The recent military confrontation between Israel and Iran marks an unprecedented escalation in their long-standing conflict, raising fears of a broader regional war with far-reaching consequences for the Middle East. On June 13, 2025, Israel launched a large-scale air campaign, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, targeting at least 12 provinces across Iran, including Tehran and Tabriz. The strikes focused on nuclear facilities, missile manufacturing sites, and the residences of top military commanders, resulting in the deaths of several senior figures, including Hossein Salami, chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other key military and nuclear scientists.
Israel justified the operation by citing intelligence that Iran was close to acquiring the technical capability to build nuclear weapons, a development Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent by any means necessary. The attacks aimed to degrade Iran’s nuclear program and compel Tehran to accept a new, more restrictive nuclear deal aligned with U.S. and Israeli interests. However, experts warn that the strikes may instead push Iran further toward nuclear weaponization.
In retaliation, Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones targeting Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, causing explosions and widespread alarm. Israeli air defenses intercepted many of the attacks, but the strikes disrupted daily life, closed Ben Gurion Airport indefinitely, and prompted the mobilization of tens of thousands of Israeli troops.
The conflict’s scale and boldness are unprecedented, moving beyond years of covert operations and proxy confrontations to direct military engagement. Analysts note that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s response will be critical; feeling existentially threatened, Tehran may escalate further, potentially withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accelerating nuclear weapons development.
The United States, while not directly involved militarily, expressed concern and focused on protecting its forces in the region. Meanwhile, global powers including France and Russia have called for restraint and diplomatic solutions to prevent wider conflict.
This escalation follows a decade of covert cyberattacks, sabotage, and proxy wars between the two nations, with Israel viewing Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an existential threat. The recent strikes and counterstrikes have shattered a fragile status quo, plunging the Middle East into its most dangerous crisis in years and raising the specter of a protracted and devastating regional war.
