{"id":523486,"date":"2026-03-14T16:54:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/523486\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T16:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:54:38","slug":"inside-trumps-decision-to-attack-iran-and-the-scramble-to-contain-the-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/523486\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Trump\u2019s decision to attack Iran and the scramble to contain the fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpdyk8f000x26qe20is8i5p@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            President Donald Trump\u2019s war with Iran was only hours old, and already the plan had gone awry.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y200073b6rk74bktxz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Spurred by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/03\/middleeast\/us-israel-plot-kill-iran-khamenei-latam-intl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fresh intelligence<\/a> that the country\u2019s 86-year-old supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was meeting with his top officials on the morning of Feb. 28, the US and Israel had accelerated plans for an attack in hopes of wiping out the regime\u2019s senior leadership all at once.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300083b6raxuiq2t5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            If it worked, officials calculated, the resulting power vacuum could be filled by a slate of lower-tier leaders they hoped would be open to ushering in a more US-friendly era in Iran.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300093b6rowlgirrr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The first strikes on targets across the country succeeded in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/02\/28\/middleeast\/obituary-ayatollah-ali-khamenei-hnk-intl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">killing Khamenei<\/a> and other high-ranking aides. Yet as early reports trickled in, it became clear they\u2019d created a new problem: All the candidates the administration had eyed to lead Iran had been wiped out too.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000a3b6rcinqkqko@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cMost of the people we had in mind are dead,\u201d Trump acknowledged days later. \u201cAnd now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports. So I guess you\u2019ll have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon, we\u2019re not going to know anybody.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000b3b6r6baoa0r8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The broader-than-anticipated impact of the initial assault on Iran\u2019s leadership marked the first of a series of gambles that has turned an operation the White House once envisioned as a focused, weekslong military campaign into an open-ended war that escalated beyond US control, with widening economic and political repercussions \u2014 and no clear exit strategy.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000c3b6rdj635y90@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Instead of rapid collapse, the Iranian regime has consolidated control, and responded more aggressively than US officials expected, firing on targets across the Middle East, including oil tankers in the region. Iran has effectively halted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, sparking a global energy crisis that the administration is now struggling to contain.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000d3b6rjjgy8qml@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump has continued to tout the war as a resounding success, seizing on the scale of the military operation and suggesting the US could declare victory at any moment. But two weeks in, the administration is no closer to articulating a defined strategy for finishing a conflict that has grown only more complicated by the day, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen people familiar with the internal deliberations.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000e3b6r0uo1fjlc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Thirteen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/12\/middleeast\/us-air-force-refueling-aircraft-kc135-lost-intl-hnk-ml\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">American service members have died<\/a> thus far, and roughly 140 others have been wounded since the fighting began. Across the US, there is little indication in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/12\/politics\/us-opinion-iran-war-polls\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">early polling<\/a> that the public is on board with the idea of war.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000f3b6rfv8dcsm1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That\u2019s left US officials racing to plot the next stages of the operation, acutely aware of the history of American misadventures in the Middle East, but unsure as of yet how to avoid a similar fate.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000i3b6rz98phqa5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            This account of the first weeks of the war is drawn from interviews across the world, including current and former US officials, Trump advisers and allies, foreign officials, industry representatives, outside analysts and others familiar with the internal deliberations that have shaped the opening stages of the conflict.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000j3b6rrrhvm3aw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In an interview, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected suggestions that Trump and his team were unprepared for any of the developments of the past 14 days, telling CNN that the president had been fully briefed on the various risks and determined that they were worth waging war on Iran.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphi3v000003b6u3swwcw5d@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump was specifically cautioned that the \u201cmost likely\u201d outcome of killing Khamenei was that he would be replaced by another similarly hardline leader, she said, though officials went into the strikes holding out hope that they would result in a friendlier face atop the Iranian regime.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphib3b00023b6u87xaldo6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThat remains the hope and it was a possibility. But also the most likely outcome presented to the president \u2014 and he knew this \u2014 was a more hardline person being appointed by whatever was left of the regime,\u201d Leavitt said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphifn200043b6uczzvzii9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump was similarly briefed on the potential for wider Iranian retaliation and the possibility they would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, she added. Trump was also advised that the Iranians were likely to use any measure to maintain power.