Israel And Iran Strike Each Other After Trump's Iran Decision
KEILAR: A barrage of rockets and missiles. You can see them streaking across the sky in this picture here. It's just marked the most direct confrontation to date between Israel and Iran. This comes less than two days after the U.S. withdrew from the deal to curb Iran's nuclear program. Israel has released a map claiming it destroyed these targets here on this map, representing almost all of Iran's military capabilities in Syria, this after what it says was an Iranian missile attack on the Golan Heights, considered Israeli occupied territory. We have Frederick Pleitgen for us from Tehran. Oren, to you first. Talk us through what has happened in the past 24 hours.</s>OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this all started shortly after midnight when Israeli military says Iranian forces in Syria right here behind me fired off some 20 rockets at Israeli military positions in the Golan Heights not far from where I am standing right now. Some of those rockets were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system, some of them the military says didn't even make it into territory here and fell in Syria. We came here standing in almost this exact same position a short time later to see the Israeli response and that was some of the video you showed just a moment ago. Israeli surface-to-surface missiles. We saw those fired and launched and hit in Syria behind us, as well as artillery fire that echoed across the valley here. We saw the Syrians firing anti- aircraft fire to try to down some of those missiles. All in an incredible volatile, active few hours here overnight here even right up until the sun rose in that back-and-forth. Israel holds Iran responsible for that fire. As you pointed out, fired at dozens of Iranian sites in Syria that includes intelligence compounds, command and control headquarters, as well as rocket launchers. A very different picture as the day progressed here. This deceptive quiet is a far cry from what we saw last night but now it's the international community stepping in to make sure this de-escalates. As you point out this is the first direct confrontation between Israel and Iran and there is a fear this could go very much worse and the word war has been used here. But the U.S. has stepped in, Russia has stepped in urging both Israel and Iran to show restraint, to take a step back, essentially to back off here. The U.S., and this is no surprise, siding firmly with Israel saying Israel has a right to self-defense, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying whoever tries to strike Israel will be struck back seven-fold. It is quiet. You can see that behind me, but that tension is still in the air and it can still go either way here. It wasn't even 24 hours ago that this all began.</s>KEILAR: Fred, Tehran has vowed retaliation for two other recent Israeli strikes that killed at least 13 Iranian nationals. This is entirely unexpected. What is Iran saying now after this?</s>FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the interesting thing is that the Iranians aren't saying anything. It seems as though they're struggling to come up with any sort of explanation as to what might have happened there yesterday not just in the Golan Heights but on Syrian territory as well. We've been watching Iranian state media and to get in touch with officials to see if there would be an explanation. Even on Iranian state media they were saying there were Israeli strikes on to Syrian territory, hinting that they might be strikes between Syria and Israel. They said the Israelis did hold the Iranians accountable but at no point did they say the Iranians made any official statement. Now it's very, very late in the evening here and there's still nothing official coming out of Tehran. For attacks in the past, the Iranians have vowed there would be retaliation. The folks here are very, very concerned. This is just a day and a half after president Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear agreement. We've been going around Tehran for the better part of the day. The people say they're very concerned about the fact that they now don't only have even more economic isolation internationally of their country, but it seems as though on the front in the middle east things are heating up as well.</s>KEILAR: Fred Pleitgen and Oren Liebermann, thank you for your reports. I want to bring and now Jamie Rubin, he is a former Assistant Secretary of State, he is also a contributing editor of "Politico." So, this is, Jamie, the most direct confrontation that we've seen to date. What's your reaction to it?</s>JAMIE RUBIN, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: This is the beginnings of a potential war. I think we do need to realize while all the diplomatic to and fro has been going on over the disagreement, slowly and steadily over the last couple of years Iran has been developing an actual military capability in Syria. The Israeli have has finally responded. This is a big blow for the Iranians. I think what it tells us, and I think we should really think about this, imagine if Iran had a nuclear weapon right now, Israel would not be able to do this. The reason the Israelis care so much about stopping an Iranian nuclear weapon is because if Iran had a nuclear weapon the way Israeli has a nuclear weapon, both sides would be deterred from getting into a conventional battle. Right now, so long as Israel has a monopoly, so long as the Iranians don't have this weapon, Israel can use its jets, use its surface-to- air missiles, use its conventional superiority and prevent Iran from getting a base in Syria, which tells you stopping Iran from going nuclear should be our highest priority, which is why those of us in the diplomatic community cannot understand why we would pull out of a deal like this.</s>KEILAR: Pulling out of the deal, is that a factor of the timing as you see it of what happened here?</s>RUBIN: I think what you're going to see Israel wanted to show it would respond to an Iranian step. The Iranians are less likely to be restrained because they know the United States is not in the agreement anyway. It's hard to know exactly who caused what, but I think what's absolutely clear is if Iran goes back into the nuclear arms business the way it was going just a few years ago, Israel's security will be severely damaged. It won't be able to do what it did in the last 24 hours with the freedom and the knowledge it doesn't face a real threat from Iran. That's why this is so important, that's why it's so illogical to allow Iran now to go back in the nuclear business. That's what we can't understand.</s>KEILAR: I want to ask you about North Korea. We've seen the release of these three detainees overnight. The president now, we are looking toward the summit with Kim Jong un and the possibilities there for progress or perhaps not. Even the president himself has said that. When you look at these developments, at the potential promise of the summit, do you see this as something as a real breakthrough?</s>RUBIN: It's very hard to predict what's going to happen because we know so little about Kim Jong un and I used to be in the arms-control business in the days of the Soviet Union and people at those times didn't believe that Gorbachev, who ran the Soviet Union, was going to give up all his weapons and give up the soviet power so we have to be careful. It's possible Kim Jong un will do that and say the nuclear weapons aren't getting me anything for my people, I'm going to disarm. That's possible. But if he acts as his father as acted and his father before him acted the last 40 years, then I don't expect an agreement to happen any time soon. It will be a breaking of the ice that for the first time an American and North Korean leader will meet and perhaps they can start the process. But we got to get past the hype and past the hoopla and look at the substance. And right now, North Korea has what they've never had before, which is nuclear weapons and probably ballistic missile that can launch them all the way to the United States. That's what's been happening over the last year. That's why this is so important and if we don't get that reversed in a concrete way, not a promise, but a real wait, then all this talk about a breakthrough will turn out to be a disaster.</s>KEILAR: It is a lofty goal. Jamie Rubin, thank you so much. Really appreciate it. And next it is time to wrap it up, wrap up that Russia probe. That message from Vice President Mike Pence to Special Counsel Robert Mueller in his most direct comments yet to end the investigation. Also, scathing words from one conservative columnist. Why he says Pence is now worse than Trump.