Here's the latest
• Top official killed: Iran vowed revenge Wednesday for the killing of one of its most powerful decision-makers, Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike Tuesday. Who could replace him?
• Missile attacks: Two people were killed in central Israel as the country said it was intercepting Iranian missiles at various places including the capital Wednesday. CNN witnessed what appeared to be a cluster munition over central Israel. The US dropped 5,000-pound guided bombs on missile sites along the Hormuz strait.
• US Marines: A US warship believed to be carrying Marines and sailors to the Middle East was nearing the Malacca Strait off Singapore as it made its way to the region, maritime tracking data showed Tuesday.
• Joe Kent: A senior US intelligence official appointed by President Donald Trump abruptly announced his resignation, citing misgivings about the administration’s war with Iran. Trump called his resignation a “good thing.”
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel early Wednesday "in retaliation" for killing of security chief
Iran launched fresh attacks on Israel on Wednesday, vowing revenge for the killing of two top Iranian leaders the day before.
In the predawn hours, CNN teams in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem witnessed flashes in the sky, including what appeared to be a cluster munition missile over Tel Aviv.
Multiple locations in Tel Aviv were struck by falling debris, with bomb disposal teams and emergency responders dispatched to the scene. Video from emergency services showed debris on a residential street, and a vehicle on fire.
Earlier Wednesday morning, two people were killed in central Israel by missile shrapnel, while another person was injured in the city of Beni Brak just north of Tel Aviv, emergency services said.
The pair died “just a few meters from the safe room,” said Tel Aviv District Police Commander Haim Sargerof, Reuters reported.
Iran’s military said early Wednesday morning that it had launched “intense” attacks against Israel, with one commander announcing a “rapid strike.”
Iran’s semi official Tasnim news agency showed video of what it said were the missiles it fired at Tel Aviv, including the Khorramshahr-4 –– which experts say can be equipped with up to 80 small bomblet. The Revolutionary Guards said the missiles were fired in “retaliation” for the death of national security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, Tasnim reported.
Hormuz crisis takes a bite out of India’s beloved samosas and chai
Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has sparked global fears of fuel pumps running dry, but in India, it’s also leaving a bad taste in the mouth of some restaurateurs and street stall diners, with samosas off the menu and the ubiquitous chai lacking its usual aroma in parts of the country.
The world’s fastest-growing major economy imports about 85% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the Middle East, much of it used in cooking food for its 1.4 billion people.
With supplies impacted by the US-Israel war with Iran, the government has begun diverting the precious fuel away from industrial users, like canteens, hotels and restaurants, to keep flames alight on household stoves.
In a bid to keep their kitchens running, some chefs are looking for alternatives or limiting certain menu items. Some are turning to induction hobs. The problem? Traditional Indian cuisine and electromagnetic coils are not entirely compatible. Read more here
Saudi Arabia to host Arab, Islamic foreign ministers for discussions on regional security
Saudi Arabia will host foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries on Wednesday evening to discuss regional security, its foreign ministry said in a statement.
The “consultative ministerial meeting” in Riyadh is being held with the “aim of further consultation and coordination on ways to support the security and stability of the region,” the ministry said in a post on X.
This was one of the last ships to exit the Gulf before Iran started targeting the Strait of Hormuz
The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has shocked global energy markets. CNN Senior International Correspondent Ivan Watson went in search of a Liquefied Petroleum Gas tanker that exited the Persian Gulf just before Iran began targeting vessels.
Israeli strike destroys building in central Beirut
An Israeli airstrike destroyed a highrise building in central Beirut on Wednesday morning in a district near the Lebanese government headquarters.
Images showed an explosion at the base of the tower block before the entire building collapses in a cloud of dust and debris.
Approximately an hour and a half before the attack, Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman posted a map identifying the building and told nearby residents to leave the area immediately, warning the building was being used by Hezbollah and the military would be targeting it.
In the hours after the strike rescuers scrambled over a large pile of rubble and twisted metal where the building had stood, digging through the debris and extinguishing fires.
Israel has ramped up airstrikes across Lebanon in recent days, issuing extensive evacuation orders across the country. Over 1 million people have been displaced since the most recent conflict began with many families sleeping outside or in makeshift accommodations on the streets of Beirut.
Damaged cars and debris-filled streets after strike on Tehran neighborhood, state media says
Iranian state media has published video showing what it says is the aftermath of a strike on a residential neighborhood in northern Tehran Wednesday morning.
