By Kathleen Magramo, Elizabeth Wolfe and Aditi Sangal, CNN
Updated 1606 GMT (0006 HKT) April 20, 2024
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4:03 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
US had advance warning of Israel's retaliation against Iran but "didn't endorse" it, US official says
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
Israel had told the US on Thursday it would be retaliating against Iran in the coming days, a senior US official said.
"We didn't endorse the response," the official said.
Israel had been weighing a response to Iran's weekend airstrikes targeting the Jewish state, most of which were intercepted.
Israel has carried out a strike inside Iran, a US official tells CNN. The attack came just hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told CNN in an interview that if Israel takes any further military action against it would be “immediate and at a maximum level."
2:02 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Nuclear facilities are safe in Isfahan province, Iranian state-aligned media says
From CNN's Adam Pourahmadi
Iran's state-aligned Tasnim news says nuclear facilities in Isfahan province are "completely secure," citing a "reliable source."
Other Iranian media outlets are reporting the same.
Israel has carried out a strike inside Iran, a US official told CNN Friday. The target of the strike was not nuclear, the official added.
2:02 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Israel carries out strike in Iran, a US official says
From CNN's Alex Marquardt
Israel has carried out a strike inside Iran, a US official tells CNN, in a move that threatens to push the region deeper into conflict.
The target is not nuclear, the official said.
Prior to the Israeli strike Friday (local time), the US expectation was that they would not target civilian or nuclear facilities, another senior US official told CNN.
CNN has previously reported that Israel told the US its response would be limited in scope. US intelligence had suggested Israel was weighing a narrow and limited strike inside Iran because they felt like they had to respond with a kinetic action of some kind given the unprecedented scale of the Iranian attack
The range of targets was “never specified in precise terms but nuclear and civilian locations were clearly not in that category,” the second official added.
The US has been urging Israel not to respond to last weekend’s Iranian attack, which President Joe Biden on Thursday called “unprecedented.” The US “didn’t green light” an Israeli response, the second official said.
2:28 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Oil prices surge, Dow futures sink nearly 500 points on reports of explosions in Iran
From CNN’s Matt Egan and Laura He
Oil prices surged nearly 4% and US stock futures fell sharply Thursday evening amid reports of explosions in Iran.
In recent trading, US oil prices climbed 3.7% to $85.80 a barrel. Brent crude, the world benchmark, gained 3.4% to $90.13 a barrel.
Energy prices moved sharply higher as Iranian news agencies reported explosions heard near Iran’s Isfahan Airport.
The developments drove US stock futures steadily lower, with Dow futures down 480 points, or 1.3%. Nasdaq futures lost almost 2%.
“The market has been on edge since Iran launched a missile and drone attack on the Jewish state over the weekend,” said analysts from ANZ on Friday.
“Israel’s response could determine whether oil supplies are ultimately under threat.”
Gold futures were up 1% at $2,422.4 per ounce in morning Asian trade with investors piling into safe-haven investments.
But stock markets in Asia sank as appetite for risk weakened, according to analysts.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 3.5%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.5%. China’s Shanghai Composite inched down 0.1%.
2:00 a.m. ET, April 19, 2024
Iranian foreign minister: If Israel takes action, Iran's response will be "immediate and at a maximum level"
From CNN's Jennifer Hauser and Tara John
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Israel on Thursday against taking any military action against Iran.
"In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level," Amir-Abdollahian told CNN's Erin Burnett in an exclusive live interview.
The foreign minister said Iran sincerely hoped Israel would not repeat "the previous egregious error," referencing the apparent Israeli strike on Iran's embassy complex in Damascus, Syria.
"Our response will be decisive through the Swiss embassy in Tehran," he said. "We've announced to the White House, sent a message to the White House and Washington DC, the administration in which we've reiterated that if the Israeli regime commits the great error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them," Amir-Abdollahian said from the Iranian Permanent Mission to United Nations — one of the only places he is allowed to be the US given the State Department restrictions.
The missiles and drones that Iran fired against Israel on Saturday were carried out in response to the suspected Israeli strikes and “stayed within a minimum of frameworks,” he said, adding that the intent was to take "equal action," and "to let it be known we do have the means to respond." But he warned that if Israel chooses to retaliate, “the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level.”