It was just a matter of time. Israel launched a major strike against Iran’s nuclear research and military sites early Friday morning, keeping the promise of making sure Iran doesn’t achieve nuclear weapons. The world’s top sponsor of terrorism didn’t take it sitting down, however, launching hundreds of missiles into Israel later in the day.
Talks between Iran and the US had stalled. More to the point, US President Trump was becoming impatient with Iran's foot-dragging on the talks to stop Iran's nuclear program. Reports described a phone conversation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, June 9, when the Israeli PM announced Israel was going to strike Iran. Trump's counsel on Monday was to wait for negotiations to play out. However, circumstances change. In a world of social media and near-instant communications, things change fast.
Iran Suffered a Significant Blow to Its Nuclear Weapons Program
Liberty Nation News Editor-in-Chief Mark Angelides reported on Israel's June 13 early morning airstrike, writing: "Early Friday morning [Between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. local Iran time.], Israel launched a series of what it has termed 'preemptive strikes' against Iran's nuclear facilities. Targets included senior military officials within the regime and the Natanz Nuclear Facility." This attack was not a bolt from the blue. When the precursors to the strike are unpacked, Israel hitting Iran's nuclear facilities was inevitable. What was not as well chronicled was the extent to which Israel would attempt to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat – including Iran's military and scientific leadership.
"Civilians of Israel, these are decisive days; we are currently at the start of a new phase in the operation to secure our future. The IDF began Operation' Rising Lion' tonight, in order to strategically strike the threats from the Iranian regime against the State of Israel," Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, told the Israeli people in a television announcement. "We are amidst a historic campaign unlike any other. This is a critical operation to prevent an existential threat by an enemy who is intent on destroying us." In a separate video broadcast, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Deffrin, explained: "For years, the Iranian regime has been waging a direct and indirect campaign of terror against the State of Israel, by funding and directing terrorist activities via its proxies across the Middle East, while advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon."
Code-named Operation Rising Lion, the Israeli strike against Iran involved 200 aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighters, F-16s, and F-15s, targeting approximately 100 sites across Iran. Among those targets was the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, where accounts describe significant damage to centrifuge halls. Perhaps the most interesting and typical of Israeli operations was the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service’s targeted drone operation inside Iran. As reported by Israel National News, the IDF and Mossad carried out covert missions with commando teams within "the heart of Iran" that "infiltrated central Iran and used pre-positioned precision-guided weapon systems near Iranian surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries." When the air attacks began, these pre-positioned guided weapons struck key targets with "exceptional accuracy." Additionally, Mossad secretly deployed munitions embedded in civilian vehicles throughout Iran. When Operation Rising Lion began, these munitions were launched from the deployed platforms and destroyed Iran's air defense missile sites and radar guidance.
Lastly, Mossad set up clandestine bases for one-way attack drones with components smuggled into Iran "long before" the Israeli-coordinated attack began. The drones took out Iranian surface-to-surface ballistic missile launchers located at the Esfajabad base close to Tehran. The ballistic missiles represent a perilous threat to Israeli military installations and civilian targets. The drones "successfully destroyed them," Israel National News observed.
Among Iran's top military leadership and scientists eliminated in the Israeli raid were General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces; Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Hossein Salami; General Ghulam Ali Rashid, Commander of the Khatem al-Anbiya Headquarters; Fereydoun Abbasi, one of Iran's top nuclear scientists and former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization; and Iranian physicist and President of the Islamic Azad University Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Other leaders taken out during the early-morning raid were the commanders of the Iranian Army, Revolutionary Guards Navy, the Army Air Force, and the Army's Navy. Continuing its tactic refined from taking out the key individuals of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel is eliminating the heads of the Iranian leadership snake.
A Weakened Iran Struck Back
Israel’s military and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps reported continuous rocket fire from Iran Friday, about 18 hours after Israel’s strike. At least seven sites in Tel Aviv were reportedly hit in the attack, according to Israeli military officials, though the extent of the damage is as yet unknown.
While local hospitals have reported dozens of minor injuries and several multi-story buildings have been destroyed, the news out of Israel seems to be that Iran’s retaliatory strike was less than effective. Still, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Iran “crossed a red line” by firing missiles at populated areas, warning the “ayatollah regime would pay a very heavy price.” It’s unclear exactly what will happen now, but it’s certainly an escalation. Peace talks, it would seem, are off the table for now.
The US Was Told of the Attack
Numerous sources suggest the US president was not in favor of the attack, according to a Daily Caller article. Although others believe there was tacit approval for Israel to go forward. President Trump has not been shy about expressing his displeasure with Iran's lack of cooperation in the nuclear talks between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's diplomats. Fox News, in its reporting, characterized the Iranian attitude as becoming more aggressive in impeding productive talks. President Trump made his view clear by posting on Truth Social:
"I gave Iran a chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to 'just do it,' but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn't get it done. I told them it would be much worse than anything they know anticipated or were told … that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it. Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn't know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now."
There were other indicators that Iran was on thin ice. The United States, if not told by Israel well in advance, anticipated that there would be a significant air assault on Iran's nuclear facilities. To that end, "The United States is on high alert in anticipation of a potential Israeli strike on Iran, with the State Department authorizing the evacuation of some personnel in Iraq and the Pentagon green-lighting the departure of military family members across the Middle East," a prominent Washington, DC, news outlet reported.
However, the final straw for Israel was believed to be an International Atomic Energy Report. "The International Atomic Energy Agency declared on Thursday that Iran was not complying with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, the first time the U.N. watchdog has passed a resolution against the country in 20 years," The New York Times explained.
Iran did retaliate with an attack of over 100 drones, no ballistic missiles, launched against Israel following the Israeli raid. With the assistance of US and allied air defenses, the drones were quickly dispatched by the IDF. A larger Iranian counterstrike is likely. The initial US statement on the raid was made by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who said, "Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region … Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel." US assistance in downing the first salvo of Iran's retaliatory strike is evidence of where America stands.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
