joining us now, nic robertson in riyadh in saudi arabia and nick paton walsh in tehran. nic robertson, first to you. secretary of state mike pompeo arriving in saudi arabia. what are the expectations out of this meeting and does it put the united states closer to a military response? >> reporter: i don't think it necessarily puts them closer, but it puts them more in lock step with saudi arabia. saudi arabia's signaling at the moment and the voice we heard on it most recently was the ambassador to london this morning saying that saudi does not want to escalate this, does not want to rush into an escalation. the region doesn't want another war at this time. i am sure from saudi officials today that they have the capacity and resolve to strike back forcefully if that is desired. certainly they would look to the united states here. but they are looking to build a bigger and broader coalition. the u.s. and saudi arabia are in lock step on this issue that they both see iran has a malign issue. there may be concern here they've heard from president trump say that in essence th

the use of military force, diplomacy on iran's side certainly isn't an option right now. >> nick paton walsh live for us in tehran. >>> let's go to the white house. joe johns is there. following up on reporting from nic robertson and nick paton walsh, the white house is sending mixed messages here. you have the line from pompeo who will go to saudi soon, and then you have the president. where do things stand this morning? >> you're absolutely right. the white house keeps moving the goal post when it comes to iran. by the way, i did reach out to the white house today. so far no substantive response on the nic robertson reporting as to the likelihood that iran was responsible and the evidence that has been discovered suggesting that the cruise missiles came from iran. the other question, of course, is what the white house will do about it once there is, if you will, conclusive evidence that iran was responsible. the president made it clear within the last 48 hours in a tweet suggesting that the united states is locked and loaded, waiting on instructions, if you will, from saudi arabia. and thi

let's bring in nick paton walsh. what are we learning? >> we're getting more on how the u.s. is going to measure its response. mike pompeo, very clear who was responsible. and using the phrase of locked and loaded, that a military action didn't necessarily after that. he's not moved us in any direction. but the possibility that he is weighing it with his national security team, will have many here, possibly on-edge. u.s. officials suggested last night that the fact that the attacks came from a particular angle, may suggest that it came from iran. now, country of this constitutes proof at this point. and the temperature will roiz as the temperature increases, as well. saudi arabia has not come forward yet and they believe iran is behind this. if you make the accusation in an area such as this, you're obliged to make a military response. many in iran is watching the u.s. toward that country, self-combust to some degree. with john bolton not in the administration, he came forward with hawkish tweets on saturday. where are we? we don't know.

first we start in iran with senior international correspondent nick paton walsh. again, the united states blaming iran despite houthi rebels claiming they did this, claiming responsibility. what is the reaction so far that you're hearing there? >> reporter: yeah. breaking news, george, from the spokes from iran's foreign ministry. he says in a statement that such blind accusations and inappropriate comments in a diplomatic complex are in comprehensible and meaningable. the saudi coalition has attacked and committed all kinds of war crimes and kept it going. in a diplomatic context, this needs a certain degree of credibility and reasonable frameworks that u.s. officials have also violated basic principles. so a very strong reaction from iran. i have to say secretary pompeo has made a very stark accusation against iran. but within those two tweets, under 300 characters or so, provided no evidence thus far to back it up. there have been officials n anonymously briefing that this may have been come from southern iraq. the target of this, oil facilities substantially h

nick paton walsh is there. nick? you don't get a higher voice.direct lly addresses what so think is the kernel for whatever strength that u.s. has here. he is quite clear there will be no negotiation with the united states at any level. everyone should know and notice this is a trick. by that, he is saying the maximum pressure campaign is designed to force iran back to talks, without pressure being lifted off him. he goes on to make sure nobody in his government feels otherwise. goes on to say, all the iranian officials, and others, have unanimously agreed that we will not negotiate with the u.s., bilateral or multilateral. he throws out the possibility of talks maybe at some point down the line. maybe offering the humiliating moment. rejoined the nuclear deal, he may be welcomed on the talks at a multilateral level. maybe amidst all of this, this is the ultimate authority here in iran saying no to that. certainly, in the weeks ahead, things can change. he doesn't address the idea of what would happen if sanctions were lifted against iran. but th