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000k3b6rxxgdqfrx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Yet, emboldened by prior military successes, he opted to forge ahead.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000l3b6rr9w1izxu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump had ordered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/03\/asia\/soleimani-profile-intl-hnk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">assassination<\/a> of Iran\u2019s then-top military official Qasem Soleimani in his first term and more recently the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/06\/21\/politics\/trump-iran-air-strikes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">bombing<\/a> of three Iranian nuclear sites last year.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000m3b6r52qjmftm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Those actions prompted relatively little retaliation from Iran, reinforcing officials\u2019 belief that the regime might not put up too strong a fight. The US and Israel, in the meantime, had made steady progress in eroding the threat posed by Iranian proxies in the region like Hamas and Hezbollah. When a wave of protests erupted across the country in January, leading to a brutal crackdown, it further convinced them that Iran\u2019s leaders had grown weaker than ever.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263584555.jpg\" alt=\"In this handout image, President Donald Trump oversees \" operation=\"\" epic=\"\" fury=\"\" with=\"\" from=\"\" left=\"\" central=\"\" intelligence=\"\" agency=\"\" director=\"\" john=\"\" ratcliffe=\"\" secretary=\"\" of=\"\" state=\"\" marco=\"\" rubio=\"\" and=\"\" white=\"\" house=\"\" chief=\"\" staff=\"\" susie=\"\" wiles=\"\" at=\"\" mar-a-lago=\"\" on=\"\" february=\"\" portions=\"\" the=\"\" photo=\"\" have=\"\" been=\"\" blurred=\"\" by=\"\" source.=\"\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5504\" width=\"8256\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000n3b6rs9s6upsh@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump was also bolstered by the daring snatch-and-grab operation weeks earlier that ousted Venezuela\u2019s leader and shifted relations with the oil-rich country overnight. Already frustrated by the plodding pace of talks with Iran over its nuclear program, he\u2019d become increasingly enthusiastic about the prospect of another rapid military success.\n    <\/p>\n<p>        \u2018Shock and awe times 10\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000o3b6rex1jsqtk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Senior Trump officials walked through the potential consequences of sparking a Middle East conflict, warning the president at multiple points that they could be unpredictable and far-reaching, people familiar with the deliberations said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000p3b6rpbuv5d2l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Yet amid efforts to limit Trump\u2019s circle and cut down on the risk for leaks, the war-planning process was not as robust as normal, said one senior US official. The White House sharply downsized its National Security Council over the last year, undercutting the coordinating role that it\u2019s typically played in gathering input from across the government and ensuring any key concerns or considerations don\u2019t fall through the cracks.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000q3b6rl4v6cft0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe NSC used to be the final synthesizer before going to deputy or principal meetings for approvals,\u201d the senior US official said of the administration\u2019s internal processes. \u201cWithout a real interagency process led by the NSC, the planning falls apart.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphjvin00063b6uwz914pv0@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \ufeffLeavitt disputed that the NSC or the war-planning process has been weakened, pointing to the administration\u2019s past successful military operations as evidence.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphk0kb00083b6uzp4ei3nk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe president doesn\u2019t need layers and layers of bureaucrats providing papers to him to make foreign policy statements and decisions,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a president who leads based on facts and intelligence provided to him by his top team.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000r3b6rx64fd7bb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            As Trump leaned further in favor of strikes, those around him rushed to stay aligned, embracing the more optimistic projections that Iran could be quickly and decisively defeated, eliminating it as a threat in the region and opening the door to a popular uprising.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000s3b6rq2zagazx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cIt\u2019s shock and awe times 10,\u201d said one administration official, summing up the attitude heading into the first days of the attack. \u201cThis is something that those guys started 47 years ago\u201d \u2013 referring to the revolution that put the current regime power \u2013 \u201cso let\u2019s go take care of it.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000t3b6rmjm6wr93@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In hindsight, some of the people familiar with the deliberations around the war later said, those heady first days may have marked the high point of the operation so far. Though the military offensive has been broadly successful, it failed to meet Trump and his team\u2019s high hopes that it would cow the Iranian regime into submission or spur a mass surrender of the nation\u2019s combat forces.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000u3b6rzl077z25@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Instead, Iran\u2019s leaders dug in. The regime quickly appointed a new hardline supreme leader \u2014 Khamenei\u2019s son, Mojtaba Khamenei \u2014 who in a purported first message vowed revenge. Among the Iranian people, there are no immediate signs of rebellion, and as the death toll climbs, even some who supported the bombing as a last resort to end the regime have begun to second guess.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000v3b6r08doxcy6@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI believed that killing Khamenei would end this all,\u201d said one 47-year-old Iranian man, who told CNN he felt led astray by the idea the regime was fragile. \u201cBut I realize that these are zealots and that his martyrdom has only strengthened their fervor.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000w3b6radcnir81@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Another Tehran resident, a 56-year-old woman, lamented the widespread damage the bombing is inflicting on the city. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t supposed to be this way,\u201d she told CNN. \u201cThey weren\u2019t meant to hit schools or museums.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26072416429616-20260313214439863.jpg\" alt=\"Rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble, after a strike in southern Tehran, Iran, on March 13.