Hudson Institute
In the early morning hours of Friday, June 13, Israel conducted a series of unprecedented strikes inside Iran. Dubbed Operation Rising Lion, the Israeli action hit Iranian nuclear facilities and eliminated several key scientists, as well as top figures within the Islamic Republic’s security apparatus and military.
The Israeli Air Force dispatched more than 200 combat aircraft to deliver 330 munitions against roughly 100 targets deep inside Iran. While the campaign appears to have been a unilateral Israeli military action conducted without the active involvement of the United States, President Donald Trump warned Tehran that more “brutal” airstrikes would follow if Iran failed to cut a deal to end its nuclear weapons program.
Israel’s previous strikes, which destroyed a significant portion of Iran’s air defenses, paved the way for the current campaign. Operation Rising Lion pursued a decapitation strategythat involved targeting and killing the Iranian military’s command echelon, including (1) the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Hossein Salami, (2) the Iranian Armed Forces’ chief of staff, General Mohammad Bagheri, and (3) the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ air component, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. The IRGC oversees Iran’s core disruptive military capabilities, including drone warfare and missile warfare systems, as well as the regime’s network of proxy militias.
In addition to targeting Iran’s most prominent military figures, Israel hit Iran’s nuclear sites. The facility at Natanz, an integral part of Iran’s nuclear program, suffered particularly notable damage. Additionally, Israel targeted several air defense sites, radar installations, and ballistic missile facilities, reducing Iran’s ability to retaliate quickly.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also assassinated several nuclear scientists who had played key roles in Iran’s defense technological and industrial base, including Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoon Abbasi. Ali Shamkhani, an important advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was also eliminated in the operation. An ethnic Ahvaz Arab and a shrewd politician with sharp instincts and networking skills, Shamkhani had served as Iran’s natural envoy to several Arab nations; most notably, he was Tehran’s lead negotiator when restoring diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.
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