of what is happening and around tonight. but airspace affected explosions reported around a significant city was significant basis and a major nuclear research facility in iran. tonight, john nick, a second iranian media reporting that initial behind that, there have been significant strikes there. >> so let's say whether you mentioned we've been expecting this just for our viewers. i just got through the time i remember back on april 1st israel was blamed for an attack on an iranian consulate in damascus, syria. and then as nick noted, back last saturday on the 13th, around deployed more than 300 drones and other ariel weapons attack on israel after that, nick, the president united states, who helped the united states hey, it's britain, other western allies helped to repel the iranian attack. and the appeal from president biden to israel was you prove they couldn't hit you don't do anything provocative, don't do anything that further escalates a region already on end. prime minister netanyahu has not listened to the president of united states when it comes to the hamas conflict.

is it safe to say it appears he's not listening to him here john, i think what it's safe to say at the moment is that it appears as in all likelihood that israel has struck iran now has if this has happened, has israel has the prime minister dial back what he might have otherwise planned? >> certainly there's been a huge international push. you had the british foreign secretary of the german foreign secretary. here are a couple of days ago with repeating that message to all the ministers they met the prime minister defense minister, the foreign minister, the president for do not escalate the situation, but both seem to accept that israel was going to go ahead, john the gravity force live in jerusalem with the early reporting. >> nick, appreciate that hustle very much coverage will continue immediately right now, cnn news night with abby phillip starts now these cnn's

breaking news explosions in iran on good evening. >> i'm abby phillip in new york. there's breaking news tonight reports that israel may have hit back iran's semi-official fars news agency, citing local sources, says tonight and explosion was heard northwest of isfahan. that is about four hours south of the capital city of to her on and we can't say anything right now about what caused that explosion. but if israel did in fact strike that decision would ignore persistent pushing from the united states and its allies all across the world to show restraint. cnn supporters are here with us standing by. let's start with alex marquardt. he is live tonight and washington alex, what do we know at the center? our well, abby, details still very much coming in, but we have had percolating reports about explosions blast heard in iran. >> of course, the immediate assumption is this is indeed the israeli retaliation for a ron's massive strike against

israel last weekend with more than 300 drones and missiles. but what we know so so far is simply that explosions have been heard. this comes from now, multiple iranian semi-official news outlets. the latest from a press tv he reporting that an explosion was heard near a ron's central city of s for khan, the reason is still unknown, and that echoes what we heard just moments ago from another semi-official news agency called fars. so here we have iranian media itself reporting an explosion or explosions. and one of ron's most prominent cities, s. behind it is in the middle of the country towards the western part of the country it does have a prominent nuclear facility, but i will note that this was near s for khan. so it is very much unclear here what the target may have been. indeed, how this was carried out. we have not heard anything abby, from the

idf, from any israeli officials. we've not heard anything from any american officials we of course, are checking with our sources. this is something that we have been anticipating for several days now it has always been a question of how israel would try to thread the needle of responding to this historic attack by iran without escalating the situation that has certainly been the priority of the us and its allies that israel should be allowed to do what it, what it wants to because it's a sovereign country, but not escalate this already incredibly volatile situation and abby, i would just note that about two-and-a-half hours ago right here on cnn, the iranian foreign minister said in no uncertain terms that if israel were to strike iran directly, that there would be an immediate and maximum response from iran. but for now, abby, we're still trying to learn what these explosions or this explosion was. but is now being

reported by iranian media abby. >> yeah, very important if you to underscore the seriousness of this particular moment and those comments from the iranian foreign minister are incredibly significant alex standby for us. i want to go now to cnn, international diplomatic editor, nic robertson. he's joining me live now from jerusalem nick, as alex pointed out, it has been at the urging of the united states that israel, take a beat and perhaps back down in this moment to cool off tensions, we don't know who is responsible or what these blasts might've been. but this could be the moment that of expansion of this conflict that everyone has been warning us about for months yeah. >> as alex was saying, that the iranian for a minute, so just a few hours ago you're saying that there would be a decisive immediate response that essentially israel would regret it the skies over this city acquire there's no sirens going off here we're not aware

of sirens anywhere else in israel at the moment we are beginning to get a few more details of the strikes or these explosions, at least as far that we know about now in s4 khan, northwest service for khan is what the fars news agency in iran's semi-official news agency, there is reporting. so we are beginning to build up a slow picture and i think a couple of other details to bring into the picture that we've been tracking over the past few hours flight radar tracking of flights in the skies above iran have indicated within the past hour or so, flights have been changing their flight path to avoid iranian airspace we'll aware that in the last half, an hour or so a no tamar know flay declaration has been made for the west of iran, which would be the side of iran that if there were israeli fighter jets

on their way into iranian airspace, they would be coming from potentially from the west of iran. they could come from the south as well, but perhaps a more direct, more covert route for them might be from the west. so, so that piece of information, i think it is telling an important and i think what first caught our attention here earlier on this evening, which could be completely unrelated, but a number of small earthquakes, were recorded in several iranian a desert locations outside of cities. now, there's no, there's no detailed information that we have about these yet, but this evening that this sort of gathering picture of strikes or explosions heard in other cities we know of at least two other cities where the local population that we cannot confirm at the moment, i should stress that cannot confirm have reported unexploded unexplained