Rubble can be seen strewn across a badly damaged street that is covered in thick, gray dust and debris, in video posted by the state-affiliated Mehr news agency that shows cars with their windscreens smashed in and damage to surrounding buildings.
An excavator clears a path through the debris as trees and branches cut off the street in one part of the video.
Mehr reported the neighborhood, which is not named, in northern Tehran was attacked in the early hours of Wednesday morning and emergency crews recovered two bodies from the wreckage.
Emergency services were at the scene searching for people trapped in the rubble, according to the report.
CNN cannot independently verify the report. It comes as the Israeli military said it had struck units of the Basij paramilitary force in the capital and explosions were heard in Tehran in the early hours.
Ali Larijani was a key power broker in Iran. Who could replace him?
Replacing Iran’s top national security official Ali Larijani after he was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday won’t be an easy task.
The veteran politician was regarded by many analysts as the most important decision-maker in the country, a skilled negotiator who could work across different camps within the regime and internationally.
By law, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will be the one to appoint the next national security advisor and speculation is swirling that influential regime figure Saeed Jalili may step into the role.
Analysts say there is strong precedence for the job going to one of the Supreme Leader’s representatives to the National Security Council. Larijani’s death leaves Jalili as a likely option – he has previously served as national security advisor, was a chief nuclear negotiator and is a current member of the Expediency Discernment Council.
“Jalili is an arch-hardliner, leader of the most vociferously anti-Western and extremist section of the regime,” said Iran analyst and author Arash Azizi, who is also a lecturer and historian at Yale University.
Jalili, however, may be less skilled at working within the various parts of the system as Larijani was.
“His rigidity and extremism might become a vulnerability for the regime and lessen its ability to manuvere the dire straits it is in,” Azizi said.
The elite Revolutionary Guards “hold much of the real power in Iran today” and so may want someone with “more military experience who could be more suited for the current moment,” Azizi added.
Whoever is chosen as Larijani’s replacement will have a major role in any negotiations to end the war.
Following Larijani’s death, Jalili posted a message saying, “these actions will not rescue the feeble enemy from the quagmire in which it is trapped; rather, they will accelerate the course of its defeat and humiliation,” the state-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.
Video claims to show missiles fired toward Tel Aviv as Tehran vows retaliation for killing of security chief
Video posted to Telegram by Iran’s Tasnim News showed what the state-affiliated news agency said were missiles fired at Tel Aviv in Israel “in retaliation” for the killing of national security chief Ali Larijani.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ public relations arm said Khorramshahr-4 missiles were among those used in its “intense” attacks against Israel.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv earlier reported that a large missile with many submunitions had fallen on the city and that Iran has used Khorramshahr missiles with those capabilities.
CNN cameras captured what appeared to be a cluster munition in the skies over central Israel. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on the ground in Tel Aviv.
Israel said early Wednesday it was intercepting a new salvo of missiles from Iran. CNN witnessed what appeared to be a cluster munition over central Israel, with impact sites reported at various cities including Tel Aviv. Two people were killed in central Israel, according to Israel’s emergency response service.
The attacks come as Iran vowed revenge for the killing of Larijani in an Israeli strike.
Commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, Maj. Gen. Amir Hatami, said Iran’s response to Larijani’s death will be “decisive and regrettable,” adding that “the blood of this exalted martyr and other esteemed martyrs will be avenged,” according to Tasnim.
Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said US President Donald Trump “must wait for our surprises” and that the armed forces’ response will be “more devastating than the actions and imagination of the enemy,” Tasnim reported.
Tehran is striking back after Israel killed two top Iranian leaders. Here's the latest
Tehran is vowing revenge after strikes killed two senior leaders on Tuesday, as Israel continues to pick off power brokers within the Iranian regime.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is facing headwinds as allies mostly refuse to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, and a senior administration official resigns – publicly contradicting Trump’s justification for beginning the war.
Here’s what to know on day 19:
- Top officials killed: Iran confirmed on Tuesday that its powerful security chief Ali Larijani had been killed, announcing a “rapid strike” and “intense” attacks against Israel in retaliation. Israel has also killed the head of the Basij, Iran’s feared paramilitary force.
- US official resigns: Joe Kent, a senior Trump-appointed US intelligence official, abruptly announced Tuesday he is stepping down from his post, citing misgivings about the administration’s war with Iran.