john, to get a sense, and also we have nick paton walsh live in tehran. nick, let's start with you. the united states blaming iran despite houthi rebels claiming responsibility. what reaction are you hearing there? >> reporter: well, in the last hours or so we have heard a stark reaction from iran's foreign ministry. the spokesperson wholeheartedly rejecting secretary of state's mike pompeo's claim that iran was behind this. he said such blind accusations and inappropriate comments in a diplomatic context are in comprehensible and meaningful. he went on to say even hostility need reasonable frame works. u.s. officials have violated basic principles. he adds also in reference to the ongoing conflict between saudi arabia and yemen, remember the claim here that houthi rebels against which saudi arabia has been engaged in a years tai chi long conflict with, it must seem to be yemeni soil. he goes on to say that yemen is not only capable but also has good reason to attack saudi targets. by that he means the yemeni houthi rebels who have accepted firing these particular drones. he said in

nick paton walsh live for us in tehran. thanks. >>> justin trudeau apologizing again for wearing blackface. there's now three known incidents, including this video of trudeau in racist makeup. he says he doesn't know how many times he did it. at a town hall thursday, he said he lacked respect for marginalized people and privilege gave him a massive blind spot. >> what i did was inexcusable and wrong and hurt a lot of people who considered me to be an ally. and that is wrong. i am deeply, deeply sorry. there's no way to sugar-coat it. it was something i did wrong. >> trudeau is trying to contain the fervor over the images with the election just a month away now, on october 21st. >> you can't help but wonder did he know the pictures were out there. >> and why now? this dates back several years. >> somebody sat on those photos it would appear. >>> ahead, thousands of events and more than 100 countries today, calling for action on the climate crisis. i've always been excited for what's next. i'm still going for my best... even

zarif spoke to nick paton walsh who joins us live from tehran. incredible interview here with the foreign minister. a lot of rhetoric here. the threat of fresh sanctions from the united states on iran. what's the path back to ratchet down the tensions and a future of diplomacy here more than anything else? >> you're right. donald trump said he would be announcing new sanctions against iran in 48 hours. we haven't heard that yet. instead, we have zarif saying, if there are strikes, there will be all-out war. it wasn't belligerence. he simply said, don't think if you attack us, it will be a tilt or at the exchange. i don't think iran wants conflict. but it doesn't think kept tdipl is an option, too. i asked him after all of the bluster from donald trump, and the possibility of military action, how did he see the president's position? here's what he said. >> do you believe donald trump is gun-shy? >> no. i believe that he has been the subject of an attempt many times to drag the united states into a war and he has refused. despite of the fact i disa

nick paton walsh, cnn, tehran. >> thanks to nick pateton walsh on the ground for that report. burns, former u.s. undersecretary for political affairs and former ambassador to nato. thanks for joining the broadcast this morning. >> thank you, jim. >> so let's begin with the president. iran has carried out really a series of provocative acts. you have the attacks on tankers, a shoot down of the u.s. drone and the u.s. believes an attack on saudi oil facilities. the president has not authority rised a military response and called one back minutes from it happening. has he, in effect, emboldened iran? >> i think, jim, the president's problem going to the u.n. is that he appears weak in response to these actions by the iranians over the last six months. in the hard bitten world of middle east politics, with both the sunni arabs and the iranians, the president doesn't appear to be standing up to the challenge. now he's got a little bit of time. he may want to use this week to see what kind of support he has out there. i think it's very little, frankly, with the europeans, the russia

. >>> nick paton walsh in tehran. >> reporter: they did lay out how the central bank of iran would be there are a couple of problems with that that remove the teeth, really, of those sanctions. the central bank is already sanctioned when trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. still, the sovereign world funds, it's unclear how much money is left inside that and where it is, whether it's an international tracks or not. in fact, the press release says $5 million was taken out making you wonder if iran suspected they would be targeted further down the line. they've been tightening the screws for so many years that there's actually not much left that can, in fact, be done. also donald trump quite clear that he did not want to go for military action. he said that that restraint was a sign of strength, even threatening if he wanted to, he could launch attacks in thement he was speaking, telling reporters in the room that would give them a big story. so it leaves you asking the question what really has come of this tense standoff? there has be an vie lenl and damaging attack toward saudi arabi

