Trump vows to hit Iran “very hard,” says he has no war timetable: “Whatever it takes”

Kuwait’s defense ministry said early Sunday local time that fuel tanks at the Gulf nation’s international airport were targeted in an Iranian drone attack.

“The fuel tanks of Kuwait International Airport were attacked by drones in a direct targeting of vital infrastructure,” an official defense ministry spokesman said, according to a post by the Kuwaiti military on X.

The spokesman added the country’s forces were “responding to a wave of hostile drones” that penetrated the country’s airspace.

Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said its military intercepted and destroyed 15 Iranian drones early Sunday morning local time.

The defense ministry said in social media posts that it intercepted seven drones east of Saudi’s capital Riyadh, and another eight that had entered the nation’s airspace.

President Trump on Saturday told reporters, without citing evidence, that he believes a deadly strike on a girls’ primary school in southern Iran last weekend was “done by Iran.”

“In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran…We think it was done by Iran, because they’re very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever, it was done by Iran,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after attending the dignified transfer of six U.S. soldiers who were killed in an Iranian strike in Kuwait on March 1.

When pressed by a reporter if Mr. Trump’s assessment was accurate, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded that the Pentagon was “investigating,” adding that “the only side that targets civilians is Iran.”

Iranian-state media and health officials have reported that the strike on Feb. 28, the first day of the war, killed dozens of people, including schoolgirls ages 7 to 12. Iranian officials have blamed the U.S. and Israel for the strike.

Israel was not operating in the area, two sources told CBS News Friday. One of those, an Israeli source, told CBS News that Israel was not behind the attack, and said that the Israeli Air Force was not operating near the school.

A person familiar with the ongoing inquiry told CBS News Friday that U.S. investigators believe the U.S. may have been responsible. 

President Trump gave a brief update on the war with Iran Saturday night aboard Air Force One, but declined to say how long the attacks will last, telling reporters “I never project that, whatever it takes.”

“Their drone capacity is way down and we hit them where it hurts, including about every form of leadership you can have, we’ve wiped out,” Mr. Trump said en route to Florida after he attended the dignified transfer of six service members who were killed in the first days of the war.

When asked about the possibility of troops on the ground, the president said he didn’t want to speak about it, saying it is “not an appropriate question.”

“Could there be? Possibly for very good reason, have to be very good reason,” Mr. Trump said. “I would say if we ever did that, they (Iran) would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”

President Trump said Saturday the United Kingdom is considering sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, but he indicated they were not needed. 

In a Truth Social post Saturday afternoon in which he described the U.K. as “our once Great Ally,” Mr. Trump appeared to take a shot at his counterpart, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The U.K. was “finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” Mr. Trump wrote. “That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

On March 1, Starmer announced that he had granted a U.S. request to use British military bases for what he said was the “specific and limited defensive purpose” of destroying Iranian missiles, but said that the U.K. would not be joining the war.

On Monday, however, Mr. Trump told the Daily Telegraph he was “very disappointed” in Starmer, saying Starmer took “far too much time” to approve that request. 

The Spanish Embassy in Iran was fully evacuated on Saturday, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares said on X.

“The Ambassador and essential personnel who remained in Tehran have just crossed the border into Azerbaijan and are safe,” Manuel Albares wrote.

However, other Spanish embassies in the region remain operational through emergency phone lines, Albares said.  

“We continue working for the protection of Spaniards,” the foreign minister said.

he ruling emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, spoke by telephone Saturday to President Trump about the rapidly intensifying war in Iran and the surrounding region. 

Qatar announced the call in a social media post saying the Emir spoke about the current escalation seen in the Middle East region, and said the conflict will have dangerous repercussions on international security and peace.

He stressed the importance of containing the crisis and intensifying diplomacy to end it, adding that Qatar would defend its sovereignty, security, and national interests in line with the UN Charter and the provisions of international law.

“Both sides affirmed the necessity of joint action to maintain regional and international stability and to support political processes that can address current tensions and prevent further escalation in the region,” Qatar said in a statement.