\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2000\" width=\"1600\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26072470877059.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holds up a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the annual Quds Day rally in support of Palestinians,  in Tehran, Iran, on March 13.\" class=\"image_expandable__dam-img image_expandable__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_expandable__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2000\" width=\"1600\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000x3b6rih8ermif@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The Iranian regime has since launched repeated retaliatory strikes against a wide array of targets in the region, including in surrounding Arab countries that played no part in the attack and were unprepared for the subsequent fallout. Though Iran\u2019s president initially apologized for striking \u201cneighboring countries,\u201d the attacks have continued.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphxe9z00003b6uov5s9qb9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Iran\u2019s new Supreme Leader warned, in the statement attributed to him this week, that Gulf countries should sever their ties with the US in order to avoid future attacks.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000y3b6rlhvv525q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The scale of that defiance sparked a scramble within the Trump administration, with officials working to build out lists of stranded Americans in real time and organize evacuations from the region.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3000z3b6romrn01qr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            It wasn\u2019t until two days after the first US strikes that a senior State Department official warned Americans on X to \u201cdepart now\u201d from over a dozen Middle Eastern countries \u2014 even though the majority of commercial flights had already been suspended. The State Department then established a 24\/7 task force to assist US citizens in the region. But the recorded message on its helpline initially advised them not to rely \u201con the US government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time\u201d \u2014 a recording that was later updated.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpii145000h3b6uuubo8bts@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump administration officials have since insisted they have a firmer grip on the situation, and that after more than two-dozen charter flights and evacuating thousands of Americans, they are scaling options down due to lack of demand.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpihqk2000f3b6uuerug9t4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The State Department also chose not to draw down staff at most embassies across the region until after the war had begun, despite an expectation that Iran would retaliate against US assets in the region. It has since ordered non-emergency personnel to leave more than a half-dozen nearby nations and temporarily shuttered its embassy in Kuwait.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300123b6re1st90bb@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But the chaos of those first days only deepened alarm over the war among close foreign allies, lawmakers in Congress and a broader American public who had little advance notice of Trump\u2019s plans \u2014 and no clear sense of the urgent need to plunge the US into another Middle East conflict.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300133b6rjjzlzyv5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            During a White House visit last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressed Trump for a more specific endgame, but emerged dissatisfied. \u201cWe are particularly concerned that there is clearly no joint plan for bringing this war to a swift and convincing end,\u201d he told reporters in Berlin a few days later.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300143b6rs1tjqsu5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            There are few other signs of diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. While Pakistan has indicated in recent days it wants to play a bridge-building role, Iran has maintained that it is not interested in talks.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300153b6r68fcflr9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Among US allies in the region that are filled with expatriate residents, including American citizens, the conflict has upended lives and scrambled future plans. Universities suspended classes, while some American institutions moved students and faculty into hotels. Major global companies directed employees to work from home, and schools, including American ones, shifted to remote learning.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16443463.jpg\" alt=\"A woman watches plumes of smoke rise from an oil storage facility after overnight strikes in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, March 8.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3333\" width=\"5000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773507252_978_h-16443463.jpg\" alt=\"A woman watches plumes of smoke rise from an oil storage facility after overnight strikes in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday, March 8.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3333\" width=\"5000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16443535.jpg\" alt=\"A widow clutches a portrait of her husbnd as his body is placed in a grave at a mass funeral in Nabi Sheet, Lebanon, on Sunday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3334\" width=\"5000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26066768017619-20260308160442193.jpg\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump salutes during &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday, March 7. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/03\/politics\/pentagon-identifies-four-soldiers-killed-war-iran\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Six US Army Reserve soldiers<\/a> were killed March 1 in an Iranian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/02\/politics\/six-soldiers-killed-in-iranian-strike-kuwait\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">drone strike<\/a> in Kuwait.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;2745&#8243; width=&#8221;4117&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-06t113922z-414837928-rc2vyjaaxqpw-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.JPG\" alt=\"Vapor trails remain in the sky above Tel Aviv, Israel, after Israel intercepted missiles launched from Iran on Friday, March 6.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5504\" width=\"8256\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16442964.jpg\" alt=\"Donated meals are distributed Friday to displaced people in Beirut, Lebanon, who fled airstrikes in the southern suburbs.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5464\" width=\"8192\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16442393.jpg\" alt=\"A damaged hotel room is seen Thursday, March 5, in Hazmieh, Lebanon, a suburb southeast of Beirut.