- Trump dismisses allies: Trump said the US should rethink its NATO membership as he criticized allies for not helping with the war or in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
- Baghdad targeted: Drone and rocket attacks resumed around the US Embassy in Baghdad early Wednesday local time. A hotel in Baghdad, a US diplomatic facility near Baghdad International Airport, and an oil field in southern Iraq were targets on Tuesday. Iran-backed militias claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, saying they were acting in support of Tehran.
- Iran strikes Israel: Israel said early Wednesday it was intercepting a new salvo of missiles from Iran. CNN witnessed what appeared to be a cluster munition over central Israel, with impact sites reported at various cities including Tel Aviv. Two people were killed in central Israel, according to Israel’s emergency response service.
- Hezbollah targeted: Israel continued striking Hezbollah targets across Lebanon on Tuesday, claiming to have “eliminated several Hezbollah terrorists.” A new evacuation order by the Israeli military sparked an exodus of people from the coastal Lebanese city of Tyre overnight into Wednesday.
Debris impacts at several sites after Iran fired more missiles at Israel
Multiple locations in central Israel have been struck by falling debris, Israeli police said, after a new wave of missiles launched from Iran were detected.
“Officers from the Tel Aviv district, Border Police fighters and bomb disposal teams are currently dealing with several locations where items of weaponry have fallen within the district,” a police spokesperson said just before 5 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Video from emergency services showed debris in a residential street and a vehicle on fire.
No casualties have been reported, police said, adding that officers were working to isolate impact sites.
Two people were killed in central Israel earlier on Wednesday morning, after another Iranian missile strike.
In Pictures: Tel Aviv hit with overnight strikes
Agency photos show destruction in the Israeli capital Tel Aviv early Wednesday following Iranian missile strikes. At least two people were reported killed in central Israel.
Projectile lands near UAE base where Australian troops stationed as Iranian strikes continue to pound Gulf
An Iranian projectile hit a road near a military base in the United Arab Emirates used by the Australian military, causing a small fire, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday.
The fire caused minor damage to an accommodation block and medical facility near the Al Minhad Air Base, but no Australians were wounded, he said.
It’s the second time the base – about a 30-minute drive from Dubai – has been targeted by Iran during almost three weeks of war with the US and Israel. An Iranian missile hit the base during the first weekend of the conflict, again causing no injuries.
Here’s the latest from the Gulf:
UAE: Its Air Defense systems “engaged” 45 unmanned aerial vehicles and 10 ballistic missiles on Tuesday, according to the Defense Ministry, adding that it continued to respond to an unspecified number of “missiles and drones threats from Iran” overnight.
Saudi Arabia: The Ministry of Defense said early Wednesday that it intercepted a missile launched towards the country’s central Al-Kharj Governorate, resulting in shrapnel falling in the vicinity of the Prince Sultan Air Base. No damage was caused.
Kuwait: Its air defense systems struck down an unspecified number of “hostile missiles and drones” overnight, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported early Wednesday.
Bahrain: Its Defense Force confirmed Tuesday night that the country was struck by two drones over the past day, adding that its air defense systems continued to “confront successive waves of” Iranian attacks.
Despite US airstrikes along Hormuz, Iran has possibly thousands of options to threaten ships, analysts say
The US military struck Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday with 5,000-pound deep penetrator bombs in what analysts say could be the opening salvo of a three-week long campaign to try to make the strategic waterway safe for oil tanker traffic again.
But they cautioned that no matter how successful a US air campaign along the strait is, Tehran has put together an “asymmetric” – or layered – system of advanced and relatively primitive munitions that are hard to eliminate.
And if just one of those Iranian weapons were to get past US Navy defenses in the strait, it could do catastrophic damage.
“That strike tonight was kind of shaping the hope that you can set military conditions to retake the Strait of Hormuz,” said Brett McGurk, a former US national security official and CNN analyst, said of the latest attacks from US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Speaking on CNN’s “AC 360,” he predicted further US strikes over the next three weeks would try “to uproot the defense industrial base of Iran, to methodically take apart their missile, drone, storage, production – everything.”
Retired US Army Gen. Mark Kimmitt framed the scope of that challenge, saying Iran has possibly thousands of small boats that can be outfitted to fire missiles or sow mines in the strait.
“They can put a lot of pain on those tankers,” Kimmitt said.
Even with the US airstrikes Tuesday on missile sites, finding mobile launch vehicles in Iran’s topography is a challenge, the analysts said.