nick paton walsh, cnn. >>> cnn's christiane amanpour sat down with the foreign minister ahead of the general assembly. >> foreign minister, are you saying there is a plan afoot to close the doors to negotiation by the u.s. president? >> i think the only reason they would redesignate our central bank is to make it impossible or very difficult for this president or his successor to remove the name from the list. the bar is very high now. and i think those who propose this for president trump wanted to close the door to negotiations, not during his presidency but even after his presidency. >> some are saying that actually a hard-line element, like the one you're describing here in the united states in iran also wants to see doors to diplomacy closed. >> yeah, there may be people, but the leadership in iran is more prudent to fall in that trap. >>> you can catch the entire interview with iran's foreign minister at 4:00 p.m. in new york, 6:00 p.m. in london, 1:00 p.m. tuesday in hong kong. >>> u.n. meetings have the reputation for being all talk and little action, but a new report shows w

nick paton walsh, cnn. >> jennifer glass joins this hour from kabul, afghanistan.have you on the line. >> good to talk to you, george. >> so talk to us, first of all, about the mood. voters there heading to the polls, given that the threat is high from the taliban. what are voters saying? >> a lot of people told me they would be voting. people were very wary will security. there is virtually no one here where i am. when i was here in october for the parliamentary elections, people were waiting hours to vote and we're not seeing that at all today. voting workers are standing idle waiting for voters to come. despite 72,000 afghan troops on the streets, around the country and hundreds and tens of thousands of police, as well, a lot of people here, the voter turn out appears very low. nobody here will give us official numbers until about an hour and a halftime, but here, there is nowhere near the 5,000 people registered to vote. >> voter turn out appears to be low so far. and talk to us about the person who appears to be the front runner. >> well, as you know, a lot of

nick paton walsh appreciate it. fascinating interview and more of that interview at cnn.com.king news to get to at this hour. learning a new jersey man arrested for allegedly scouting possible targets in new york to launch terrorist attacks. brynn gingras is with me now. what more are we learning? >> reporter: information from federal authorities and southern district of new york prosecuting the case. a 42 yard man from morristown, new jersey arrested on a nine-count indictment including charges related to terrorism-related offenses. we're learning he was a man who joined hezbollah decades ago and became a naturalized citizen here in the united states in august of 2008. as you just said, sort of working surveillance for this terrorist organization here in new york, scouting out different areas of the city, major, you know, places like the subway systems, the times square and, you know, trying to figure where there were soft spots to possibly stage an attack, or to provide that information back to the terrorist group. also did this in washington, d.c. as well. so a lot of info

. >> cnn's nick paton walsh is live in iran's capital. ck, how is tehran responding to this tough talk from president trump and the latest sanctions? >> reporter: no response and they don't tend to respond in realtime. talking to analysts how potent these sanctions are, not really, to be honest. the central bank, one of the things targeted, it's true. the central heart of the iranian government here but the central bank is already sanctioned after the sanctions imposed when trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. the sovereign wealth fund he also sunkzed today called the ndf is relatively new but nobody knows how much money is in it or if it's held abroad and vulnerable. the nature of the sanctions is important, too. in past under the nuclear deal describing these particular things connected to terrorism because they say they help the reserve nugsary guard in iran which the u.s. described as a terror group. all in all the analysts i spoke to say it's not making life harder here because the rest of the world already understood these instituti

back to you. >> nick paton walsh, thanks for that explanation.arah westwood, the lawmakers weighing in on this particularly, senator chris murphy, he called it an irresponsible simplification and it's how we get into dumb wars. referring to secretary of state pompeo's tweet. what is the president saying about this criticism? >> reporter: well, president trump saying that his administration will continue to provide stability to the world oil market. energy secretary rick perry also has been briefed on this saying the u.s. stands ready to use its reserve supply of petroleum if need it to be to stabilize the global economy in the event that all of this energy, all of this oil resources that saudi arabia has, has been knocked out by these missiles. we saw the stock market take a little bit of a dive. we have seen the markets react to the news that all of this oil has been taken out. but asbestos nick mentioned there has been a mixed reaction from lawmakers about the trump administration's aggressive and very own immediate response to point the finger