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5464\" width=\"8192\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/020-020-009-ap26063511298514.jpg\" alt=\"A boy tries to climb on an unexploded missile after it fell in an open field in Qamishli, Syria, on Wednesday, March 4.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26063556154978.jpg\" alt=\"Workers in Galle, Sri Lanka, unload the bodies of Iranians who died when &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>their vessel sank off the Sri Lankan coastline on Wednesday. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said a US submarine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/03\/middleeast\/iran-us-israel-what-we-know-intl-hnk\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sank an Iranian warship<\/a> in international waters.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;5760&#8243; width=&#8221;8640&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26063334204279.jpg\" alt=\"Israeli tanks maneuver near the Israel-Lebanon border on Wednesday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3603\" width=\"5404\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2264185650.jpg\" alt=\"Civil defense forces in Tyre, Lebanon, try to extinguish a blaze after Israel bombarded a solar farm and electricity generation facility. Israeli strikes have pummeled parts of Lebanon this week after the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing projectiles from Lebanon into Israel on Monday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2264172735.jpg\" alt=\"An Israeli helicopter fires while flying along the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon on Wednesday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2400\" width=\"3600\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263996887.jpg\" alt=\"In this aerial photo released by the Iranian Press Center, mourners dig graves during a &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>funeral in Minab, Iran, on Tuesday, March 3. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-03-26?post-id=cmma74wlo000h3b6s3px1aabv\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iranian officials say<\/a> at least 168 young students were killed February 28 when US-Israeli airstrikes hit the Shajaba Tayyiba Girls\u2019 elementary school in Minab. The school sits about 200 feet from an Iranian military base. The United States military was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/06\/middleeast\/iran-minab-elementary-school-investigation-us-strike-intl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">likely responsible for the strike<\/a>, according to CNN and expert <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/03\/06\/world\/video\/updates-suggests-us-responsible-iran-school-strike-digvid\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">analysis of evidence<\/a>.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;2970&#8243; width=&#8221;4455&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2264641412.jpg\" alt=\"A man named Misha puts the veil over the face of his bride, Lior, while getting married in an underground bomb shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday. The wedding was originally meant to take place in Petah Tikva, but it was moved to the bomb shelter because of the war.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2867\" width=\"4300\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16441065.jpg\" alt=\"The Golestan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is seen &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>damaged in Tehran on Tuesday.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;3768&#8243; width=&#8221;5652&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26062415310654.jpg\" alt=\"Officers from Israel's Home Front Command inspect a damaged apartment building after an Iranian missile strike in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Tuesday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5323\" width=\"7984\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16441068.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in Tehran, Iran, walks past the wreckage of a police station Tuesday that was destroyed by US-Israeli airstrikes.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3840\" width=\"5760\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-03t181859z-781286529-rc22xja7vzg0-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.JPG\" alt=\"A man surveys damaged cars Tuesday in Bnei Brak, Israel.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3668\" width=\"5500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061418493097.jpg\" alt=\"Mourners lower the flag-draped bodies of Sarah Elimelech and her daughter Ronit into a grave during their funeral in Beit Shemesh, Israel, on Monday, March 2. They were killed in an Iranian missile strike a day earlier.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3744\" width=\"5616\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-02t221058z-1802753754-rc2kwja565rs-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-usa.JPG\" alt=\"US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media on Capitol Hill on Monday, the day congressional leaders were briefed on the situation in Iran. Rubio said the &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>\u201cthe hardest hits are yet to come\u201d while noting that the Trump administration believes that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/iran-israel-us-attack-03-02-26-intl-hnk?post-id=cmm9nx55f00003b6rb2yd0c7u\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">objectives for its operation against Iran<\/a> \u201ccan be achieved without ground forces.\u201d&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;2832&#8243; width=&#8221;4240&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061407735852.jpg\" alt=\"Debris is seen in a room of the &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>Gandhi Hospital in Tehran on Monday. Witnesses told Reuters the facility was hit in Israeli strikes, though CNN has not independently verified the reports.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;5760&#8243; width=&#8221;8640&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061621591802.jpg\" alt=\"A girl wears a decorative dress for the Jewish festival of Purim inside a bomb shelter synagogue in Hadera, Israel, on Monday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5760\" width=\"8640\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263898228.jpg\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump departs following a Medal of Honor ceremony at the the White House on Monday. &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>Trump offered a four-pronged explanation for the weekend strikes against Iran, telling reporters and guests that he wanted to destroy the country\u2019s missile capabilities, annihilate its navy, end its nuclear ambitions and prevent it from arming terrorists.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;2667&#8243; width=&#8221;4000&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061403305402.jpg\" alt=\"Mourners attending the funeral of Sarah Elimelech and her daughter Ronit take cover Monday while air-raid sirens warn of incoming missiles in Beit Shemesh, Israel.