The White House has not confirmed the call.

President Trump participated in a dignified transfer on Saturday of six service members who were killed in the first days of the war with Iran.

Mr. Trump, joined by first lady Melania Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, attended the transfer of the Americans killed in action at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The fallen servicemembers were identified by the Department of Defense as Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45 and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is “continuing with full force” with its attack on Iran and that the alliance with the U.S. is “deeper than ever.”

“We are changing the face of the Middle East, but not only that, we are changing ourselves,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “After October 7th, I decided to lead a polar shift: actions that dramatically alter the balance of power between us and our enemies. Through calculated risk taking, we have become a regional power.”

Netanyahu said the U.S. and Israel joined forces to remove the threat of Iran’s ballistic and nuclear capabilities.

“There was a further danger that Iran would preempt us and strike first; for all these reasons, we struck at the chosen time,” the Israeli prime minister said. “Moving forward, we have an organized plan with many surprises designed to destabilize the regime and enable change.”

Massive plumes of flames lit up the night sky in Tehran on Saturday after the Iranian state news agency said that an oil storage facility was targeted by the latest U.S. and Israeli strikes.

The depot, the IRNA news agency reported, was in an area close to a key oil refinery and the refinery’s facilities “were not damaged in the military attacks.”

Photos showed the horizon over Tehran glowing with pillars of flame and billowing smoke.

It is among the first times a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war.

Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the targets of the latest strike, but said Israel had recently launched another round of strikes in Tehran. Iran’s state media, in response, threatened to hit oil refineries in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

CBS/AP

Some Iranian missiles believed to be targeting the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were intercepted by U.S. air defense systems on Saturday, a source in the region told CBS News.

Elsewhere, three Iraqi security officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press that a missile had landed on the helicopter landing pad in the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad. Residents reported hearing explosions and the sound of air defenses intercepting incoming missiles or drones Saturday evening.

The AP said there were no casualties reported. 

A person in Dubai was killed on Saturday after debris from an “aerial interception” fell onto a vehicle, officials said.

The vehicle was in the Al Barsha area and the driver, identified only as being Asian, was killed, authorities said, without providing additional details.

This brings the number of people killed in the UAE since the war began to four. Authorities have said all were foreign nationals.

CBS/AP

Israel and Iran continued to trade airstrikes on Saturday night, sending residents to cover.

A wave of strikes shook neighborhoods in Tehran’s east and southwest. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Iran launched more missiles toward Israel.

Ir ordered residents across the country, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to seek over in shelters.

CBS/AP

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 41 people were killed and 40 wounded overnight in Nabi Chit and areas nearby. Lebanon said the deaths happened during an Israeli operation searching for Ron Arad, an Israeli navigator who disappeared 40 years ago. 

Arad went missing after parachuting from a fighter jet that crashed in Lebanon in 1986. He was captured alive. 

The Lebanese army and state media said an Israeli commando force landed on the mountains along the border with Syria on Saturday before heading to the eastern town of Nabi Chit, where they clashed with Hezbollah and local fighters.

Elsewhere in Lebanon, Israel’s air force conducted strikes on different parts of eastern and southern Lebanon.

Mr. Trump arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday for the dignified transfer of six service members killed in Kuwait.

He was joined by fiirst lady Melania Trump. The families of the soldiers, who were all members of the 103rd Sustainment Command, are expected to attend the transfer. 

All six servicemembers were killed during an unmanned aircraft system attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on Saturday, March 1. 

The dignified transfer, a ritual that returns the remains of U.S. service members killed in action, is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief. During his first term, Mr. Trump called participating in the transfer “the toughest thing I have to do” as president. 

The U.K. said Saturday the U.S. is using British bases for defensive operations to prevent Iran from firing missiles into the region. The missiles are putting British lives at risk, the U.K said. 

The U.K. said its military has continued operations over Jordan, Qatar, Cyprus and the larger region to protect British interests. A Merlin helicopter is headed to the region to provide further airborne surveillance.