cnn's nick paton walsh spoke with the foreign minister exclusively. >> the things the united states hasy called it an act of war, that you shot off missiles from a sovereign territory. >> that's a lie. >> understood. this might result in some military retaliation. do you believe donald trump is gun shy? >> no. i believe that he has been the subject of an attempt many times to drag the united states into a war. and he has refaused ed it doesn mean somebody is gun shy in order to avoid starting a war based on a lie. >> as you said yourself, the risk potentially is all-out war if this escalated. under what circumstances president trump has said that he might negotiate. he vacillates on conditions. >> we did not leave the negotiating table. there is a negotiating table that is there. the united states is welcome to come back to that. >> what do they have to do to get back to that table? >> well, they have to respect their signature. >> they have to go back into the nuclear deal to negotiate again? >> because leaving that nuclear deal was not a lawful act. because that deal is not a deal bet

for more on the interview let me bring in nick paton walsh. a lot more to tell you. >> yeah, he did. one key thing from the interview was we asked whether the people who says were behind this, the houthi rebels of yemen, he had actually seen proof they were behind it. he said no, he heard the statements they put out evidence which weakens the vigor in which iran holds that particular idea. that's been their explanation that the houthis and yemen have been -- saudi arabian air strikes and this was revenge for that. the issue of sanctions and negotiation with the united states saying simply there will be no talks at all until the united states or unless the united states rejoins the nuclear deal and takes off the sanctions that trump reimposed when he pulled out of that nuclear deal. we also talked about the possibility of a military response. here's what he said. >> imt the things that the united states has accused iran of so far, frankly called an act of war, said you fired missiles from a sovereign territory and the sovereign territory of ano

nick paton walsh has the latest. >> reporter: the new missile system iran says downed a top american. president trump almost launched air strikes as retaliation but called off at the last minute. but the last week, they're not worried here. instead putting that drone or really what they say is left of it on display. the argue for a global hawk can fly up to 400 miles an hour for 34 hours with the wingspan of a boeing 737. the u.s. said it was over international waters. just the message that iran took it down anyway. they say it was destroyed over the gulf and a lot of the wreckage went straight underwater. this is all they were able to salvage. conveniently the u.s. insignia is intact. a predator drone is also here. we were told it was hacked as it flew over iran. older american models israeli, british we can't touch them or verify independently what they are. it was no accident that a couple of days after the saudi arabian government displays devices, iran puts on a display of what it said it managed to capture over its lands or near it. a friendly welcome here from an iranian pilot

in iran, obviously the reaction far different, nick paton walsh. what are we hearing from leaders there? >> reporter: well, since the beginning, they've been very clear that this is nothing to do with iran. now, we've had zarif, the minister of foreign affairs saying yesterday in a tweet they are pulling out of the obama nuclear era deal instead to maximum deceit of the united states. he was referring to early comments by mike pompeo who came out on the saturday morning just after the attacks saying that iran was responsible and saying there was no evidence that the attacks originated from yemen. i have to say at this point, there's no evidence to back up his claim that iran is somehow involved. that hasn't stopped, though, the increased temperature in this region. the attacks that happen on the oil refineries are a whole different sea change. small incidents, tankers being detained. clashes here, there, tension rhetoric. but nothing like the scale of this. a 20th of the world's oil at stake by these attacks. many are concerned where this goes next

nick paton-walsh is there. what are you hearing from there? >> reporter: iran has from the very beginning said they were not behind this attack. initially the spokes people saying an irresponsible claim and then max deceit of mike pompeo after the u.s. campaign of max pressure and then this morning reiterating and saying things that trump said don't last more than 24 hours. you almost hear a similar confusion frankly when boris trying to explain what the u.s. policy is on this. many iranians felt the departure of john bolton from the white house meant they might be looking at a more peaceful diplomatic strategy but mike pompeo stood in the shoes himself. of course, if it does turn out that the u.s. choose to directly blame iran for this and in fact say that the missiles launched from iranian soil that's a stark departure of the region entirely and a sovereign nation firing missiles from the territory on another. there's no evidence and people crying out here for evidence from mike pompeo making that claim that they flatly deny and we are into