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3258\" width=\"4886\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061515737012.jpg\" alt=\"Smoke rises following Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, Lebanon, a southern suburb of Beirut, on Monday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26061194423228.jpg\" alt=\"Children sit on a sidewalk as displaced families fleeing Israeli strikes arrive in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on Monday.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-01t222142z-32551635-rc2yvjacnykn-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel-20260302213004585.JPG\" alt=\"Israeli emergency responders work at the scene of a missile strike on a road in Jerusalem on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2003\" width=\"3004\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263738289-20260302212916077.jpg\" alt=\"A missile launched from Iran is seen in central Gaza from the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26060551347209.jpg\" alt=\"People gather at the site of a deadly missile strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel, on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5760\" width=\"8640\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-01t155341z-739378548-rc2lvjalc6wt-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis.JPG\" alt=\"In this photo released by the US Navy, the USS Thomas Hudner fires a Tomahawk missile from an undisclosed location on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3779\" width=\"5668\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-01t143121z-1456879082-rc2pvja2hx5t-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.JPG\" alt=\"Emergency personnel carry a body at the site of a strike in Beit Shemesh, Israel, on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263662318-20260301175323546.jpg\" alt=\"Smoke rises above Tehran after the city was targeted by US and Israel airstrikes on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-01t033639z-1680555078-rc2fvjarwweo-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-khamenei.JPG\" alt=\"People hold a picture of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as they gather at Enghelab Square in Tehran on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1939\" width=\"2972\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26060254650019.jpg\" alt=\"Rescue workers and military personnel survey the site of a missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"5760\" width=\"8640\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-01t062452z-100392836-rc2ivjaurt6j-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-indonesia-airport.JPG\" alt=\"Stranded passengers wait near an Emirates Airways customer service office at an airport in Bali, Indonesia, after flights to the Middle East were canceled on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3667\" width=\"5500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26060238562784-20260301085500014.jpg\" alt=\"Government supporters in Tehran gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Khamenei.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3648\" width=\"5472\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26060500741327.jpg\" alt=\"An officer from Israel's Home Front Command searches through the rubble of a destroyed house after it was struck by a missile in Beit Shemesh.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26060320254693.jpg\" alt=\"Leah Guttmann holds her son, Teddy, while taking shelter in an underground parking garage as air-raid sirens warn of incoming missiles in Tel Aviv, Israel.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3670\" width=\"5505\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263659208.jpg\" alt=\"Residents watch from the roofs of their houses as plumes of smoke rise in Tehran on March 1.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2573\" width=\"3859\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2264109756.jpg\" alt=\"People prepare to spend the night sleeping in an underground shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel, on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2867\" width=\"4300\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263555648.jpg\" alt=\"Protesters shout slogans as they carry portraits of Khamenei and wave Iranian flags near the US embassy in Baghdad on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3384\" width=\"5000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16440209.jpg\" alt=\"Emergency responders and residents gather at the site of a reported Iranian missile strike in central Israel on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4073\" width=\"6110\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t205612z-1121140809-rc28vjatzcu4-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-gulf-qatar.JPG\" alt=\"An intercepted missile is seen from Doha, Qatar, on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1495\" width=\"2249\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26059639506991.jpg\" alt=\"Emergency workers inspect damage to the Fairmont The Palm hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"5999\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263577868.jpg\" alt=\"Emergency workers assist civilians after a strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1365\" width=\"2048\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26059790954153.jpg\" alt=\"An explosion lights up the night sky as a missile hits a building in Tel Aviv on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t215721z-55260593-rc29vjaa3g4v-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-usa.JPG\" alt=\"Sadaf Ebrahimi and Shirin Nariman, supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, react to reports of Khamenei's death as they watch the news at Nariman's home in Vienna, Virginia.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t090002z-477035622-rc2xujagqvyu-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-blast.JPG\" alt=\"Heavy traffic clogs the streets of Tehran on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t090244z-712211650-rc2wujaj17h4-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis.JPG\" alt=\"An air defense system operates in Jerusalem as missiles are launched toward Israel from Iran on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"960\" width=\"1600\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773507271_548_hcrt2-mxkaadox3.jpg\" alt=\"In this photo &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>released by The White House, President Donald Trump, chief of staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio monitor US military operations in Iran from the president&#8217;s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Portions of the photo have been blurred by the source.