explosions. now, of course, in iran, people can be concerned about the possibility of this upending israeli airstrike threat. and people can misread things that can be as much as an exploding town around the road outside of where they live. so i stress all this information has to be tracked down. and of course, iran controls the information flow inside the country the internet is not really available in twitter is not ready available. and, you high-speed cellular network connection is not so ready for people. the iranian government controls that because they want to control the message and information, whether it's about protests on the street or the explosions that may be happening in the country. so the fact that we're only through the news channels that are sanctioned by the government of iran hearing about explosions in one city or close to one city is for khan is only is only as far as we

can tell at the moment. part of the picture of what we think may be happening. but it's going to take time for us to look at what we're here, look at the details we're getting cross-reference them and try and try to get some better clarity on them yeah. >> in there because you're talking there. i just want to reset for people who may be just joining us. we can report now that there have been explosions heard inside of iran at near the city of isfahan. that's about a few hundred miles south of tehran that's a city that is the third most populous city in iran. we also know a couple of things about isfahan. it has one prominent nuclear sayyed. it also has an army base nearby. but as nick was just telling us there, we don't have a clear picture of who might be responsible, what might be responsible for those blasts. we don't have a clear picture of what else might be going on because of how locked down iran is. but nick, i do want to ask you just generally

zooming out here. a strike inside of iran. what is the significance of that well for israel, it would re-establish deterrence, which is what iran said last weekend. >> they had established in their favor the ability to strike back with the intent to deter israel from striking them. israel has relied historically in this region that is that is oftentimes very hostile to its existence iran for example, denies the existence of the israeli state. it is an existential threat to israel and deterrence is the way that israel has deemed is the d only effective way to put off a potential aggressive in the region. so if they have struck tonight, it will be an effort to reset that deterrence. now the iranian foreign minister was very clear if there's any sort of strike

whatsoever, then there would be a swift and decisive response from from iran. now, they could use proxies in lebanon, such as hezbollah. and i've been talking to sources and 11 in this evening and they feel that the situation is very tense place in lebanon at the moment in respect of hezbollah potentially hezbollah expecting themselves to be to be targeted however, i think what that means, but the moment in a bigger picture is it really adds to the very, very tense nature of what's, what's happening. and what could happen as an outflow of the early indications of what we believe that we're seeing in iran. but it is, this is going to be a decision that comes down to the iranian government to determine what they need to do when they've assessed what has caused these explosions

around the country tonight their language has been very clear, on bolden would indicate that they're not going to shy away from responding. but but it will be and it appears to be as if the ball is shifting to their court. it was in israel's and it shifted back to there's luck. >> thank you for all of that. please stand by for us. we do have to continue to emphasize that at this moment there is very little information that we know about what is happening inside of iran. iran is not a place where there's a lot of information that comes out, but we do know according to some semi official news sources inside of a rhonda, some explosions have been heard near the city of isfahan that is in the central western part of iran, south of tehran, as well i want to bring in now former dni director of national intelligence, james clapper director clapper, this is a very serious moment as we wait

to find out exactly what has happened here the reports as of right now of explosions are obviously not in a vacuum. it's in the context of this intense a counter attack by iran on israel over the weekend the united states had been trying to push retaliation off. do you see indications tonight that those efforts ultimately failed? >> well as you indicated, abbe first reports never quite accurate or certainly in this case complete but if the inferential evidence that we have so far is accurate it would appear that israel has retaliated which we knew was one of the question of whether it was a question of when we do need more clarity on what the targets are and the nature of damage done were there are casualties. et cetera? i think

there are two major questions that the president will look to his national security team for one is to intelligence okay. the israelis have attacked apparently attacked or ron how will the iranians retaliate? and secondary, that's a question for the intelligence community and then from a policy perspective, we had stated that we would not support an attack by israel against iran well, we'll we support israel when iran counter retaliates so we could be in for a, for tat that could rapidly get out of control. so this is a pretty serious turning point i had commented earlier that it looks like the iranians crossed the rubicon by attacking is, or attempting to attack israel proper well the

other side of that rubicon appears now has been crossed by israel. so what where do we go from here? >> where do we go from here at the question of the hour? it just so happens that the cnn interviewed the iranian foreign minister just a few hours ago, live on this air. i want you to listen to what he told erin burnett parcel her mob i response tuesday's israeli regime was the limited in that hollywood and have honest theme stayed within a minimum of frameworks we will not continue however, in case israeli regime but dom embarks on adventurism again, takes action against the interests of iran then next response it's from we will be

immediate and at a maximum level it will be decisive as a, trained intelligence official, when you hear that pretty absolutist language, it will be immediate and at a maximum level, it will be decisive. >> what do you hear? >> well i take him at his word. i think right now the radian regime is very hard line more more so than perhaps& alonso history and so i take him at his word. i think they will they will respond in kind. and of course the question is how, how can this be deescalate it if it can be at all. but my take seriously what he's saying& i believe the iranians will respond. i don't believe they can't stand another