back to you. >> nick paton walsh and sarah westwood, thank you. >>> it's important to reinforce severity and scale here. saudi arabia is the number one world oil exporter in the world and largest processing plant in the world. experts say this is in a different league. we know the attacks have crippled the saudi oil production and knocking out 60% of the kingdom's daily output. as market open on monday, expect to see a spike in the gas prices. >>> former ambassador gary grappo is with us now. thank you for being with us. you served in saudi arabia for years. i understand you were there recently. is this what we have seen the past 16 hours, that was of a real dire concern to you and the people there? >> i don't think there is any question on the seriousness of these attack and what they mean. we have seen this conflict now go from what was a regional conflict confind to the southwestern part of the arubian peninsula to now, a conflict that has really global implications, repercussions, in fact, with the impact this is going to have on oil markets as you said when they open tomorrow. the o

let's get to cnn's nick paton walsh in tehran. nick, iran is under some punishing sanctions. they can't hell oil. that's their only way really of making money. what's the reaction there to this latest round? >> it's literally just come out, but as you well know, the major tenet of iran thinking about talking to the united states has been a softening of sanctions. here we are going in the opposite direction. fair to say after the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei said talks weren't going to happen any time soon. you raise an important point. what is left to sanction? you mentioned oil. there's been talk of the gray market where iran may use separate corporate vessels, may use ship to ship transfers, possibly around the world to enable it to continue to trade oil. it says it's still legally allowed to do that under the jcpoa, the nuclear deal because it rejects the u.s. unilaterally pulling out of that. possibly what donald trump may be talking about is a tightening around that mechanism. but they're already doing everything they possibly can to make that difficult. recall how

. >> cnn senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is in tehran and that was a very serious zarif. does he mean what he says? >> reporter: i think the tone of that interview was to do two things. they know that the real person they're talking about iran policy is donald trump. john bolton's out. he was the iran hawk, mike pompeo, but trump is making the calls and this was designed to give a bellicose statement that basically says if you hit us don't expect some kind of overnight tit for tat. this will be long and messy, but also the general tone of the interview was toing is th sugge iran doesn't want conflict, but won't shy away if it is actually attacked. >> so the trump administration is allowing the iranian president rouhani to come, and it was up to debate, and were they going to allow the visas? is there any chance that president rouhani meets with trump? >> reporter: no, in a word. you can't tell what donald trump might choose to do. he could go saddling up to rouhani in a corridor and there are circumstances that they will talk are slim and zarif laid that out. he wi

nick paton walsh in iran. cnn all over this story and the breaking developments. >>> meanwhile, the world markets are waiting in anticipation. oil prices spiked 10%, a huge one-day increase, and the question this morning is how serious will the supply disruption be, and could this alter the entire perception of the oil market long-term. cnn chief business correspondent christine romans here with that. >> when you're talking about a 10 or 15% jump in the price of oil, that is dramatic and it could mean higher prices for american drivers, flyers and consumers. so much oil production taken offline so quickly in coming days and weeks consumer wills see it. the only questions are when and how much. gas prices are estimated to climb anywhere from $0.10 to $0.25. the current average is $2.56 down from $2.85 a year ago and below the recent peak of nearly 3 bucks a gallon. a couple of pennies a day for about two weeks. higher oil prices mean higher costs for airlines. shares of american airlines, delta and united tumbl

let's bring in nick paton walsh. nick, what's the view from where you are?> reporter: we heard from the highest voice in the hand. he says there is no negotiation with the united states at any level. there will be no negotiation. he said, everyone should know and notice this is a trick. he means donald trump's suggestion to talk to them, under the umbrella of the u.s. maximum pressure campaign, designed to get iran through the table. some remarks are due to the politics. of course, the islamic state is not confused. our path is clear. we know what we're doing. and to avoid any confusion, the bureaucracy here, goes on to say. that's why they have unanimously agreed that we will not negotiate with the u.s. he holds out the possibility, that if they join the nuclear talks, they might be able to join the talks around that deal. that's unlikely to happen. on a day when donald trump has fascinated, and seems unkeen to do it, some analysts thought that the accusations behind the attacks were designed to get them to the table, the supreme leader said no. iranian off

nick paton walsh in tehran. cnn everywhere it needs to be on this story. stand by. keep us posted on what you hear. thank you, gentlemen. >> as you point out, we can't ignore the economy when it comes to saudi arabia here. the attack in saudi arabia sending oil prices up. markets around the world moving down. christine romans is here to put it in prerspective for us. >> a shock to global oil supplies and a guarantee that higher gas prices are coming for american consumers. the attacks disrupted 5% of the daily global oil supply. oil prices spiked as much as 15% now trading at the highest levels since may. the strike was right at the heart of the aramco facility, the largest processing facility in the world. second largest oil field in saudi arabia. this is unprecedented. we've never seen so much oil side lined so fast before. not from hurricane katrina, not during the arab spring, not even when iraq invaded kuwait. 5.7 billion barrels off the market is a dramatic disruption in the global economy. the big request now, how fast can aramco get them back to full capacit

