Israel wants to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons

On Friday, June 13, Israel launched a series of strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran, which on 7 October 2023 initiated the ongoing war against Israel, using its proxy terror-groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, must now fight this war on its own soil.

Iran wants nuclear capability – and wants to wipe out Israel.
“If we don’t attack, it is 100 percent certain that we will die,” Netanyahu said in a video message after the massive Israeli attack on June 13, 2025. Foto: Mehr News Agency

Israel used fighter jets along with drones that had previously been smuggled into Iran to strike key facilities and take out key high-ranking officers, and scientists within the nuclear energy sector.
The attack took place the day after the UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) condemned Iran for the first time in 20 years, seeing that Iran had refused to cooperate with inspectors. According to a confidential report from the IAEA released at the end of May, Iran has increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to levels close to weapons-grade. In a separate report, the IAEA urged Iran to immediately change course and cooperate in the longstanding investigation into the country’s nuclear program.
Donald Trump announced in April that he had begun direct talks with Iran regarding its nuclear energy program. Iran was given 60 days to reach an agreement. Israel’s action occurred one day after that deadline expired.
At least 20 high-ranking Iranian commanders were killed in the strikes. They include: Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Salami, Defense chief Mohammad Bagheri, Gholam Ali Rashid, head of the IRGC’s conglomerate of around 800 companies, Ali Shamkhani, a close ally of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who led the airstrikes against Israel last year, and Ismail Qaani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force.

In September 2021, Gholam Ali Rashid stated to Iran’s Mehr News Agency that Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force, had revealed three months before being killed by U.S. forces in 2020 that he had organized six armies outside Iran’s territory.
He described how these armies lay outside Iran and were tasked with defending Tehran from any attacks, according to Al-Arabiya, an Arabic-language news channel based in the UAE.
Soleimani named these armies as: Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Assad’s forces in Syria, The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and the Houthi militia in Yemen.
He emphasized that these forces represent a deterrent capability for Iran.
Minister the Interior, Ahmad Vahidi, replaced Hossein Salami as head of the Revolutionary Guard which is designated as a terrorist organization. At Argentina’s request, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Ahmad Vahidi last year after Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled that Iran was behind the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires.
Ten nuclear scientists and the commander of Iran’s space force were killed in Israel’s strikes that began on June 13.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had ordered a military action on Iran as early as November 2024 to stop its nuclear and missile programs. The threat to Israel, he said, was now so acute that the country had to act—even without U.S. support.
“If we don’t act, it is 100 percent certain we will die,” Netanyahu said in a video message after the large-scale Israeli attack on June 13, 2025.
The nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Arak, Natanz, Fordow and Esfahan were partially destroyed in the attacks.
Iran responded by launching hundreds of drones and several waves of ballistic missiles. Some missiles hit central and northern Israel, and by the morning of June 24, approximately 30 people had been killed and 2500 injured.
According to Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s goals are to take out Iran’s nuclear energy program, destroy its ballistic missile capabilities, neutralize Iran’s capacity for ground attacks and create conditions for a diplomatic disarmament agreement.
He emphasized that Israel’s military means alone cannot eliminate the nuclear threat—Iran must be diplomatically compelled to give it up voluntarily.
The Israeli attack marks a dramatic escalation as both sides prepare for continued assaults.
Israel’s preemptive strike on Iran, “Operation Rising Lion,” is named after a verse from Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 23:24, where he was sent to curse Israel but instead blessed the nation. The verse describes how Israel rises like a lion to face its enemies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed a prayer note with this Bible verse between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem just hours before the attack.