embarrassment like the first attack where they mounted this mountain massive pack, which essentially was it's completely ineffective director clapper please stand by for us. >> i'm gonna go live now to the pentagon where oren liebermann is. they're standing by or in anything you're hearing right now from military officials in this country? >> not at this point right now. us officials are being very quiet here. we haven't gotten confirmation or information about what they're seeing in this case, but i certainly agree with james clapper that it's difficult to see this very much so as anything other than israel's response, which had been promised by prime minister benjamin netanyahu by defense minister yoav gallant so it's difficult to see the situation were playing out right now with reports of explosions in isfahan, iran, as well as some explosions in syria and iraq as anything other than the israeli response that they had been promising a few interesting points to make here over the course of the past six months, we have seen israel openly talk about some of its strikes in a smaller

number in syria here it seems if this is indeed israel, israel once again, choosing to be quiet and this is a policy they had followed for many, many years, not talking about actions and strikes that they would carry out in syria sometimes in iraq, there were a number of reasons for that. one of those was simply not to be seen as boasting or bragging about an attack, not to add insult to injury. so potentially, israel, once again, following that policy right now, aware of not only how sensitive the entire situation in the region is, but also the desire of the united states, not to see the situation escalate any more here. now the question of explosions in syria and iraq, if israel were to have attack act iran, how would they do so? knowing that some of the countries that aided in the defense from the iranian attack several days ago, did not want to see anything coming through their airspace. once again, jordan, for example, would be an example of that. so how would israel, if it wanted to seek out the strike iran? obviously, the obvious choice there is going through syria

and then over iraq directly to iran, likely with some sort of long-range missile taken from a fighter jet. now the question of where does this go from here? i'll go back to erin burnett interview with iranian foreign minister, which as you pointed out, just a couple of hours ago, despite the fact that that was a completely ineffective iranian main attack on israel, the foreign minister claimed victory. so it'll be interesting to see how they describe this attack when they're able to say more, do they simply call it a complete failure? and what does that mean for their response? that's something the us& in all likelihood, israel are right now watching very closely, abi, one more question. the countries that participated in the defense of the iranian attack, given the fact that this was or at least appears to be the israeli response, do they do so again given what we're looking at here and that's another question that the us and others have to answer. >> a lot of questions at this hour, oren. thank you. standby for us again. i do want to reset for folks who may be tuning in right now, there have

been explosions heard inside of ron tonight. and of course, this comes just days after israel warns that it would retaliate after iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at its territory over the weekend. but i do want to underscore that we do not know what the cause of these explosions are. we don't know if these were indeed caused by israeli strikes. we do know the location. it's in that city. you see there on the map is for khan the southwest portion of iran south of tehran. and we also now are getting right now some very first images of what might be happening there, flashes. as you see there in the sky above iran. nic robertson is back with us now nick, i don't know if you've seen these images are if you can see them now but it's certainly seems to be some ongoing activity or quite a lot of activity in the skies above iran yes again, what we're

trying to sort of piece together the limited information we have. >> our assessment is the most recent explosion sighted in the sky near as for khan is about the law within the last half an hour. so this does seem to be as best we can read the situation somewhat on ongoing or they were not quite reading it in real time. we're also getting information more about now the general picture in the skies above iran, we know that a number of flights have now been canceled out of tehran airport that's significant that the airspace around there seems to have been close we know that there has been a no tam alerted for the west for the west of iran, for the skies above it, above the western iran. so no flies for aircraft. there were also seen through

flight tracking that some flights have been diverted from the air space so it's certainly gives the impression that there is unusual activity in the skies above iran tonight. and reason for the iranians to be cautious about putting up commercial aircraft which perhaps indicates that they are not in control these unusual on specified events in the sky above iran. my language is incredibly careful here because we don't know what's out. actually happening in the skies there. we don't know what aircraft are there there's there's a broad supposition that this could be an israeli strike, but we don't have confidence nation that we know israel has been talking about striking bag but we don't know what's happening. we can piece together the picture something untoward is happening in the skies above iran. and there are explosions close to a city that has a principal nuclear

research facility as well as multiple military bases. again, we don't know the precise locations of these explosions, but we do know that they appear to be ongoing in pattern least as recently as the last half an hour. we also know that we've been tracking some other reports that have not yet come on. iranian state media these have been social media reports. they have not yet come on state media in iran in a couple of other cities. so let's be cautious about that information for the moment, as we try to piece together at least what we know, the state media is reporting in iran that caution is important. >> i'm glad that you reiterated it. we've been telling her audience all our so far our that this is just really preliminary information, but these images, as you said, certainly seemed to indicate that something is happening in iran tonight. nick, do standby for us we are getting word