The British press reported last month that the U.K denied the U.S. permission to use both Diego Garcia and the Royal Air Force’s Fairford base in England — both of which host American long-range bombers — for new strikes on Iran.

Reporting contributed by Mariia Kashchenko

The U.S. State Department cited the war in Iran as a reason to expedite the sale of munitions valued at least $650 million to Israel, bypassing Congressional approval.

The U.S. had announced late Friday they were expediting $151.8 in munitions to Israel. The agency also generally mentioned a request for thousands of 1,000-pound bomb bodies. Details about the munition sales were not fully disclosed until Saturday, following press coverage that noted the omissions from the legally-required public disclosures.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department provided the media with its revised munition sales list to Israel, which included general-purpose bombs for $151 million and $209 million and critical munitions worth $298 million.

“The United States supports Israel taking necessary action to defend its country, consistent with international law, and we will continue to coordinate with Israel to ensure it has what it needs to defend itself, its people, and U.S. citizens living and traveling in Israel,” a U.S. State Department official told CBS News.

Secretary of State Rubio invoked emergency powers under the Arms Export Control Act in order to waive the Congressional review requirements, citing the sale to Israel as being in the national security interests of the U.S. 

The Biden administration also twice declared an emergency, using the same legal basis, to bypass Congress and send arms to Israel during the Gaza war. 

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said Saturday evening that Iranian missiles caused a fire and other damage to a house and several surrounding buildings in the country’s capital of Manama.

It was not clear if an Iranian missile hit the country or if the damage was a result of interception efforts.

“The Iranian aggression caused a fire and material damage to a house and several surrounding buildings in Manama,” the ministry said. “Civil Defence is taking the necessary measures to extinguish the fire.”

This is the first material damage the country reports Saturday, but sirens have sounded at least seven times.

CBS/AP

Britain’s Foreign Office issued a warning Saturday advising against all travel to Israel and Palestine, citing the escalating war in the region. 

The office said British nationals who travel to the area do so at their own risk. 

The U.K. said assistance is present on the Egyptian side of the Taba border to point British nationals to the airport. The office said that their embassy in Israel is operating as normal. 

Israel’s military said its army struck 300 targets in Iran over the weekend amid the rapidly intensifying war. Missile storage sites above and below ground were targeted, the IDF said. 

Israel also said it dismantled the bunker of Ali Khamenei, located beneath the regime’s leadership complex. The supreme leader was killed last week on the first day of U.S.-Israeli strikes against the leader. 

The IDF said it was also fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, striking 170 targets over the weekend.

By: Cara Tabachnick and Michal Ben-Gal

The USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group (CSG) is primed to deploy to the Middle East, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Saturday.

The Bush CSG is currently near Naval Station Norfolk after completing its Composite Training Unit Exercise, which is standard ahead of any deployment.

The group will move through the United States European Command region en route to the Middle East.

Its deployment follows that of the USS Gerald Ford, which has crossed the Suez Canal and is now operating in the Red Sea. It will take some time for the USS George H.W. Bush CSG to get to the region, but the U.S. official said it is expected to overlap with the USS Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already in the region.

The U.S. State Department strongly condemned Thursday’s Iranian drone attack in Azerbaijan on Saturday.  

Principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the attack targeted Nakhchivan International Airport and a children’s school. Pigott said civilians were injured and “critical civilian infrastructure” was damaged. 

“These strikes are a flagrant violation of Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and a needless escalation of Iran’s aggression,” Pigott said. “The United States stands in full solidarity with Azerbaijan against these threats.” 

Missiles and drones flew across the Middle East on Saturday as the U.S-Israel war against Iran continued to escalate.

The U.S. and Israel have battered Iran, targeting its military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. Meanwhile, sirens rang in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

This map shows the latest known locations of strikes by the U.S., Israel and Iran.

A Chicago woman who is pregnant with twins has returned home safely after escaping the bombing unfolding in Israel, where she had been visiting family and friends amid the ongoing Iran war. Tamar Rubinstein told CBS News Chicago it felt “amazing” to be back in Chicago. 

