WIREDGOV

Operation Rising Lion has demonstrated the vast conventional superiority that Israel enjoys over Iran, highlighting the importance of intelligence, surprise and effective air and missile defence. But for now, the impact on Iran’s nuclear programme is more uncertain.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Operation Rising Lion had begun in the early hours of 13 June, he was declaring war and putting into action Israeli military planning years in the making to launch the largest attack on Iran since the 1980-89 Iran-Iraq War.

In an operation that is reported to be planned to last week, these are the early moments. Much is unclear, but some early deductions can be drawn from the first 72 hours of exchanges between Israel and Iran.

Ambitious and Sweeping Operations

The size of the operation dwarfs any previously attempted, with the first 24 hours reportedly involving over 200 combat aircraft striking over a hundred targets. Videos released by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) show a range of aircraft involved in the operation, including F-15I, F-16I and F-35I.

While the stated target was the Iranian nuclear programme, the initial wave of attacks struck a much broader range of targets, including Iran’s military leadership, conventional military sites (including both ballistic missile production and storage) and air defences.

In something close to a decapitation of the Iranian security state, the Commander in Chief of the Iranian military, the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the head of the IRGC’s Aerospace Forces, and the former head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (involved in talks with the US) were all killed, along with dozens of other officers and a number of senior nuclear scientists.

Conventional targets in the initial phase included ballistic missile launch sites and airbases near Tehran, Kermanshah and Tabriz, as well as air defence sites located across western Iran and around Tehran.

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