The Israel-Iran War was an armed conflict fought between Israel and Iran after Israel preemptively targeted Iran's nuclear program and military leadership in Operation Rising Lion in June 2025. Iran declared a state of war and announced immediate action against Israel, resulting in days of Israel air raids on Iran and Iranian drone and missile attacks on Israel. By 24 June, as a result of a last-minute American intervention, Iran's nuclear program had been severely sabotaged, Iran's military leadership and air defense capabilities nearly wiped out, and Iran forced to secure a ceasefire with America and Israel.
Background[]
Israel and Iran had enjoyed significant military and economic ties under the Pahlavi dynasty, but the Iranian Revolution of 1979 resulted in the empowerment of the Shia Islamist religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who immediately severed diplomatic and commercial ties wih Israel and adopted a hostile stance towards the country. Successive Iranian leaders utilized anti-Semitic rhetoric, denied the Holocaust, and threatened the destruction of Israel. This anti-Israeli foreign policy was manifested through Iranian-backed terror carried out by groups like Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas in Palestine, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ba'athist regime in Syria, and Shia paramilitaries in Iraq. After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023, Israel went to war with the Iranian proxy network in its neighboring states, eradicating the Hamas and Hezbollah leaderships and targeting Iranian military advisors in Syria and Lebanon for assassination. On two occasions in 2024, Israel and Iran traded missiles and airstrikes across vast distances, but was was averted due to highly selective targeting by both nations. Meanwhile, Iran violated previous international deals by progressing in its nuclear program, thus creating an existential threat for Israel. On 13 June 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency declared that Iran had failed to meet its non-proliferation obligations, and Iran announced the planned activation of a third nuclear enrichment site that same day.
War[]
Operation Rising Lion[]
Determined that Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat now that it had the capacity to make 15 nuclear weapons, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered days-long preemptive strikes on the Iranian nuclear program and the country's top military leadership. Operation Rising Lion began in the morning hours of 13 June, with the Israeli Air Force targeting nuclear facilities and military infrastructure as the Mossad sabotaged Iranian air defense and missile systems. Over 200 Israeli aircraft attacked 100 targets, while Mossad used a covert drone base inside Iran to attack missile launchers targeting Israel. Israeli planes thus enjoyed air superiority, enabling them to wipe out Iran's military leadership; only American president Donald Trump's intervention prevented Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei himself from being targeted. In the afternoon, Israel extended its assault to Tabriz, Shiraz, Hamadan Airbase, Parchin, and the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
Iranian leaders stated that Iran was in a state of war and would take vengeance against Israel for its actions; Iran also threatened to attack American and British bases in the region if they interfered with Iran's retaliation. Iran launched Operation True Promise III on 13 June, launching 100 Shahed drones towards Israel. Over the next few days, missiles would also be fired, both by Iran and its proxies in Yemen and Iraq.
Operation True Promise III[]
The first wave of Iranian retaliation involved 100 missiles and 100 drones; by 23 June, Iranian strikes had killed 25 Israeli civilians and injured 2,454 people, and strikes targeted both military and civilian sites. Israel, in turn, attacked targets like a Tabriz missile complex, the Kermanshah Underground Missile Facility, and IRGC facilities near Tehran and Piranshahr. By 23 June, around 639 Iranians were killed and 1,320 injured by Israeli strikes.
Operation Midnight Hammer[]
On 17 June, American president Donald Trump demanded the "unconditional surrender" of Iran, giving the country two weeks to conclude a new nuclear deal with the West. However, Netanyahu persuaded Trump to ignore his intelligence community's reports that Iran was nowhere near producing nuclear weapons, instead urging him to act while America still had a window to strike. On 22 June, the USA launched Operation Midnight Hammer, targeting Iran's nuclear sites and striking the underground Fordow facility with bunker busters. Iran responded with Operation Tidings of Victory the next day, launching missiles at US bases in Iraq and Qatar as a token of retaliation; they had warned the Qatari government of their plans to ensure that no serious damage would be inflicted.
Trump proceeded to broker a peace agreement between Iran and Israel that, on taking effect on 24 June, ended what he called the "Twelve-Day War". While the strikes succeeded in delaying Iran's nuclear armament process by a few months, the United States depleted its own missile defenses in shielding Israel (expending over $800 million worth of equipment), resulting in America halting weapons shipments to Ukraine.
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