Israel Launches Operation Rising Lion Striking Irans Nuclear and Military Sites - Tehran Vows Powerful Response

(Achintha Madura)

Early-morning air raids across Iran

In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, Israel unleashed one of the largest single-day assaults in the history of the two rivals, hitting more than 100 sites in at least six Iranian provinces, including the Natanz uranium-enrichment complex, ballistic-missile depots near Kermanshah and an IRGC air-defence hub outside Tehran. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said around 200 fighter-bombers and long-range drones took part in the first wave of Operation Rising Lion, aimed at “rolling back the Iranian nuclear and missile threat.”

Heavy casualties among Iran’s senior command

Iran confirmed the deaths of IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami, armed-forces chief Mohammad Bagheri and at least six leading nuclear scientists, among them former Atomic Energy Organisation head Fereydoun Abbasi. Semi-official media put the nationwide toll at 70-plus dead and more than 320 injured as rescue crews sifted through debris in northern Tehran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei branded the attack a “declaration of war,” pledging that Israel “will face a bitter and painful fate.”

Tehran’s immediate retaliation—and its limits

Iran launched what the IDF said were about 100 Shahed-type drones toward southern Israel within hours of the strikes. Israel later lifted civil-defence alerts after claiming to have intercepted “most or all” of the drones; an Iranian security source, however, denied any retaliatory launch. Regional air-traffic monitors recorded emergency closures of Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace as commercial carriers rerouted around the Gulf.

Diplomatic shock waves and market jitters

The UN Secretary-General appealed for “maximum restraint,” while mediator Oman condemned the strikes as “reckless” just two days before U.S.–Iran nuclear talks were due to resume in Muscat. Crude futures spiked more than 8 percent on supply-disruption fears, though Iran’s Oil Ministry reported no damage to major refineries. Airlines from Dubai and Europe cancelled multiple regional routes, and Israel shuttered its embassies worldwide amid fears of covert reprisals.

Washington walks a tightrope

U.S. President Donald Trump publicly praised Israel’s action—telling ABC News it was “as hard as you’re going to get hit”—yet senior officials insisted Washington had “no role” in authorising the operation. Congress remained split: Republicans called the raids a justified act of self-defence, while some Democrats warned the attack could derail fragile diplomacy aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme.

Why now?

Intelligence briefings leaked to reporters in Jerusalem claim Tehran had moved within “weeks, not months” of enriching enough weapons-grade uranium for several bombs. Israel’s war cabinet, emboldened by years of covert success against Iran’s regional proxies, opted for an overt strike to “reset the clock,” according to a senior official. Outside analysts note the timing—just after the IAEA formally declared Iran in breach of its treaty obligations—gives Israel a legal fig-leaf but risks a region-wide escalation involving Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Yemen’s Houthis.

What happens next

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has promised a “powerful, calibrated” response, yet faces difficult choices: a large-scale missile attack on Israel could invite even harsher retaliation, while covert operations or cyber strikes might satisfy calls for revenge without triggering a full-blown war. Diplomats in Vienna and Muscat told Reuters they still expect Sunday’s nuclear talks to go ahead, albeit under “extreme tension.” Oil traders and shipping insurers, meanwhile, are watching the Strait of Hormuz—through which a fifth of global crude flows—for any sign Tehran will leverage its naval forces to raise the economic stakes.