right now from iran that flights into to ron and isfahan have been suspended. cnn military analysts and retired major general spider remarks is here with us as well general marx what did these images tell you? i see it almost looks as if dawn is on the verge of breaking there, but i'm seeing in my eye multiple flashes of bright light in the sky. what do you see well, first of all, what we have to keep in mind is as nick described, is there is a litany of assumptions that everybody is making right now and we're trying to piece all this together. >> one assumption is, was the united states surprise before israel. if israel made a strike. another assumption? was the united states apprised our priority if there was a strike, was it a series of cruise missiles that were launched for israel are launched from some a fighter in route around that

never hit around airspace. but in fact, least those cruise missiles. what was the ordinance on this? cruise missiles damage assessment on the ground, were there multiple engagements was this possibly massive amending ordinance penetrator, one of those deeply bombs that goes after a very deep target. the united states has those was it the mother of all bombs which we saw released a number of years ago in afghanistan. those have a very, because they're so large, about 30,000 pounds can they be released by aircraft? the israelis have currently in their inventory billie an f 15 that was equivalent appropriately, the empty wave. and if f 15 plus loaded weight underneath, you'd be right it out right at the hair in terms of the distance, the tolerance, and the ability to do that. but again, i mean these are all assumptions that we're making that will be pieced together

here shortly. >> very shortly, we hope because certainly there's a lot of speculation going on right now about what might have happened here. i do want to go back to alex marquardt alex, you have some new reporting what are you learning? >> well, just to answer, the general question, their abi there was a sense among us officials that if there were a counter attack box hi israel against a ronda, the us would be warned about it, not just, not just as a courtesy, because the us is israel's closest ally in and its biggest supporter in terms of military terry aid. and certainly in this war in gaza. but also because an iranian retaliation could significantly put american troops in harm's way. of course, there are american troops trypsin syria, as well as iraq. there american ships throughout the middle east and so there was a sense from senior officials who have been speaking with for the past few days that if israel decided to carry something out, that they would be told. so that's why of

course we are reaching out to all of our sources now to get a sense of what the us new and when again to underscore that we do not know right now whether israel has carried out any kind of strike. but i want to emphasize something that i learned a couple of days ago, abby and that is the us expectation. they had been told by israeli officials that were there to be a counter attack and that was the expectation we have been expecting something from israel over the, over the course of the past few days that it would be to quote one official limited in scope and what that would mean is essentially, we think a handful of strikes. another official was saying a kinetic attack against, say, military targets. again, back to israel's efforts to try to thread the needle in terms of sending a message to iran hitting back at iran without escalating this situation, i was just speaking with a senior us official just moments ago about that limited

scope and the understanding from the us was that that would not include civilian or nuclear facilities. so we're talking about s for khan. we're talking about the nuclear facility that is that is there and i'm being told now by a us official that they're understanding from israeli officials was that they would not go after any nuclear nuclear facilities, inner counter our again, we do not know that the explosions happened near their or at that facility and we again, don't know whether israel carried out any kind of attack, but that certainly let me was the understanding from us officials. one more thing, abby, is that the us thought that israel was going to do something and strike back in iran because of that attack last weekend. but the us firmly did not want israel to do this and in speaking with a senior official, just moments ago, that person said there was no green light from the us for any kind of retaliatory attack

against iran. now, the us is not saying that israel needs their permission because israel is a sovereign nation. they can do whatever they want. but in this moment, with such massive us support for israel's war in gaza, the us certainly has a large amount of leverage and the us, along with close allies, france and britain, who mind you, helped out in that help defend israel last weekend other members of the g7, they all wanted israel two in the words of the white house, take the win, recognize that they had been attacked by iran on a massive scale and done a very, very good job. of at defending themselves, knocking some 99% of the projectiles, the drones and missiles out of the sky. and that iranian attack was in response to israel's attack two weeks prior in damascus. so in the view of the biden administration, the score had essentially been settled. and at this extremely intense moment the us did not want to

see any more action by israel against iran. and so of course, there is profound fear that that is exactly what we are seeing right now. we don't know it, but there's a good chance that israel is carrying out some kind of operation. and then of course we have to get a sense of what that strike looked like, whether it was in deed in that narrow scope, because if it was, that will tell us that israel is hoping that that will be the end of it. but of course as i and others have said, in these past few moments, the foreign minister of iran saying very clearly right here on cnn, that they are very willing to hit back, hit back hard, hit back quickly, and expand the kind of targets that they tried to go after last weekend, which as far as we know, we're just military. abbe. >> alex, as you're talking, there, were just getting some new information. iran is now saying that its air defense systems have been added to evaded seemingly indicating there was some kind of attack that transpired in its airbase

as we're talking now, i want to bring in political global affairs analyst barak ravid, brock. i know that you are working your sources inside of israel, inside of the us government to find out as much as you can about what's going on here tonight. what are you hearing i don't hear much from these one of the funnier aides, my spoke to just minutes ago just told me no comment. >> but on the other hand, you know, it's five in the morning now and israel and he was way i think he tells it tells you a lot, even if he says no comment nothing much also from the biden administration all the officials i tried to reach are in radio, silence right now, but i think it's pretty clear to everybody what's going on there is a what seems to be quite significant strike airstrike on any iran near is for khan and the air defense systems were activated. and i

