'If we don't act now ...': Why Israel unleashed unprecedented strikes on Iran

Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo)

In a dangerous escalation of regional tensions, Israel launched a large-scale preemptive aerial assault on Iran early Friday, striking nuclear facilities, missile production centers and senior military leaders.

The operation, called “Rising Lion,” was described by Israeli officials as a necessary response to an “imminent threat” from Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear weapons program.

Among those confirmed killed in the strikes were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, and two senior nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. The IDF believes more top officials were neutralized in the operation.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said over 200 aircraft dropped more than 330 munitions on 100 targets, including the Natanz and Fordo enrichment sites, military compounds, and ballistic missile factories.

Years in the making

For years, Israeli leaders have warned the world about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the strikes an existential necessity, warning that “if we don’t act now, we simply won’t be here.”

Intelligence and military officials, including current IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, have long asserted that Iran’s uranium enrichment program — which now includes uranium enriched to 60%, just short of weapons-grade — posed an existential threat.

Israel has also accused Iran of taking covert steps toward “weaponization”, including advanced testing. “Iran has enriched enough uranium for nine nuclear bombs," Netanyahu said, suggesting that it was moving rapidly toward producing missiles capable of delivering them within minutes.

Zamir, in a statement to Israel, said that the situation had “reached the point of no return." He added the strikes were an "immediate operational necessity" carried out to "remove the strategic threat and ensure our future.”

In fact, hours before the strike, Iran said it has built and will activate a third nuclear enrichment facility. The announcement ratcheted up tensions with the UN immediately after its atomic watchdog agency censured Iran for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Israel strike also comes after extensive planning and intelligence-gathering on Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to a report in The Times of Israel.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. But years of standoffs with the International Atomic Energy Agency, secret enrichment activities, and Tehran’s own rhetoric have alarmed Israel and the West. According to Israeli assessments, Tehran was nearing the “point of no return.”

According to Axios’ Barak Ravid, Israel’s Mossad spy agency conducted simultaneous sabotage operations against Iranian air defenses and missile systems just before the airstrikes began. A senior Israeli official was quoted as saying the strikes “timed with great precision — simultaneously hitting the Iranian General Staff and nuclear scientists across Iran.”

US response

Meanwhile, the Trump administration was informed ahead of the operation, but played no direct role, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Israel took unilateral action… Iran should not target US interests or personnel,” he warned.

President Donald Trump convened a National Security Council meeting shortly after the strikes began.

Though Washington has repeatedly said Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon, Trump had urged Israel just a day earlier to wait for diplomacy to play out. Yet, Israeli officials said the moment to act had arrived — before Iran could reinforce its defenses and push its nuclear program beyond what Israel could target in a single strike.