Anna Rickert, of Crystal, Minnesota, and her friend, Laura vanZandt, arrived in Dubai the day before the airstrikes began and say they keep running into roadblocks. They told CBS Minnesota they were frustrated by the U.S. government’s response.

Arun Mamtani and his wife, Monica Mamtani, were on their honeymoon when the conflict began. The couple told CBS Texas, “After the alarm, I thought that we are going to die here. I mean, seriously, there is. There is no plan. What are we going to do?” said Monica.

They eventually secured seats on an Emirates flight that avoided much of the conflict by flying over southern Iran and then over the North Pole.

The Israeli military said Saturday that it struck 16 Iranian military aircraft during a “broad wave of strikes” in Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, claiming they were being used to send cash and weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force of using the airport, one of the two that serve the capital, as a “central hub for arming and funding the regime’s terrorist proxies” in the Middle East.

“Also targeted were several Iranian fighter jets that posed a threat to Israeli Air Force aircraft operating in Iranian airspace”, the statement added.

The Quds Force is a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that focuses on extraterritorial operations, unconventional warfare, and military intelligence.

Iranian foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said the U.S. hit a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf. 

Aragachi, on social media, called the incident a “blatant and desperate crime,” and referred to it as an attack. He did not provide further details about it. Aragachi said that the water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. 

“Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences,” Aragachi wrote. “The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.” 

The U.S. has not issued a comment about the alleged incident. 

More than 28,000 American citizens have safely returned to the U.S. from the Middle East, the U.S. State Department said Saturday.

Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson said in a statement that the figure does not include Americans who safely relocated to other countries or who have departed the Middle East and are still in transit back to the U.S.

Johnson said the State Department has completed more than a dozen charter flights from the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, which retaliated with its own strikes.

American citizens in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel in need of travel assistance should complete the Crisis Intake Form, the State Department said.

President Trump said the U.S. operation on Iran is going “very well” and that the results have been “amazing.” 

Mr. Trump said the U.S. has knocked out Iran’s navy, air force and telecommunications. He said that the attack “had to be done” because the country was “very close to a nuclear weapon.” 

He said the operation against Iran is “a service that we’re really providing, not for the Middle East, but for the world.” 

Mr. Trump also acknowledged the United States servicemembers who had died since the war began, calling their deaths a “very sad situation” and calling them “great heroes in our country.”

Pezeshkian said Iran was attacking “legitimate targets” in Gulf nations shortly after issuing an apology to neighbors earlier Saturday. 

“We have not attacked our friendly and neighboring countries; rather, we have targeted U.S. military bases, facilities, and installations in the region,” the president wrote on social media. 

Pezeshkian said the strikes “are exclusively against targets and facilities that are the origin and source of aggressive actions against the Iranian nation.” 

Pezeshkian said Iran will “stand firm to the last breath in defense of our country and resist” the joint operation by the United States and Israel. He said that while Iran “has always emphasized the preservation and continuation of friendly relations” with neighboring governments, it has an “inherent right to defend itself against military aggression.”

The Kuwait Petroleum Company said that it was implementing a “precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining operations” amid Iranian attacks. 

The company said the adjustment will be reviewed “as the situation evolves” and that it was ready to restore production levels “whenever circumstances permit.” 

Crude oil prices have surged amid the war with Iran.

A spokesperson for the Iranian president’s office said that Pezeshkian’s message during his televised remarks on Saturday is “clear.”

“If regional countries do not cooperate in a U.S. attack against us, we will not strike them,” Seyyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, the deputy of communications for the Iranian president’s office, said on X. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will never submit to coercion, and our powerful armed forces will respond decisively to any aggression from U.S. bases in accordance with the issued directives.

Earlier Saturday, Pezeshkian apologized for Iran’s attacks on regional countries.

President Trump plans to attend the dignified transfer for the six U.S. soldiers who have been killed in the Middle East.