think it's fair to say that i don't i cannot think of any other country right now. other than israel that has any interest or motivation to conduct such a striking iran it's an important point. >> look, as you were hearing alex marquardt just a little while ago, i telling us what he'd been hearing from us officials, which is that they had been getting there's something that seemed to be parameters from the israelis about what may or may not be fair game if there were to be a counter attack. according to alex sources alex or sources that they were not going to go after nuclear facilities. we do know that is for khan has that there is a nuclear facility there and just in february, iran said that it started to build a research center. there. so we know that there's also an an army facility near is for khan as well. do you hear anything on the israeli sayyed about what they think would be within the parameters of a cow owner attack after what transpired over the weekend

yeah, i don't think there was any intention to conduct a strike on iran's nuclear facilities. this is a much, much, much bigger operation then what the israelis were planning in recent days what the israelis would trying to do is to from dr. strike, that will be retaliation on the one hand against the military targeting iran. but on the other hand, will not be too big so that it would push you run for an even bigger attack, then they conduct did last saturday and i think it's a very it's a very complicated balancing act. i'm not sure the israelis are calculating well enough uranian intentions and the reigning willingness to read retaliate again for this israeli strike. and i think the next few hours will be very, very sensitive and dangerous when it comes to

where this thing is going for now and whether the iranians will take another hit, the israelis to that exact point, as we've been discussing, it is incredibly significant that just a few hours ago, the iranian foreign minister said on cnn that they would have a maximalist response wants to any kind of israeli activity in iran, essentially, as you just noted, it's a question of whether the israelis made the right calculation. >> if that is in fact the hey do you think that inside of israel, there would be some second guessing about the wisdom of a counter attack well, i think that the i don't know if i call it the hope or an assessment. >> but what i heard from his officials in the last few days that they think that the iranians will retaliate, but they will not retaliate let's say wider it won't be wider

retaliation than the one they conducted last saturday and then both sides, we'll call it a day, but it it's it's all assumptions. nobody knows what the rains are going to do and we can only look at what they were saying publicly and you just said it a minute ago. they said that they're will be stronger than the initial attack on saturday. and if that's the case, we might find ourselves in this escalation after escalation, after escalation that can lead us to regional war where does it. add? >> brock? i mean, where does the confidence com that after one retaliation and then another response that it might stop that's a good question. >> and we have to remember that when the israelis killed iranian general in syria 2.5 weeks ago, it seems like it was last year. okay.

>> and they they didn't think that the radius will retaliate and they miscalculated and they reynoso retaliate with three other 50 rockets, drones, and cruise missiles and it's many people in these very intelligence community and security establishment. and i think it's it's a good question why do these really think they can really anticipate what the iranians are going to do next brockovich, good to have you here tonight. >> thank you for all of that cnn's paula hancocks is in beirut for us now how paula you are hearing now from the iranians, what are they saying well, what we have heard is the iranians pointing that if there was some kind of an israeli response, if it went after israel, iranian assets, then the president ebrahim raisi said that the response from iran would be heavier and it

would be a more dangerous response. >> now, as far as tehran this is concerned after the drone and missile attacks of last weekend, almost as that attack was still ongoing on israeli soil. we heard from tehran that base said this has been concluded so as far as they were concerned, at least as far as they said, publicly that was in response for the israeli attack on the diplomatic compound in dividend, which they said they felt as if it were on their home soil, on iranian soil is so said it was a diplomatic compound. and that was their response to that. they were very clear that they believed that that was the end of it, something which alex reporting is shown as well that the us was hoping would be the case. but clearly, we have heard from the israeli sayyed that that is not the end of it that they would be responding at some point as well, but from the iranian sayyed, we have also heard just yesterday local

time on thursday from a revolutionary guards commander, who is in charge of nuclear security in iran, say that if it isn't, if israel were to go after some of its nuclear assets, then it could. in fact, rethink its nuclear doctrine. it sits nuclear policy now iran has been saying, up until this point that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. this is something many countries do not take at face value, but they have said that if there is this case where israel does go after its nuclear assets then that could change the equation quite significantly also this commander saying that they know where the israeli nuclear assets for example, and that they could go after those assets. now of course, a lot of this could be posturing, a lot of this is for public consumption, even domestic consumption within iran as well. but this is the response

that we have been hearing over recent days from deir on that if israel goes after its assets then the response would be more significant coming the other way, abby paula hancocks. thank you. in standby for us as well here to give us some more context about this area, the geography of what we're looking at here in iran as retired army major mike lyons, major lions tell us a little bit more about isfahan. that is both a problem happens and a major city in iran. what do we know? >> so if you look at the way nuclear weapons are made, their mind than they're converted and then they're rich, right? we also often khaimah, that city contains is a facility that converts, converts uranium ore into yellowcake and eventually that gets religious gets enriched and then becomes a nuclear weapon. so the why i think that could possibly be a target going back to what general mark said is because they israel wants to show iran that it has the capability to reach out and get to that facility. now, we don't know if that's specific facility was

