On 12th June this year, Israel launched massive strikes against Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities, military commanders and ballistic missile facilities under ‘Operation Rising Lion’.
Israel attacked Iran, given the existential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Iranian media reported that loud explosions were heard at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
In the Israeli attacks, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami was killed and unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit. Senior Revolutionary Guards commander Gholam Ali Rashid and top nuclear scientists were also killed in the Israeli strikes.
Israel also targeted the city of Khondab, where a heavy water nuclear reactor is located, and Khoramabad, the site of a ballistic missile base.
Israel calls attack on Iran ‘pre-emptive strike’ to damage Iran’s nuclear program
In a statement, a spokesperson of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that Israel launched a “precise, pre-emptive strike”.
The spokesperson BG Effie Defrin said on Friday the strikes aimed at damaging Iran’s nuclear program and in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.
“For years, the Iranian regime has called for the destruction of the State of Israel, planning and advancing concrete military plans to do so. Over the past few months, intelligence has shown that Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. This morning, the IDF began pre-emptive and precise strikes targeting the Iranian nuclear program in order to prevent the Iranian regime’s ability to build a nuclear bomb in the immediate timeframe,” he said.
A statement from IDF Spokesperson BG Effie Defrin on the preemptive Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear targets pic.twitter.com/IJNT5LXz6o
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025
He said the airstrikes were aimed at protecting Israel’s right to exist and for their future. “We have no choice. We are operating against an imminent and existential threat. We cannot allow the Iranian regime to obtain a nuclear weapon that would be a danger to Israel and the entire world. This operation is for our right to exist here, for our future and for our children’s future. The State of Israel has the right and the obligation to operate in order to protect its people and will continue to do so,” he said.
Defrin said that Israel is prepared in both- offensive as well as defensive way to defend itself. “The IDF conducted significant preparations for this operation. We are well prepared both in defence and offense to defend ourselves. The IDF will continue to defend the State of Israel,” he said.
Meanwhile, as per The Times of Israel, blasts were heard in Natanz city in Iran’s central province of Isfahan, where a key nuclear site is located, Iranian state TV reported.
“Loud explosions were heard in Natanz,” which hosts one of the main uranium enrichment facilities, Times of Israel quoted state TV reports. Iran has two underground nuclear sites, at Fordo and Natanz, and has been building tunnels in the mountains near Natanz since suspected Israeli sabotage attacks targeted that facility.
A complex at the heart of Iran’s enrichment program on a plain abutting mountains outside the Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom, south of Tehran. Natanz houses facilities including two enrichment plants: the vast, underground Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) and the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), as per The Times of Israel.
“Never again is now”: Israeli Prime Minister says offensive against Iran will continue until the nuclear threat is removed
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday announced the launch of a large-scale military campaign, Operation Rising Lion , aimed at dismantling what he described as an existential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Netanyahu said Israel had struck multiple high-value Iranian targets in a decisive first strike. “Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel ‘s very survival,” he said, adding that the mission would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
The Prime Minister of Israel accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme in defiance of global warnings, pointing to enriched uranium stockpiles capable of producing multiple nuclear bombs.
“In recent years, Iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs. Nine,” he noted, warning that Tehran had taken “steps to weaponise this enriched uranium” and could develop a nuclear weapon within months.
Netanyahu likened the current moment to the prelude to World War II, referencing the Holocaust and past global inaction in the face of rising threats. “Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime,” he said.
Iran vows revenge
Meanwhile, Iran is expected to launch a massive retaliatory attack on Israel. In a statement, Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Israel has “unleashed its wicked and bloody” hand in a crime against Iran and that it would receive “a bitter fate for itself”.
“With this crime, the Zionist regime has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself, and it will certainly face it,” Khamenei said.
“By God’s grace, the powerful arm of the Islamic Republic’s Armed Forces won’t let them go unpunished,” he added.
US denies involvement, oil prices surge as another war looms over the Middle East
Predictably, just as it denied involvement in Ukraine’s recent massive drone strikes on Russia destroying its 40 warplanes, the United States has denied having information of Israel’s strikes against Iran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that the strikes undertaken by Israel were “unilateral” and that US’ priority is now to protect the American forces in the region. Rubio said that Israel said that the strikes were done in the spirit of self-defence. He said that Iran must not harm US interests or personnel.
In a statement, Rubio 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. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target US interests or personnel.”
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) June 13, 2025
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump said that the US remained committed to a diplomatic resolution to the Iran issue. In a post on Truth Social, he said, “We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue! My entire Administration has been directed to negotiate with Iran. They could be a Great Country, but they first must completely give up hopes of obtaining a Nuclear Weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Meanwhile, oil prices skyrocketed by 9 per cent, highest in five months, after Israel attacked Iran. With Iran and Israel heading towards full-fledged war, the Middle East is set to witness another round of unrest and the world might grapple with disrupted oil supplies.
