Mick Hartley

Well, here we go – Israel targets Iran's nuclear sites and military commanders in major attack.

Jonathan Sacerdoti in the Spectator:

Woken by sirens outside my window in Israel at 3 a.m. I made my way to the bomb shelter in the basement, reaching for my phone on the way. An unusual and urgent message appeared on the screen which had been sent to the entire nation: Home Front Command had updated its guidelines with immediate effect. Israelis are instructed to know where their nearest protected space is, to avoid unnecessary movement, and to prepare for possible extended periods in shelters. Public institutions are not to open. The meaning was clear: the long-anticipated Israeli operation against Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes had begun.

Within minutes, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it. Operation Rising Lion had been launched: a preemptive strike ordered by the cabinet to “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.” The opening wave saw Israeli Air Force jets strike dozens of nuclear and military command targets deep inside Iran. According to the IDF spokesperson, 200 planes dropped 330 munitions across a wide array of targets.

The IDF stated bluntly: Iran possessed enough enriched uranium to build several bombs within days. Israeli intelligence had concluded that Tehran was about to cross the threshold towards weaponisation. Israeli sources later revealed that the Revolutionary Guard had capabilities to assemble fifteen nuclear bombs, with Iranian scientists already at work. Israel estimates that more than ten nuclear scientists were killed in the strikes.

“This was an imminent threat,” the IDF declared. “We acted to remove it.”…

Saudi Arabia publicly condemned the Israeli strikes – but behind the scenes, Riyadh may well be quietly pleased that Israel is doing what many Sunni Arab governments view as a necessary action to contain Iran’s ambitions. Countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt regard Iran as the principal regional threat, particularly in light of its support for Shia militias, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and its nuclear programme. Even those without formal ties to Israel tacitly align on this issue, a shared concern that has underpinned years of covert regional cooperation. One Israeli official even told Israel Hayom the preemptive strike was “more successful than anticipated.”

Overnight, Israel has crossed a threshold. What began in the early hours with sirens and a nation moving to its shelters is now an unprecedented military and geopolitical rupture. The confrontation that long seemed a shadow war is now fully in the open. What began in October 2023 with Palestinian terrorists bursting across Israel’s border in Toyota pickup trucks, armed with RPGs, gasoline, and guns, has transformed into a systematic campaign: the near-elimination of several of Iran’s proxy forces that have threatened Israel for decades; the downfall of the Assad regime in Syria; the crumbling of Hamas in Gaza; the destruction of key military assets including the airport in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen; the degradation of Hezbollah’s operational capabilities; the elimination of many terrorist leaders across the region – and now, this.