attacked. they could have just attacked around a military target around it in there and cases. but the message i believe israel would be sending or hypothetically, is that that they can get to that facility that's an important facility because it's the second step and how nuclear bombs are made. and if israel can take that linchpin out then the iran nuclear program is somewhat setback to say that israel i can launch some kind of air attack right now, given the extent of what the iranian nuclear program is, right now, is just not a good assumption. so, but this, i think the why is there telling iran that if we wanted to, we could reach out and touch that if we had to major just as you were speaking, we are now hearing that there have been explosions near an army base. there in isfahan, what do we know about the military capabilities that are located in that area? well, they're likely or defense platforms, they have those kind of weapon systems to protecting all of their nuclear facilities here. so again, israel decides to attack come, come do, come due east across the ron takes

out air defense platforms that exist in there and to general marxist point, did they attack with a cruise missile? i likely think that they use mann aircraft and this, and this kind of operation to ensure that they're they're targeting was very precise. maybe they did not want to hit that facility on purpose, but they went after for the military targets there. so the kind of military is there is there to protect it just from what israel did, which again, the y becomes sends the signal to iran. it says, we can come after this facility if we want to. >> all right. general leinz, thank you for all of that. let's bring in math at boot. he is a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations and a columnist at the washington post, matt max you've been listening patiently to all of this reporting the big question tonight is this the escalation that everyone has been fearing? >> it certainly looks like it, abby, although we don't know the details, i mean, i think what you're really saying is that the rules of the road at the middle east are being rewritten in real time. you're seeing red line suddenly become very, very bleak all right last saturday, the iranians launched a massive attack on israel with

over 300 drones and missiles. that's something that's never happened before. iran and israel have been fighting a shadow war since 1979, but they have never directly attacked each other's territory. you've seen a lot of israeli airstrikes and assets in lebanon and syria, you've seen israeli covert action inside iran. you've seen a radian back terrorist attacks on israel, but never an actual attack from iran and israel. and now you're seeing something in retaliation. and most likely that you've also never seen before, which is most likely a direct attack from israel in to iran. now, i would imagine that both iran and israel are trying to calibrate their actions to avoid a wider war, which neither side really wants. but it may be very hard to do because i'm not sure they have a great idea of what the new rules of the road are or how to prevent misunderstandings. but would and for two things from the reports that we're seeing abbe one is that if in fact israel has been striking fairly

recently, that's very early in the morning, right? so i'd assume they're striking early in the morning and part to avoid casualties, to avoid killing a lot of iranians, probably trying to target sites without causing mass mass casualties. the other thing i would notice if these reports are accurate about explosion inside iran, that suggests the israeli airstrikes are getting through, which is not what happened with the radiant airstrikes on saturday when 99% of the iranian projectiles were down. this suggests obviously that arrhenius air defenses are not as good as the israeli air defenses. and the israelis have more potent airpower than the radians, but where this goes from here, i think remains very much undetermined. and now, just as on saturday was up to israel, now, it's really up to iran and luck. >> i don't want to sound alarmists, but this is a serious moment. and as you pointed out, what we saw this weekend has never happened before. now we are in a moment real uncertainty the decision making lies between benjamin netanyahu and iranian regime

that has been accelerating its attacks on israel. you heard barak ravid talking there about what he's hearing from israeli officials that they think that this can end at a particular point do they have enough information to be confident of that? and if they are wrong what are the consequences? >> well, clearly they don't have enough information. you've seen israel be wrong repeatedly in the last six months. they didn't anticipate the hamas attack on october 7 that took them completely by surprise. they also more recently did not anticipate what would happen when they bombed iranian consulate in damascus on april 1 and killed three iranian generals, the israeli sayyed no response, had no idea that the iranian response would be to live 300 drones and missiles at israel. they expected that iran would stay within the rules of the game and have a much lower level response, but they didn't iran escalate related. now, israel feels compelled to escalate and turn. and so both sides are maybe hoping, okay. maybe we can turn it down and chilly, but this could easily

spiral out of control because you you've been, you've been showing the video yourself of the iranian foreign minister threatening devastating responses should israel attacks iran, which it's certainly, it looks like they have done now, are there any more levers available to the united states to cool this down well, i think president biden has been doing his best and you would think that he would have a lot of credibility because it was actually on saturday, us forces were defending israel and shooting down action shall missiles and drones that were headed to israel. >> so that should by a lot of goodwill. but clearly, the israeli war cabinet was not listening to president biden. i assume there are now counting on the us to protect israel once again from any possible iranian retaliation. so i would say that the us certainly has some leverage but it's obviously pretty limited and up until this point, it has not been enough to change the actions of israel. >> they are a sovereign country, but they rely very heavily, as you pointed out on the united states for protection and also for weaponry, mac standby for us. i'm gonna go to spider marx. he's standing by reiterating

the news here for folks who are tuning in right now, three explosions have been heard near and army base inside of iran, near the city called isfahan. that is a very large city, the third largest in ron. it's one where we know there is a nuclear base, but there is also a military base as well spider marks tell us more about what the military capabilities are in that area. and if there was something targeted there, what could it be? >> clearly, you're going to find a military capability, primarily air defense in the vicinity of these enrichment facilities. so not surprising at all. and also when you go back to the nuclear deal that was find a number of years ago that the united states then invalidated and walked away from there. were conditions in that in that that prohibited unannounced inspections which means the iranians had the ability to do the enrichment.

