00:00And back to our top story, the U.S. and Iran are exchanging their heaviest strikes
00:03since the signing of the fragile ceasefire just over three weeks ago.
00:08The two sides have traded attacks over the past 40-plus hours.
00:11The U.S. says it hit more than 90 targets across the country Wednesday.
00:16Iran says it launched multiple missiles and drones.
00:18They be firing to each other and missiles and everything.
00:22War is not over. It is the World War III.
00:26... at U.S. military bases in the region.
00:28CBS National Security Analyst and host of the School of War podcast, Aaron McLean,
00:32joins us now from Washington.
00:34So, Aaron, what is left in the region for the U.S. to hit?
00:39Hey, good evening, Lindsey.
00:40Good evening, man. Don't forget all that.
00:42Tell us what is left for a U.S. to hit in Iran.
00:45Zoom in here. We've got the region.
00:47I'm going to zoom in on the Strait of Hormuz,
00:49where most of the action has really been focused in the last few days.
00:54The United States has been hitting targets all around the Strait of Hormuz,
00:57including here in a place called Bandar Abbas.
01:00Bandar Abbas is right here.
01:02Okay. There we're hitting on targets.
01:05Another port city over here called Sirik.
01:08Sirik. A port city, you say.
01:11All right. Okay.
01:12It's the Strait of Hormuz.
01:14Really targets in between and on both sides of those.
01:17These are strikes designed to reduce the Iranian ability to harass traffic in the Strait.
01:23So you see things like radar facilities, small boats, the facilities from which small boats are launched.
01:28That's been the majority of...
01:30Yeah, we are getting where you're coming from, man.
01:32Yeah.
01:32...the strikes, things like that.
01:34However, I do want to point out one other thing.
01:36I'm going to zoom back.
01:36What do you want to point out?
01:38Where?
01:38Out here.
01:39There was a very interesting attack at one point here.
01:42Pakistan, Afghanistan.
01:45Part of the U.S. mini campaign on a railway bridge up here in the northeastern portion of Iran,
01:51sort of northeast of Tehran, a key rail link that connects Iran to Russia and to China.
01:57Russia.
01:58Where is Russia?
02:00This is Russia?
02:01No, no.
02:02This is Russia.
02:03And China is right here.
02:04Oh.
02:04And they destroyed their rail bridge.
02:08There is some broader scope here, some sort of indications of escalation here and there,
02:12but so far mostly focused on the Strait.
02:14Okay.
02:15Yesterday, the president said, let's finish the job.
02:17So what's the end game?
02:18What could a finished job look like?
02:21Well, you know, from the president's point of view, a finished job looks like a deal
02:24where the Ukrainians relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz and talk meaningfully about
02:29their nuclear program.
02:30The problem is, is that month after...
02:32You said Ukrainians?
02:33It looks like a deal where the Ukrainians relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz and talk meaningfully
02:41about their nuclear program.
02:43The problem is, is that month after month, that has not yet manifested itself.
02:48Bro, you said Ukrainians?
02:50We're not talking about them, bro.
02:52You fumble.
02:53If anything, it feels like this week, we've gone backwards.
02:56So another way you can interpret his words and finish the job is an escalated military campaign
03:01going after economic targets in Iran, the so-called bridge and power plant day.
03:05They destroy bridges.
03:07They destroy power plants.
03:08But Iran is not losing.
03:10Iran is not losing.
03:11That's a vain thing.
03:13He used to talk about back in April, but he's talked about it a great deal.
03:16He hasn't done it.
03:17But I don't think the Iranians think he's going to do it, which undermines his diplomatic leverage
03:21as well.
03:22So I think there's a decent chance that this kind of middle ground that we're in right
03:26now, you're going to see it continue for some time.
03:28Okay.
03:28Yo, bro, there's so much tension right now.
Comments