&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;1333&#8243; width=&#8221;2000&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/05-gettyimages-2263415855.jpg\" alt=\"A person takes shelter as sirens sound in Jerusalem on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1600\" width=\"2400\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16440145.jpg\" alt=\"Staff members transfer patients to an underground shelter at the Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, following an air raid warning on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16440131.jpg\" alt=\"People wave Iranian flags during a rally in Tehran on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/h-16440154.jpg\" alt=\"A woman looks out from her rooftop garden in Tehran after large explosions shook the city on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1334\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t121246z-750855252-rc2yujach9kv-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.jpg\" alt=\"An explosion in the sea is seen from Haifa, Israel, on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1998\" width=\"3000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/02-2026-02-28t121533z-408820442-rc2xujavbk9s-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.jpg\" alt=\"People take shelter in Ashkelon, Israel, after missiles were launched from Iran on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1600\" width=\"2399\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01-ap26059256811672.jpg\" alt=\"People watch as smoke rises over the Tehran skyline after an explosion on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1600\" width=\"2400\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/img-pneo4-std-202602280736002-pms-fs-ort-f915c17d-beae-404a-c068-a4dfb8257c08-rgb-r1c1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"Smoke billows above the compound of Iran's supreme leader on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1623\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263530076.jpg\" alt=\"People play racketball outside an underground parking garage used as a shelter in Tel Aviv, Israel.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"4000\" width=\"6000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2263573388.jpg\" alt=\"A missile is intercepted over the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"2388\" width=\"3583\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26059720229863.jpg\" alt=\"Rescue workers and residents search through &lt;a href=\" https:=\"\"\/>the rubble of an elementary school in Minab, Iran, on February 28. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-03-26?post-id=cmma74wlo000h3b6s3px1aabv\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iranian officials say<\/a> at least 168 young students were killed when US-Israeli airstrikes hit the school, which sits about 200 feet from an Iranian military base. CNN has not been able to independently verify who is responsible for the strike. When asked about the strike, a US Central Command spokesperson said, \u201cwe are aware of reports \u2026 and are looking into them.\u201d&#8221; class=&#8221;image__dam-img image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8221; onload=&#8217;this.classList.remove(&#8216;image__dam-img&#8211;loading&#8217;)&#8217; onerror=&#8221;imageLoadError(this)&#8221; height=&#8221;4000&#8243; width=&#8221;6000&#8243; loading=&#8217;lazy&#8217;\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t095414z-1153361469-rc2xujaf0zib-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-qatar-20260228221719769.JPG\" alt=\"People in Doha, Qatar, watch from their balcony following explosions on February 28. Qatar's defense ministry said it had downed missiles targeting the country.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3667\" width=\"5500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t085610z-1150596172-rc2wujazaw5d-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-israel.JPG\" alt=\"People take shelter under a highway bridge near Latrun, Israel, on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3668\" width=\"5500\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-02-28t103013z-800024804-rc2xujau14vo-rtrmadp-3-iran-crisis-blast.jpg\" alt=\"Birds fly overhead after an airstrike in Tehran on February 28.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1600\" width=\"2350\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>      In pictures: War in the Middle East after US-Israel strikes on Iran<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300163b6r5zp3ybe1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The war has punctured the sense of security that long attracted Westerners to countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. And in some corners, there has been frustration that the US has not paid sufficient heed to warnings that a military confrontation with Iran could have catastrophic results.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300173b6rx672eqne@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cNow you can put (up) a map of the region, and you will not be able to find a space where escalation is not happening,\u201d Qatar\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said this week. \u201cThis is the biggest \u2018I told you so\u2019 in the history of \u2018I told you so\u2019s\u2019.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpi3qt700023b6utmeab698@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That escalation is evident on multiple fronts \u2013 Israel has taken advantage of the moment to implement plans for a renewed assault against Hezbollah, the Iranian-allied militant group in Lebanon. On March 2, less than 48 hours after Israel and the US launched their coordinated strikes on Iran, Hezbollah retaliated, firing six rockets into northern Israel \u2013 the opening the Israeli government was waiting for. \u201cFaced with the window of opportunity created when Hezbollah chose to open a war, we have to use this moment to finish what we did not complete,\u201d an Israeli military official told CNN.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmq4o1e200003b6uj8r5xxiq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The cost for Lebanese civilians, drawn into a war against their choosing, has been colossal. Authorities say nearly 800 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300193b6rg7r39im4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On Capitol Hill, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have pressed top Trump officials in classified briefings on the war\u2019s objectives and timeline, as well as longer-term plans for managing the various ripple effects around the world.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001a3b6r41vehgf9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            They\u2019ve received little in the way of specifics, according to several lawmakers in the room. During one briefing four days into the war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accompanied by several top Pentagon officials, told members gathered in a cavernous auditorium at the Capitol that he couldn\u2019t predict how long the war would go on.