Mr. Trump will go to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base as the soldiers’ remains return to the U.S.

The dignified transfer, a ritual that returns the remains of U.S. service members killed in action, is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief.

On Friday, Mr. Trump said in a social media post that he will be joined by first lady Melania Trump and members of his Cabinet “to pay our Highest Respect to our Great Warriors, who are returning home for the last time. GOD BLESS THEM ALL!”

Those killed in action were Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist.

The United Arab Emirates said it detected 16 ballistic missiles and 121drones launched from Iran on Saturday.

The country’s Ministry of Defense said in a post on X that it intercepted and destroyed 15 ballistic missiles, while the other fell into the sea. Only two drones hit the UAE; the rest were intercepted.

Since the start of the war a week ago, 221 ballistic missiles and 1,305 drones have been detected in the UAE, the ministry said.

They have resulted in three deaths of Pakistani, Nepali and Bangladeshi nationals; more than 112 people were injured.

“The Ministry of Defence affirmed that it remains fully prepared and ready to deal with any threats and will firmly confront any attempt to undermine the security of the state, ensuring the protection of its sovereignty, security and stability, and safeguarding its interests and national capabilities,” it said in a statement.

Jordan has been attacked with 119 Iranian missiles and drones since the U.S. and Israel launched the war a week ago, authorities said Saturday.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hiyari told reporters that Iran’s attacks were aimed at “purely Jordanian targets” and that no attacks against Iran originated from Jordan.

“These missiles and drones were targeting vital installations inside Jordan and were not passing through our territories,” he said, adding that 108 of the projectiles were intercepted.

Fourteen people have been injured in the attacks.

Police spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said most of the casualties suffered minor injuries from falling shrapnel.

CBS/AP

Mr. Trump said on social media that Iran will be “hit very hard” on Saturday. 

He did not offer more details except to say that “under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time.” 

Mr. Trump also took credit for the Iranian president’s apology to its Gulf neighbors, saying the concession “was only made because of relentless U.S. and Israeli attack.” 

“They were looking to take over and rule the Middle East,” Mr. Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries. They have said, ‘Thank you President Trump.’ I have said, ‘You’re welcome!’ Iran is no longer the ‘Bully of the Middle East,’ they are, instead, ‘THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,’ and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!”

Israel’s military said its special forces conducted an operation overnight deep in Lebanon to gather information about an Israeli navigator who has been missing for nearly 40 years.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said that no evidence was found related to pilot Ron Arad, who was captured alive after his fighter jet crashed over southern Lebanon in 1986.

According to Lebanon’s state media, Israeli forces landed in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit late Friday. They were intercepted by members of the militant Hezbollah group, triggering a gunfight that lasted until the early hours of Saturday.

Ron Arad was believed to have been held in Nabi Chit until 1988, when he went missing.

“The IDF will continue to operate relentlessly, day and night, out of a deep commitment to bringing all of Israel’s sons, the fallen and the missing, back home to the State of Israel,” an IDF statement said.

CBS/AP

Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, a prominent Iranian cleric, urged the country’s Assembly of Experts to act quickly and name a new supreme leader a week after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

“The timely realization of this important matter will lead to national authority and the best possible organization of affairs,” Shirazi said.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard answers only to the supreme leader, and in an apology to Gulf neighbors, Iran’s president specifically blamed the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top leaders for what sounded like a days-long loss of command and control in the armed forces. 

The Assembly of Experts is a panel made up of 88 clerics. Buildings associated with the group have been hit by airstrikes, likely slowing any meeting of the group. 

U.S. bombers have landed at the United Kingdom’s RAF Fairford base after a dispute between Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the United States’ use of U.K. bases. 

The 146-foot-long B-1 Lancers arrived on Friday evening, according to photos and CBS News partner BBC News. The aircraft is capable of carrying 24 cruise missiles and is the fastest bomber in the U.S. Air Force, the BBC reported. It can hit speeds of more than 900 miles per hour and has advanced radar and GPS systems, as well as electronic jammers, a decoy system and radar warnings to protect it from enemy strikes.  