nick paton walsh is in tehran. kylie atwood is also with us. i want to start with you nick the president starts with the rhetoric but then does not follow through. he also did not call it out like secretary of state mike pompeo did. so is locked and loaded talk or a real threat? >> reporter: locked and loaded means bad things at this part of the world. but at the same time the tweet was being put out, the iran foreign minister was reminding people that the things trump tweets lasts about 10 minutes here. so against the allegations thrown against them, they reject them but they also learned the departure of the national security advisor, john bolton, they're dealing with an administration in turmoil. and iran's foreign minister said they're giving way to maximum deceit. we've heard iran's president speak saying he believed the drones issue is less about oil and more about regional stability and security. i paraphrase here, pointing towards the conflict in yemen where he said american and european armament is being used daily to put people in awfu

. >> cnn's nick paton walsh has more from tehran. >> reporter: president trump says he's not going to talk to iran at the u.n. general is assembly meeting. his message is trying to be cheer and hold out the possibility that happenstance might change that. his secretary of state mike pompeo has said clearly talking to u.s. media on sunday that they want to give diplomacy every opportunity. i think he's more talking about trying to get an international coalition around saudi arabia and how military force after some days of bluster from the white house isn't likely to be used, iran has been clearer. it's foreign minister saying they will not be talking to the united states in any way, shape or form until the sanctions that were reimposed when the trump administration pulled out of the nuclear deal alleviated yet again and iran's president hassan rouhani will turn up monday, use this day which is the anniversary of the start of the brutal iran/iraq war of the '80s to discuss a peace initiative where he will focus on tanker traffic trying to de-escalate tensions and focus on the departure

speaking exclusively with our own nick paton walsh, here's what he had to say. >> what would be the consequencerike on iran now. >> an all-out war. >> you make a very serious statement. >> well, i make a very serious statement about defending our country. >> zarif also said he is willing to -- >> would frankly, they've called an act of war. they've said you've fired missiles from the sovereign territory and the sovereign territory of another state. >> that's a lie. >> understood. they've accused you of that. that would result in some sort of military retaliation. do you believe donald trump is gun shy? >> no. i believe that he has been the subject of an attempt many times to drag the united states into a war. and he has refused. in spite of the fact that i disagree with many of his policies, i think this is a prudent decision. but it doesn't mean that somebody is gun shy in order to avoid starting a war based on a lie. >> it's a remarkable interview. you should watch the entire thing. zarif also said he is willing to talk to saudi arabia but the possibility of a return to negotiations with the

. >> cnn senior international correspondent nick paton-walsh is following the developments from tehraner: the diplomacy seems to be slightly slim. we know the prime minister is in new york and they are on their way to the new york. they say they will have an initiative there. to the answer to the news they will send more troops to saudi arabia and the uae. today marking the start to the anniversary of the iran and iraq war and brutal and called holy defense week. we heard from president rouhani how he is reacting to more u.s. troops on the way. >> translator: we announced to the world the presence of foreign forces can be dangerous to the region for international waterways and maritime security and for oil and energy security. but our path and our way is creating unity in coordination with the countries. >> reporter: it doesn't pay at this stage that the chance of military action by the united states are relatively slim. you heard donald trump talking about sanctions. sanctions frankly aren't as tough as he laid them out to be and he talked about how more troops on their way here. it s

our nick paton walsh explains why people are deciding to vote anyway. >> reporter: since the electionhought would ever happen whose success may be measured in the death toll, not the turnout. high hopes for a peace deal were canceled when president trump canceled talks with afghanistan. that sent afghanistan hertling toward a presidential vote many felt might have been postponed had peace talks been progressed. en stead the votes will be rushed, the campaign hubbled amid security concerns amidst the violence like none other they've seen. he'd also insisted the vote go ahead and may now win a clean endorse management, rare in afghan extreme politics. this remains america's longest war with no immediate end in sight, yet the suffering has been more acute with the daily losses and violence that go unnoticed to outsiders. thursday the taliban said they would block all roads, adding it's the 13th time. so voters must risk the violence that's closed about a quarter of polling stations, all having a thumb that's inked when you vote cut off entirely. failed peace talked fehr meanting the viol