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001b3b6rziwgkpo5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Rubio said he was \u201cnot going to be able to put a timeline\u201d on the operation, according to one attendee, despite Trump himself declaring from the White House hours earlier that it would last four to five weeks. In that hours-long briefing, Rubio was grilled by Democrats, and even some Republicans, on next steps and long-term plans. Many left disappointed.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/021-021-010-gettyimages-2263916221.jpg\" alt=\"Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives to brief House and Senate leaders on US military action in Iran, at the US Capitol on March 2.\" class=\"image__dam-img image__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1333\" width=\"2000\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001c3b6rlmzu1z5h@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI\u2019ve been alarmed by a lot of what I\u2019ve heard in not just the lack of clarity but also the failure to have any idea about what success is,\u201d Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told CNN. \u201cAnd the increasing concern I have is that Iran may not want to end the war when we do. And they have a vote.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpk06pd000b3b6uao2lpemo@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Compounding concerns, lawmakers have pressed for answers on what led the US to strike an Iranian girls\u2019 school that killed at least 168 children.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001d3b6r4zkypgoq@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Even the small bloc of pro-Israel Democrats who have supported the war are now wavering, saying they\u2019ve lost confidence in the White House since the early days of the conflict.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001e3b6rmbf58slx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI said this to them last week: \u2018You have to lay out your mission,\u2019\u201d one member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. \u201cThey\u2019re all over the map. They\u2019ve got to get their s*** together.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001f3b6r6od267yr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Republicans in Congress have largely deferred to Trump and his team on the first stages of the war, rejecting an official push to rein in his authority and placing trust in officials\u2019 descriptions of the operation as limited and short in duration. But even they have signaled that their patience could soon be exhausted as the war drags on and midterm elections inch closer.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001g3b6rpdifq5au@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have sought to advance a set of clearer, more pragmatic goals for the conflict: Eliminating Iran\u2019s ability to develop and launch ballistic missiles, destroying its navy and wiping out its ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Leavitt told CNN that the administration still estimates that the war will take four to six weeks to complete.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001h3b6ri8yx53ut@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But Trump has repeatedly contradicted them when pressed, raising questions as to whether any of his top aides truly have a handle on how the coming weeks will play out.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001i3b6rcao53y49@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump has suggested at various points that he wanted to play a hands-on role in choosing Iran\u2019s leader, has refused to rule out the prospect of sending troops into the country and offered conflicting timelines for ending the war.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001j3b6r1mkr167v@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe\u2019ve already won in many ways,\u201d Trump told House Republicans at their retreat in Florida earlier this week. \u201cBut we haven\u2019t won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001l3b6rr7bc1qia@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            That path to \u201cultimate victory,\u201d no matter how Trump ends up defining it, faces perhaps no more immediate threat than the worsening crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, people familiar with the internal deliberations and outside foreign policy and energy experts said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001m3b6ridignbyv@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The narrow waterway off of Iran\u2019s southern coast is a conduit for roughly 20% of the world\u2019s oil, making it the key economic chokepoint in the region. The risk of disruption to shipments through the strait has long been seen as one of the biggest risks tied to any war with Iran, for fear its prolonged closure could spike energy prices and send economies around the globe into a tailspin.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001n3b6rvcz0lyqp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe key element of consistency throughout all administrations is that the US will step in to ensure the flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d said Gregory Brew, a senior analyst who specializes in oil and gas at political risk firm Eurasia Group, calling protecting the strait \u201cone of the core strategic tenets of policy in the Middle East.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001o3b6r9x4kkn5s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In the run-up to the war, Trump officials weighed the possibility that Iran would effectively halt traffic through the waterway, people familiar with the internal deliberations said, but underestimated Iran\u2019s willingness to do it. Some were comforted by Iran\u2019s decision not to disrupt oil shipments in the wake of last year\u2019s bombing of its nuclear sites, believing that closing the strait would be so painful to the Iranian regime that it wouldn\u2019t take such a destructive step.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001p3b6rxntjpmnx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But they were wrong.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap26071374904471.jpg\" alt=\"An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, on March 11.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"3035\" width=\"2036\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001q3b6rcyh1oahs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Iran\u2019s retaliation and threats brought traffic to an effective halt within days, cutting off the supply of as much as 20 million barrels of oil a day to the world economy. The consequences have rippled across global financial markets and into American consumers\u2019 daily lives, driving up oil prices and, with it, the price of gasoline.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001r3b6rx12ntnfy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On Friday, the average per-gallon price of gas in the US stood at $3.63, an increase of 65 cents since the war began and the highest level in nearly two years.