Photos showed several Lancers at RAF Fairford. A U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy was also pictured. 

Military analyst and former British Army Officer Justin Crump told the BBC that the Lancer is “one of the most significant bombers in the world” and is capable of carrying large bomb loads a long way, quickly, if it needs to.”  

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would suspend its attacks on countries in the region unless an attack on Iran originated from those countries, suggesting they were the result of miscommunication within the ranks of Iran’s leadership, according to The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies.

“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” Pezeshkian said in a prerecorded address played on Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked from those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

Pezeshkian also said the U.S. demand that Iran surrender unconditionally is a “dream that they should take to their grave,” according to AP.

The statement came after Iran continued targeting Gulf states early Saturday, as Israel and the U.S. carried out more strikes on Iran.

Following Pezeshkian’s statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it “the armed forces once again affirm that they respect the interests and national sovereignty of neighboring countries and have not taken any hostile action against them,” but that “all military bases and interests” of the U.S. and Israel “on land, at sea, and in the air across the region will be considered primary targets and will come under powerful and heavy strikes by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Israel launched a new wave of strikes Saturday on Iran’s capital Tehran and other parts of western and central Iran, the Israeli military said.

Israel Defense Forces wrote on social media that more than 80 Israeli fighter jets carried out the strikes, which targeted several military sites, including Imam Hossein University in Tehran, a university that Israel says was being used to train officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The IDF said it struck ballistic missile storage facilities and an underground command center, as well as multiple missile launch sites. 

Iran also launched a volley of missiles toward Israel Saturday, prompting emergency alerts across the country. 

The Kremlin early Saturday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

On the call, according to the Kremlin, Putin “reaffirmed Russia’s principled stance in favour of an immediate cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or arising in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution.”

The Kremlin noted that Pezeshkian thanked Putin for Russia’s show of “solidarity with the Iranian people.”

This comes after multiple sources on Friday, including a senior U.S. official, told CBS News that amid the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, Russia is providing Iran with intelligence regarding U.S. positions in the Middle East.  

Russia and Iran have long been allies. In 2023, declassified intelligence showed that Iran had been sending material to Russia that would be used to construct a drone manufacturing facility for use in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

It remains unclear who is leading Iran following the Feb. 28. killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a body made up of dozens of clerics, will be tasked with selecting Khamenei’s replacement.  

Journalists for Agence France-Presse heard explosions Saturday in Dubai, as well as in Bahrain’s capital of Manama.

Two blasts were heard in Dubai and one in Manama, where a warning siren sounded.

“Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” Bahrain’s interior ministry posted on X.

The Dubai Media Office also said there was a “minor incident” in which debris fell to the ground following the interception of an Iranian missile strike. 

Officials also said there were no injuries from the debris, and that reports of a possible impact from the incident to Dubai International Airport were not true. 

CBS/AFP

Iran launched a round of missiles toward Israel early Saturday morning local time, the Israeli military said.

The launch occurred a little before dawn, the Israel Defense Forces reported on social media.

“Defense systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the IDF said of its sophisticated missile defense system known as the Iron Dome.  

Alerts had been sent to residents of impacted areas, the IDF said. A journalist for Agence France-Presse reported hearing a blast in Jerusalem after Israel sent out the alert.

President Trump said Friday he believes the U.S. is doing “very well” in its war with Iran. 

“Somebody said, ‘How would you score it from 0 to 10?’ I said I’d give it a 12 to a 15,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a White House roundtable about college sports in which he fielded questions on the war.

The president then claimed that Iran’s army, navy and communications were “gone,” and that its air force had been “wiped out.”   

He also said that “two sets” of Iranian leaders had been killed, alleging that Iran was “down to their third set,” but did not elaborate on who specifically he was referring to.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, and sources told CBS News at the time that the initial strikes were believed to have killed about 40 Iranian officials.

Two U.S. officials told CBS News that among them were believed to be Iranian defense minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Mohammed Pakpour.