that's with nick paton walsh is for us. the more evidence, the more information that is coming out from sources, it is all seeming to point the finger more and more at iran. but with that in mind, what has been the reaction there? >> reporter: well, they haven't changed their initial position. when first on early saturday u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo pointed the finger at iran as being behind these attacks without any evidence. iran said it wasn't them. then they said the u.s. pochang from maximum pressure to maximum deceit. i should point out at this stage we are hearing increasing details as to what investigators believed happened but they haven't shared or made public the evidence that's caused them to come to those conclusions. u.s. officials have not done that notably over this period of time. iranian officials will be waiting to see what evidence can be publicly put forward, kate. many are asking, whoever you want to blame for the attack, what is the next move, if saudi arabia and the u.s. choose to point the f

. >> nick paton walsh is in iran following these developments. >> reporter: it seems iran is outdoingits regional competitors here. you heard those comments echoing what they heard that they would launch all-out war if they attacked iran's territory directly. sort of a standard calculation. iran likes to project that here. we heard today from president rouhani speaking on the anniversary marking the start of the iran and iraq war in the '80s and brutal and savage episode for the people of iran and made comments about the likely soon arrival, we don't know the number, of more american troops to bolster saudi arabia and the united arab emirates defense. here is what he said. >> translator: we announced to the world that the presence of foreign forces can be problematic and dangerous for the region for international waterways, for maritime security, for oil and energy security. but our path and our way is creating unity in coordination with the region's countries. >> reporter: he went on to say they will at the u.n. be putting forward a peace initiative, a plan to get regional neighbors

nick paton walsh just interviewed iran's foreign mins minister.is part of that interview. >> what would be the consequence of the strike on iran now? >> an all-out war. >> you make a serious statement. >> well, i make a serious statement about defending our country. i'm making a very serious statement that we don't want war, we don't want to engage in a military confrontation. we believe that a military confrontation based on deception is awful. we'll have a lot of casualties. but we won't blink to defend our territory. >> but yourself in saudi arabia's shoes. if there was an attack on iranian sovereign territory with cruise missiles launched from saudi arabia, what would iran's response be? >> well, they're making that up. why do they want to make that up that it was from iranian territory? the yemenis have announced responsibility. they have provided information about that. they have answered all the saudi disinformation campaign about the fact that they launched this attack against saudi arabia in self-defense. now, they want to pin the blame o

nick paton walsh, thank you for this. it is significant. meantime, we have breaking news just developing out of farmington, maine, where a major explosion has taken place and hearing of multiple injuries. >> cnn's alexander field following the story for us. so it started with a propane smell s. that right? at a facility there. >> reporter: that was the report that came in this morning. someone in the facility, facility that provides services for people with disabilities, did defect that smell. we do know that they called officials, officials were responding at the time of this explosion. not at all clear how many people could have been inside that building between those seeking services, staff and officials who responded or which departments they had come from but there you see it on the screen and getting the first look at the initial pictures of the devastation. at this point, the sheriff's office in franklin county is confirming multiple injures are. we don't know the extent of the injuries but really getting a look at the pictures you c

let's bring in nick paton walsh. what are we learning? >> we are in a dangerous morning here, in a intentions have been varying month for months. nothing on the scale of this so far. and president trump's tweets overnight, quite clear, he is waiting for saudi arabia to cast the final word. he thinks he knows where the blame should lie. but he is stopping short of mike pompeo's direct action toward iran. it's fair to say, as well. and u.s. officials, trying to establish this chain of why they think they've come to this conclusion. haven't put anything out in public that's convincing. it seems pointing towards the direction from which the attacks occurred. and pointing out, if it was, indeed, ten drones that did this, as the rebels in yemen claim. they want to fly through air space, defended by tens of billions of dollars of technology that, in fact, the ten drones couldn't have hit the 19 separate targets that the u.s. say have been attack. those are details that will come under scrutiny in the hours and days ahead. a big purd in the white