and then transport or move that enrichment to a military facility. >> in other words, right outside the gate into another compound with very short movement requirements, distribution requirements, that what that might be difficult to detect. >> so it's not surprising at all. and so going after an arrangement, facilities like that ideally, if we certainly don't know what took place but there will be a requirement to do some very thorough bomb damage assessment to make a determination of what the possible next steps are. look if the israelis wanted to achieve a result, two degrade the iranian nuclear progress, the development of this capability, there has to be an assessment of what they accomplished if it was simply to describe a capability that the iranians have, it's no mystery to the world that the iranians can conduct military operations along multiple lines of effort simultaneously we see that right now, hezbollah,

hamas efforts elsewhere in the region and then conducting this strike into iran. i mean, this is quite amazing, not surprising entirely the israelis have this incredibly capable military force so if they're not sending a message, they're trying to achieve a result. we don't know what that result looks like. that needs to be determined before you determine what the next steps are going to be. >> all right. but major general spider marks standby again for us, we're going to go back to alex marquardt with some breaking news outlets yeah. >> abby, i've just gotten a confirmation from a us official that is israel has indeed struck iran tonight, that what we are seeing this explosion or explosions around the city of isfahan is indeed an israeli attack against iran. this is the retaliation that we have thought me becoming for several days now, ever since iran carried out that strike last

weekend against israel with those more than 300 drones ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles, there are not too many details about the dimensions, the breadth of the israeli strike tonight, but a us official confirming to me just moments ago that what we are seeing is indeed israel carrying out a strike against iran. what we've been seeing from local reports now, multiple iranian reports official jill in semi official, is explosions near the city of khan, which is in central western central iran. one more thing that the official told me is that it is not believed to be against a nuclear facility. we've been talking about the city of khan is one of ron's most important there is a significant nuclear facility there. my understanding from speaking with now multiple us officials is that the targets that israel had indicated that

they would be going after in a counter strike, would not be nuclear. one senior us official also telling me that the targets would not be civilian as we were just saying moments ago, abby, the us was expecting israel to carry out a strike that was limited in scope perhaps against military targets. but something that would be visible so as to tell the world this is israel hitting back against iran. of course, we've seen these images now for over the past hour, this is a very visible strike. and now we have this confirmation that this was indeed israel that is attacking iran. so major questions now where we go from here, we have to get a much better sense. indeed, israel and the us have to have a much better sense of what was struck, what the damage was done in order to be able to try to predict how iran might respond. but we have gotten some some very serious

words from a whole range of iranian officials over the course of the past few days, the latest of whom was this iranian foreign minister in new york with our colleague erin burnett tonight, a warning that if israel were to attack iran on, that, they would strike back. there would strike back hard, that they would expand their range of targets beyond just military like last weekend to include civilian financial and others, and that they could do so immediately. one thing to note from the foreign ministers interview, he said that they would not be going after us targets us the us were somehow directly involved i was told very firmly by a us official not too long ago that the us certainly did not give the green light to this israeli operation. what we have heard all week long from senior administration official scholz is that they did not want israel to carry out this counter attack. they wanted to take the win, so to speak. and

essentially, let last week agains defense that formidable defense of israel, taking down 99% of what was fired at it essentially speak for itself as not to expand this conflict, abby and that's certainly did not happen, alex, thank you for bringing us back right. reporting continued to stand by for us and we'll get back to you as soon. and as you have more, i want to go to director at james clapper just to react there to what you heard alex report, this has been confirmed by us official teube, israeli strike against iran, but not an attack against nuclear facilities that we know are in that area perhaps military facilities that are also in that area. what do you make of it? >> well, one issue that comes to mind here, abby, for me, is all of our analyses or perhaps more accurately are speculation seems to be premised on the assumption that both protagonists here, that is

israel and iran are attacking each other in the hopes of messaging each other. and then somehow these attacks are circumscribed and limited to convey a message. i think we're right capitally based on the information that alex just discuss that looks like there was an attack. i think we're rapidly growing out of that phase.& that the escalation ladder is going to get harder and harder to control and the messaging phase is perhaps over. i take the uranian officials, notably the foreign minister at their word and i don't think they're going to respond in kind. but they're going to respond with a larger attack that in their minds would be more effective than the first one. >> that's an ominous warning there. and i think that you may be right. we've been discussing. it's not clear that