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001s3b6r0uup9is3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Within the Republican Party, the surge has undercut a core element of its political pitch ahead of midterm elections focused chiefly on the cost-of-living, erasing all the progress made toward lower gas prices since Trump took office.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001t3b6rcqnne309@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            And inside the Trump administration and other Western governments, officials are now racing to mitigate the fallout, seeking any options for bolstering supply and alleviating price spikes.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001u3b6ri9dq76bs@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Senior Trump officials, who had downplayed the economic effects in the war\u2019s first days, began pressing aides for a wider set of ideas last week as oil prices neared $100 a barrel.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001v3b6r1iudm2hk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But that push has so far fallen flat. A $20 billion offer to insure ships that transit the strait has not attracted any apparent takers \u2014 a reluctance reinforced by fiery strikes on tankers that did attempt to pass through the waterway earlier this week.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001w3b6rl6peet99@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In a sign of how fast the situation has devolved, after days of ruling out the prospect of releasing US strategic oil reserves, US officials abruptly shifted their position. During a Wednesday meeting, US officials began pressing allies hard to start a coordinated release of roughly 400 million barrels, one person familiar with the matter said.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001x3b6ryu3lyao8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The release \u2014 the biggest in the history of the 32-member International Energy Agency \u2014 has done little to ease the crisis in subsequent days. The only clear solution, analysts said, is the full resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 but few expect that to begin again until the war is over.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmphprr0000c3b6ulrix2t2p@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            One option that Trump floated more than a week ago \u2014 using the Navy to escort ships through the strait \u2014 is not yet available.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001y3b6rj25xe3ua@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In daily calls with US military officials, energy industry representatives have asked for Navy escorts.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y3001z3b6r6bkph949@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But officials have turned them down, said people familiar with the conversations, citing the need for the Navy\u2019s warships to carry out missions elsewhere \u2014 and reasoning that the strait is still too unsafe even for US military boats, much less massive oil tankers.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpjmke0000t3b6us7iywrzy@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            On Friday night, Trump took a major step in attempting to change that dynamic. Shortly after telling reporters that the Navy would begin escorting ships \u201csoon,\u201d he announced the bombing of Iran\u2019s Kharg Island, which handles the majority of the nation\u2019s oil exports.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpjgqz5000n3b6uu6v2ghq3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            In a Truth Social post, Trump threatened to go even further and take out the island\u2019s oil infrastructure next if Iran did not reopen the strait.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpjcb7w000k3b6u1i4mbozr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cI have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cHowever, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300223b6r8jvd8eik@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Inside the administration, officials have worked to keep open a range of paths for the war, in an effort to provide Trump maximal flexibility and out of an awareness that he could settle on a direction at any moment.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300233b6rwe3exsu2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The president has monitored the turbulent oil and stock markets and heard warnings about the potential political fallout, though some of his advisers have gravitated toward rosier individual poll results as opposed to the widespread surveys showing a clear majority of Americans opposed to the war.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300243b6r1q6a0vck@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            But Trump has also repeatedly insisted that the war\u2019s aims are worth the \u201cshort-term\u201d pain that it\u2019s caused Americans at the pump and the uncertainty rattling nations across the world. He\u2019s largely brushed off efforts to pin down his future intentions, in favor of insisting that everything will work out in the end.\n    <\/p>\n<p>       <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9551604.jpg\" alt=\"US sailors on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, on March 4.\" class=\"image_large__dam-img image_large__dam-img--loading\" onload=\"this.classList.remove('image_large__dam-img--loading')\" onerror=\"imageLoadError(this)\" height=\"1600\" width=\"2400\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300253b6rxgbqti4q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Among allies who are more pessimistic about the direction of the war, the disconnect between Trump\u2019s rhetoric and the complex reality on the ground has spurred questions about whether his aides are giving him the unvarnished truth.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300263b6rrottn5g9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cHe\u2019s always a very optimistic guy,\u201d said one Trump adviser, who worried the fighting could end up further hardening Iran\u2019s view of the US. \u201cMy big fear here wasn\u2019t the military action. My big fear was who comes next behind us.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300273b6r6espmk6t@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Yet as the war pushed toward its third week, Trump has appeared more invigorated by celebrating his present successes rather than grappling with the uncertain path ahead.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpe28y300283b6r4qr09o2n@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Asked Friday in an interview on FOX Radio when the war will be over, Trump responded: \u201cWhen I feel it. Feel it in my bones.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmmpkbg9s000d3b6um9l7lpvp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            CNN\u2019s Jennifer Hansler, Annie Grayer, Nic Robertson and Tal Shalev contributed to this report.\n    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump\u2019s war with Iran was only hours old, and already the plan had gone awry. Spurred&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-523486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}