The president went on to say Friday that he believed the U.S. military was “doing phenomenally.”

During the first seven days of Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. has hit more than 3,000 targets, and 43 Iranian ships have been damaged or destroyed, U.S. Central Command said Friday.

Data compiled by the CBS News data team tallies the targets of the war so far, as of 5 p.m. ET Friday. The data was collected from a combination of CBS News reporting, visual verification, government estimates and from think tanks like the Institute for the Study of War.

A dozen key Senate Democrats criticized President Trump for temporarily waiving sanctions to allow India to more easily buy Russian oil, accusing him of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin “a free pass” in an effort to quell soaring oil prices.

The senators, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called the strikes on Iran “reckless and poorly conceived,” and said they have “resulted in huge spikes in gas prices.”

“In turn, this self-made global energy shock is serving to enrich Putin and line his war coffers by offering him windfall profits,” the senators wrote. “Instead of changing course, the President is only making this situation worse by handing Putin, his shadow fleet, and traders still dealing in sanctioned oil a free pass to increase oil shipments to Russia’s second-largest importer.”

U.S. investigators believe the U.S. may have been responsible for a deadly airstrike on a girls’ primary school in Iran last weekend, a person familiar with the ongoing inquiry told CBS News Friday.

Investigators believe this because the U.S. was operating in the area while Israel was not, the source said. 

Iranian-state media have reported that the strike on Feb. 28, the first day of the war, killed dozens of people, including schoolgirls ages 7 to 12.  

The source stressed that no final conclusions have been reached.

Israel was not operating in the area, two sources told CBS News. One of those, an Israeli source, told CBS News that Israel was not behind the attack, and said that the Israeli Air Force was not operating near the school.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News in a statement that the “investigation is ongoing” into the incident. 

“There are no conclusions at this time, and it is both irresponsible and false for anyone to claim otherwise,” Kelly said. “As we have said, unlike the terrorist Iranian regime, the United States does not target civilians.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that President Trump is “well aware of who’s talking to who” amid reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. movements in the region.

Hegseth told Major Garrett in an interview airing Sunday on “60 Minutes” that the U.S. is “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans. 

“The American people can rest assured their commander-in-chief is well aware of who’s talking to who,” he said. “And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channeled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”

Earlier Friday, multiple sources, including a senior U.S. official, told CBS News that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran regarding U.S. positions in the Middle East. It was the first known indication that Russia is aiding Iran.

Read more here.

Data compiled by the CBS News data team indicates the number of strikes carried in the Middle East war as of 5 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. 

The data was collected from a combination of CBS News reporting, visual verification, government estimates, and from think tanks like the Institute for the Study of War.

The U.S. has struck 27 Iranian military bases and missile launch sites, the data shows, while Iran’s strikes have hit at least 12 U.S. and allied military installations.

See the full tally below. 

United Airlines said Friday it has canceled all flights from the U.S. to Tel Aviv and Dubai through at least March 21 as the war rages on.

The airline said the canceled flights also apply to their corresponding returns. United said it is providing affected customers a travel waiver.

Airspace has been closed across much of the Middle East this week, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded and seeking out relief flights out of the region.

A spokesperson for Emirates, one of the two major carriers in the United Arab Emirates, told CBS News Friday it is currently operating at 60% capacity and is still flying to seven U.S. cities.

Emirates carried about 30,000 passengers out of Dubai on Thursday, the spokesperson said.

Advocates for at least four American nationals who were jailed in Iran before the U.S.-Israeli strikes started are growing increasingly concerned about their safety, as intense bombing continues across the country.

Two of those U.S. nationals have been named publicly: 49-year-old Journalist Abdolreza “Reza” Valizadeh, whom the U.S. State Department formally designated as “wrongfully detained” by Iran in May 2025, and 61-year-old Kamran Hekmati, who was arrested in July 2025 while visiting family in Iran.

Both were being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison before the war started. There has been no confirmed information on their whereabouts or condition since then.