In the early hours of 13 June, the Israeli Air Force launched extensive attacks on Iranian targets, employing approximately 200 aircraft and firing 330 munitions, which struck around 100 sites across Iran.
The operation was named Rising Lion. The lion emblem was the symbol of Iran and before that Persia before it was changed following the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
For the last two months, Israel has been carrying out intensive intelligence reconnaissance operations in Iranian airspace using long-range drones such as the RQ-4 and its naval version the MQ-4C.
Beech King 350 aircraft were deployed to identify early warning locations and fixed batteries around key sites, storing their frequencies for classification and integrating them into the protection systems of attacking aircraft.
The operations were conducted using the standard tactics of the Israeli Air Force. However, a major surprise was the role of Israeli intelligence field units. These monitored the air defences around Iran’s nuclear reactors, gathering crucial data. They assisted in neutralising air defences using FPV drones and Spike NLOS missiles, and they employed specialised devices to confirm targets on the ground, ensuring that aircraft dropping laser-guided bombs could strike with precision.
This coordination between ground intelligence and aerial firepower played a significant role in the effectiveness of the strikes.
They have targeted critical nuclear facilities in Iran, including at Natanz, Khondab, Khorramabad, and enrichment sites in Tehran. Military installations, such as missile factories, air-defence systems, and command centres, have been struck, along with residential areas housing Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders.
Among those killed are Major-General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Other high-ranking officials reportedly eliminated include General Mohammad Bagheri, General Gholamali Rashid, and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who led Iran’s Aerospace Force and missile programme.
Twelve nuclear scientists have been killed in their homes in Tehran. An Israeli official told the US newspaper the Wall Street Journal that targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “not off-limits.”
The strikes were part of an aerial campaign aimed at depriving Iran of strategic advantages, particularly its ballistic missile launchers which ensure its second-strike capability against Israeli airfields. The objective is to disrupt Iran’s operational efforts and neutralise potential retaliatory strikes.
Iran was expected to respond with intense missile strikes on Israel, but this did not happen. According to the New York Times, sources within the IRGC said that a mass missile strike of 1,000 rockets was originally planned on the orders of Khamenei. However, Israel’s attacks on missile bases and launch platforms disrupted the offensive, making its execution difficult.
Those missiles that were fired lacked precision and often struck civilian locations instead of military targets in Tel Aviv, according to an Iranian military spokesperson. The spokesperson attributed
this to electronic jamming, which is interfering with satellite signals.
An Israeli Army spokesperson said on Monday that “we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”
Iran launched more than 500 missiles in its riposte against Israel, each salvo consisting of 30 to 40 missiles. However, only five to ten per cent of the missiles successfully penetrated the Israeli air defences, which included the US THAAD system as well as the Arrow and David sling systems and even the SM missiles fired by the US Navy in the Mediterranean Sea.
Despite Iran’s employment of drones including the Shahed-136, the jet-powered Shahed-238, the Arash, and the Shahed-101 & 107, Israeli defensive measures proved effective against suicide drone strikes. US fighter jets contributed to the interceptions, engaging targets from the Jordan-Syria
border near the Al-Tanf triangle, while Israeli fighter jets intercepted drones over Quneitra in Syria.
US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media account that “I gave Iran many chances to make a deal. I warned them strongly to ‘just do it,’ but they failed. I said it would be worse than anything they expected. Some Iranian hardliners talked tough, but they’re all DEAD now. It will get worse.”
Thirty-two US aerial refuelling aircraft, including KC-135 and KC-46 tankers, were detected arriving in the Middle East. These aircraft were earlier stationed at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the Morón Air Base in Spain, and the Aviano Air Base in Italy. Additionally, two C-17 transport aircraft were observed, likely carrying THAAD missiles for deployment in Israel.
The Qatari TV station Aljazeera reported that an Israeli Army spokesperson had said
that “we need President Trump to approve our request to help destroy the Fordow [nuclear] facility. We delivered a devastating blow to the Iranians – but the final strike is in America’s hands… Such facilities need very special bombs that can penetrate deeply underground such as GBU-57 which is carried by the strategic bombers such as B-2 and B-52.”
To gain a deeper understanding of the current battle between Iran and Israel, Al-Ahram Weekly reached out to experts for analysis, including Fabian Hoffmann, a research fellow at the Oslo Nuclear Project at the University of Oslo in Norway, and Sayed Ghoneim, a fellow of the Military Academy for Advanced and Strategic Studies and the Royal Military Academy in Brussels in Belgium.
“Israel has already conducted a soft kill by disabling power generation in Iran. To dismantle the infrastructure permanently, it
must either destroy it through repeated airstrikes that expose and degrade buried systems, or deploy special operations forces to target it directly,” Hoffman said of the Israeli campaign.
“The current aerial campaign will not be a limited operation, as has been confirmed this week.”
“I believe Israel will no longer engage in a tit-for-tat tennis match with Iran, where each side strikes and responds in turn. To maintain its current initiative, Israel will have to continue striking Iran until it either delivers a knockout blow, forces a collapse, or pushes Iran into surrender,” Ghoneim added.
“Israel will aim to prevent Iran from even issuing threats, ensuring complete dominance. The critical question remains: will Israel succeed in this strategy or not?”
The Israeli side holds the advantage, but ensuring the continuation of this superiority
comes with many challenges regarding the attrition of ammunition during the extensive air operations.
Iran is in a difficult position following the strikes, raising several key questions, most importantly, how will it continue the battle?
For Ghoneim, “Iran has already formulated a response plan, especially with the rapid appointment of new commanders coinciding with its retaliation against Israel, though the response has not been significant.”
“The key challenge for these successor commanders is to ensure that the strikes are recognised as a noteworthy retaliation. However, these new leaders may struggle to execute a larger strategic response, given the heavy losses Iran has suffered due to Israeli airstrikes that have targeted its retaliatory capabilities.”
Hoffman added that for Israel “air-defence interceptor shortages remain a challenge to deal with the Iranian missile strikes. Much depends on how many interceptors Israel has produced and stockpiled since October 2024.”
“What sets this episode apart is Israel’s integration of missile defence with an effective air interdiction campaign. By using airpower and direct-attack munitions to disrupt, delay, and destroy Iranian launchers and ballistic missiles before launch, Israel eases the pressure on its missile defence systems.”
Israel is not only focused on achieving military objectives in its campaign against the Iranian Army and Revolutionary Guard but is also conducting a systematic effort to engage with the Iranian people and openly encourage them to overthrow the Iranian regime.
“The Islamic regime, which has oppressed you for almost 50 years, threatens to destroy our country. The objective of Israel’s operation is to thwart the Islamic regime’s nuclear and ballistic missile threat to us. As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The Israeli Army later confirmed that the Israeli Air Force had conducted a precise strike based on intelligence provided by the Intelligence Directorate targeting a “communications centre that was being used for military purposes by the Iranian Armed Forces.”
The Israeli military has been communicating in Farsi with the Iranian people, urging them to avoid areas targeted for airstrikes, similar to the warnings issued in Lebanon and Gaza.
With Israel maintaining its advantage and hinting at US intervention to help dismantle Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran’s options for ending the conflict in an acceptable position have narrowed. This seems to be driving Iranian officials to engage with the US administration to explore the possibility of halting operations.
However, it is unlikely that Israel will agree to this, as it does not want to sacrifice the progress it has made in the past few days. At the very least, Iran’s nuclear programme must first be dismantled before operations cease, ensuring Israel has the full opportunity to prevent Iran from rearming in a way that threatens Israel’s security.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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