Kimmitt said small boats can be stashed in coves or hiding in plain sight disguised as fishing boats or pleasure craft.
McGurk said missile and drone launch vehicles can be hidden in tunnels in mountain ranges not far from the strait.
“It’s a huge military challenge,” he said.
USS Tripoli believed to be carrying additional Marines to Middle East tracked off Singapore on Tuesday
A US Navy warship believed to be carrying Marines and sailors to the Middle East is nearing the Malacca Strait off Singapore as it makes its way to the region, maritime tracking data showed Tuesday.
The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was approaching Singapore, at the southwestern edge of the South China Sea, Tuesday morning, according to AIS tracking data seen by CNN.
US Navy ships often move with AIS transponders turned off. Revealing their positions while transiting areas with heavy maritime traffic, like the waters around Singapore, enables safer operations. Read more here.
Iran, NATO and postponed China visit: What Trump talked about in his latest remarks
President Donald Trump took questions from reporters Tuesday about the war with Iran during a bilateral meeting with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the White House.
- On his China trip: Trump said a planned trip to China this month has been postponed amid the US war with Iran. “We’re resetting the meeting, and it looks like it’ll take place in about five weeks. We’re working with China. They were fine with it,” the president said.
- On the Iran war: Trump brushed off a warning by Iran’s deputy foreign minister that US troops on the ground would result in another Vietnam. Asked if he’s afraid of that scenario, Trump responded, “I’m really not afraid of anything.” He also again offered a vague timeline for ending war with Iran, saying “we’re not ready to leave yet, but we will be leaving in the near future.”
- On the Strait of Hormuz: Trump predicted it “won’t be too long” before the Strait of Hormuz is secure, comments that come after he announced that NATO countries will not aid in the conflict. Trump also took a swipe at French President Emmanuel Macron after France declined to join a task force to help secure the the critical waterway.
- On NATO: He said the US should rethink its membership in NATO as he criticized US allies for not helping in the war.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters about the resignation of a Trump-appointed intelligence official named Joe Kent, who disagreed with Trump’s administration about the war with Iran.
Trucks carrying food and medical supplies are a lifeline amid Hormuz strait crisis
Hundreds of trucks travel in daily from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait to deliver food and medical supplies, offering a lifeline as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively blocked. CNN’s Nic Robertson reports from the border.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, hundreds of trucks are delivering food and medical supplies into Kuwait each day, forming a vital overland lifeline from Saudi Arabia. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.
National Counterterrorism Center director met with Vance and Gabbard day before resigning
National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent met with Vice President JD Vance on Monday, laying out why he intended to step down from his intelligence job over concerns about the war in Iran and presenting his resignation letter, according to two White House officials and a person familiar with the matter.
The meeting came one day before Kent posted the letter publicly to X in a remarkable public break with the White House.
The person familiar with the meeting said Vance and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were in the room as Kent laid out his reasoning for resigning, and the White House officials said Vance encouraged Kent to speak with Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, before formally submitting his letter.
One of the White House officials told CNN Kent did ultimately speak with Wiles before announcing his resignation publicly.
The meeting is notable given Gabbard, Vance and Kent all have expressed similar anti-interventionist views in the past.
Vance’s office declined to comment. The White House pointed CNN to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement earlier Tuesday criticizing Kent and pushing back on his assertion that there was no imminent threat that necessitated US strikes in Iran. CNN has reached out to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for comment.
The Washington Post first reported on the meeting between Vance and Kent.
MAGA media divided over National Counterterrorism Center director's resignation
Joe Kent’s resignation as director of the National Counterterrorism Center over the Iran war has split key voices in the MAGA movement.
Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly, two right-wing media figures who have broken with President Donald Trump on issues in recent months, posted in support of Kent’s move.
Owens took to X to say that Kent is “an American hero, patriot and veteran” while “Trump is a shameful President” in a post that also attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kelly, for her part, reposted Kent’s resignation announcement and at least three other posts highlighting his military and career achievements and that he is a Gold Star husband.
But just as polls show most Republicans still back Trump on the war, other MAGA media figures are siding with the White House against Kent.
Conservative host Ben Shapiro used his show to call Kent’s claims that the war started because of Israeli pressure “conspiracy trash.”
Mark Levin, meanwhile, posted over a dozen times on Tuesday on the topic, accusing Kent of “backstabbing” the administration and mocking media coverage of his resignation. “Sorry if I don’t praise and thank him. He deserves widespread condemnation,” Levin wrote.
