Oval Office, as Europe scrambles to respond to the growing conflict in the Middle East.
On Sunday, as US fighter jets continued to pummel Iran, the European Union released a carefully worded statement calling for the “full respect of international law.” Germany, France and the United Kingdom separately pledged to “take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region.”
Germany has long been a strong supporter of Israel and Chancellor Merz said on Sunday that this is “not the time to lecture our partners and allies.”
One European diplomat told CNN, “nobody knows where the region is going to go next, or how the war will unfold, but in general terms, I think Europe is content to see a regime hostile to Europe go.”
The diplomat added, “Iran is trying everything to expand the conflict, versus where the United States are trying everything to keep it narrow.”
Trump says Iran wants to talk but it's "too late"
President Donald Trump said today that Tehran is seeking talks with the US as military operations against Iran continue but indicated he believes the opportunity for negotiations has passed.
“Their air defense, Air Force, Navy, and Leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said, ‘Too Late!’” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The president suggested over the weekend, however, that he agreed to engage in talks with Iranian leaders following the start of US and Israeli strikes.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump said Sunday. “They should have done it sooner.”
Ahead of the military operation, there were three rounds of talks between the US and Iran, with the latest round ending last week in Geneva.
Strikes continue in the Middle East, as US closes embassies in the region. Catch up here
It is now the fourth day of conflict across the Middle East after the US and Israel’s initial strikes on Iran on Saturday. Tehran has retaliated by launching strikes on its neighbors in the region.
Catch up on the latest updates below:
- The US has closed two embassies in the Middle East and reduced its diplomatic footprint in several other countries as strikes continue in the region.
- The US embassy in Saudi Arabia has warned of a “threat of imminent missile and UAV (drone) attacks” over the city of Dhahran.
- The US embassy in the Omani capital Muscat has issued a security alert asking embassy staff to shelter in place, citing “ongoing activity.”
- Israel’s military said it is intensifying its presence in southern Lebanon, seizing more positions on the ground as it escalates its offensive against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
- The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirmed damage to a fuel enrichment plant in Iran – in the first confirmation of damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities since the US-Israeli attacks on the country began.
- US President Donald Trump has said it is “not possible” at this time to know how long the US military operation in Iran will go on for.
- A fire broke out in the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah Oil Industry Zone after debris fell following the interception of an Iranian drone, according to a statement from the Fujairah media office.
- The UAE has sufficient munitions to repel Iranian attacks for as long as they continue, a defense ministry spokesperson said.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Eyad Kourdi, Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, Ross Levitt, Aleena Fayaz and Sana Noor Haq contributed to this reporting.
Kuwaiti locals approach pilot after US jet accidentally shot down
After the shooting down of three US F-15 jets in an “apparent friendly fire incident” in Kuwait on Monday, video from social media shows locals approaching one of the crew who ejected from the aircraft.
The pilot is asked if she is OK before being thanked for her help.
Watch here:
After the shooting down of three US F-15 jets in an apparent friendly fire incident, video from social media shows locals approaching one of the crew who ejected from the aircraft. Locals ask them if they are okay before thanking the pilot for their help
US embassy warns of threat of imminent missile and drone attacks in eastern Saudi city
There is a “threat of imminent missile and UAV (drone) attacks over Dhahran, (Saudi Arabia),” the US embassy warned in a stark social media post on X today.
“Do not come to the U.S. Consulate,” the post from the US embassy in Saudi Arabia said. “Take cover immediately.”
“Do not go outside. The U.S. Consulate in Dhahran urges U.S. citizens in Dhahran to shelter in place, review security plans in the event of an attack, and to stay alert in case of additional future attacks. U.S. Consulate personnel are sheltering in place,” it said.
The warning comes after the US embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit by two suspected Iranian drones and two additional drones hit “at or near” the embassy, which is in the capital city of Riyadh.
Dhahran is in the east of Saudi Arabia, closer to Iran.
US gas prices just had their largest one-day increase since 2005
The price of gasoline in the United States soared 11 cents to $3.11 a gallon, on average, in the latest reading from AAA. That marked the largest one-day increase since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The US and Israeli attacks on Iran and the subsequent closing of the critical Strait of Hormuz passageway contributed to a massive surge in energy prices. Iran has also launched retaliatory attacks on the oil infrastructure of oil-rich US allies in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter.
That has roiled world oil markets. In trading early Tuesday, the price of US oil was up 7% to $76, following a 6% rise in Monday trading.
Tuesday’s $3.11 average ended a three-month string of prices below $3 a gallon that began on December 1. It also means that prices are one cent higher than they were a year ago, and stand about where they were on Joe Biden’s last full-day in office in January of 2025.
UAE military official shows Iranian missiles and drones shot down by air defenses
During a briefing with United Arab Emirates military chiefs held in Abu Dhabi a short while ago, Maj. Gen. Abdul Nasser Al Humaidi broke away from the podium to demonstrate a selection of Iranian missiles and drones that he claimed were shot down by UAE air defenses.
Among those featured was a short-range ballistic missile, the Qiam-1, which Al Humaidi claimed was one of “hundreds” shot down. The UAE spokesperson also showed a damaged Shahed 136 drone, which he also said has been destroyed in huge volumes.
The UAE “reserves the right to take all measures and procedures to combat any attack or any aggression” from its adversaries, Al Humaidi said during the briefing.
