Tensions in the Middle East have hit a dangerous high after Iran launched a massive retaliation to Israel’s preemptive military strike that marked the biggest attack on Iran since the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
According to Israel authorities, the operation included deployment of over 200 aircrafts successfully hitting over 100 targets with over 330 munitions in Iran. Among the targets that were hit were also the country’s nuclear facilities leaving 6 scientists dead and top generals neutralised.
This marked Israel’s biggest strike on Iran yet after years of fighting Iran’s proxies like the Houthis of Yemen and Hamas shaping one of the most significant escalations in recent years between the two longtime adversaries.
Tensions have been brewing between these two adversaries especially in the last two years since the attack of Hamas on Israel in October 7 2023 which prompted Israel to sustain attacks on Hamas and other proxies. Israel later launched its first ever direct attacks on Iran last year.
“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, we targeted Iran’s main enrichment facilities in Natan and Iran’s leading nuclear scientist.” said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to Netanyahu, the preemptive operation was aimed at dismantling what they termed “imminent threats” posed by Iran’s ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and key military command centers.
Israel also claimed that its air strikes on June 13 killed four top generals in Iran’s military, including three with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the country’s preeminent military force.
In a swift and forceful response, Iran launched a series of missile attacks on what it described as Israeli military and intelligence assets. The Iranian government condemned the Israeli action as a violation of its sovereignty and warned of further consequences if provocations continued.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has vowed ” severe punishment” for Israel for what he calls “playing with fire”
“The world now better understands Iran’s insistence on the right to enrichment, nuclear technology and missile power, and the enemy has made it possible to prove our injustice and righteousness, who is the aggressor and which regime is threatening the security of the region.” stated the Iranian Government.
Amid these chaos, the sixth round of nuclear talks between Iran and USA was due to take place on June 15 by White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi but after this conflict Iran has ruled out the possibility of such talks taking place anytime soon.
World powers including the United States, Russia, and China have expressed alarm urging both nations to exercise restraint and return to dialogue to avoid plunging the region into a broader war.
Although no official figures on casualties have been released from either side, reports of infrastructure damage have surfaced and multiple civilians are feared dead.