either side knows how this might end director clapper continue to stand by for us. major mike lyons is with us as well. major lions. your reaction to the fact, according to alex the sources that there were non nuclear targets who that may have been the receiving end of israeli bombs here in the region well, they had to be followed up with intel and they had to be important targets. >> so what again, general mark said in for why they tacked them. well, what was their reasoning behind them? again, it's just too close to that facility. in order to think that they wouldn't have to send a signal that they could go and get it. but air defense platforms, there's other difference platforms i could have attacked along that border. they could have been republican garden force, they could've been other military units that the israelis thought was high-value targets and it's an opportunity to go after them, but didn't get in most cases, they would have to take out multiple air defense platforms along the way along that axis of attack. if they're especially going to put their own pilots in harm's way in order to conduct this kind of

attack. so we have to say we will get more information, but from my perspective, the why i think comes back to a warning to iran on that they'll go after their nuclear facilities. >> all right, a major lions standby again, joining me now is robin wright. she's a fellow at the us institute for peace. robin you know, this region, the conflicts here the risk, as you heard, director clapper say, of the escalation ladder being climbed up so rapidly that the both parties cannot come down from it. what do you think are the consequences of that well, he's really clearly trying to demonstrate its military superiority and it has done that effectively, whether it's in damascus are now in iran, if especially if it's close to a nuclear facility, it may and not take it out, but it is showing what it's muscle is the big question, of course, is what iran does and we have to remember that it use only a small fraction of its arsenal. >> it has over 3,000 ballistic missiles and so it used

somewhere around 10%. it has a lot of weaponry that it can on leash, on israel. now, the tragedy and all of this is, i don't think either israel or iran wants the beaver war clearly the united states has used its leverage to try to prevent the region from deteriorating into something that is no one can contain. one of the big questions of course, is also what is israel's long-term strategy isn't seeking to prevent a nuclear weapon of capability or is it trying to encourage or do things that lead? eventually to some kind of regime change. and i think israel has proven. its short-term effectiveness in taking out iranian or iranian proxy assets. it's weapons depots, its military personnel, but it's not clear what its long-term threat is. iran on the other hand, it has a long game. it has proven that it is the inferior military power,

but it has built up over the last 42 years, an incredible alliance in the region. a deadly military capability and so the danger is that this does enter a slippery slope and we are into an open-ended base, even though neither side watson province right. >> thank you very much for that. max boot is still with us. max, the questions that robin rais, what are israel's long-term goals here and i don't need to remind anyone there is a very significant conflict going on right now in gaza that is taking up quite a lot of israeli resources but they're also trying to engage iran really for the first time directly. so where does this go from here? >> that's a great question. that's not something i'm sure that israeli leaders have necessarily thought through. i think the knock on israel in recent years is that a very good attack? typically from a military standpoint, they can hit targets, they can kill people. they know how they're very effective military, but they have a hard time

translating tactical military gains into long-term strategic gains. and you're seeing that problem right now in the gaza strip, where they're doing a lot of damage, killing a lot of hamas operatives, killing a lot of civilians but how are they going to create a long-term piece and gaza, they don't seem to have any concept of what happens after the guns fall silent. they don't have any idea of who's actually going to govern in gaza. and i kinda feel like they have a similar problem with iran. they feel like, okay, we've been attacked. we have to show, don't mess with us. we're going to hit back but where does it go from here if the ronna hits back, how do they prevent this larger war from breaking out, which is robinson, i think that's right. neither side really wants that larger war, but both sides are determined to show you can't push me around. i have to establish my deterrence. neither side. i don't think has a long-term strategy here, and that's, that's very dangerous. because emotions are involved, nationalism is involved in a lot of weaponry is involved. >> look, let's be honest, it's particularly dangerous for the state of israel, which

is like an island in the middle east and there's nowhere to turn. if there is a broader conflict so at what point does this need to turn to a conversation about out what's, what is it going to take to move toward peace in gaza and to de-escalate the tensions were not just with iran, but with its proxy. >> well, i think that's something israel needs to think about very hard because right now they're involved in a two front war right now, at least two friends may be three depending on how you count because they have the war in gaza, they have a war against has belie& lebanon. and now they're starting a direct war with iran that's a lot. i mean, israel is very powerful military, but that's a lot of wars at once for one little country and it also suggests that perhaps the united states almost might notably be dragged into whatever happens there. oh, absolutely. i mean, you saw last week. i mean, us forces were defending israel since october 7. there have been many uranian sponsored attacks on us bases in the region, some of which have killed or wounded us troops. so, yeah, absolutely. the united states is in the middle of it because israel's

ally also the ally of some of the arab states involved. so we're trying to keep peace in the region, but it's becoming very hard to do. it's kind of like a rough retried to stop between two guys who are flailing at each other and you're going to get punched on both sides when it comes to the conflict in ukraine the president biden has been very clear. there. they're going to be limits to how involved the united states is. do you think that there will be any limits when it comes to israel that they know that remains to be seen. i mean, i think this is saturday was very unusual, not only in the direct rating attack, but also in the direct us response and of course, a lot of ukrainians were saying, well, why isn't the us defending us the way they're defending israel? but i think there is a logic here that the us is desperately trying to prevent a wider war in the region. and so now the issue is did israel ignore us warnings not to attack iran? and if so, do we wind up defending israel anyway, from the inevitable iranian counter attack, max boot. >> thank you very much for sticking with us all of this