The State of Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran in the predawn hours of June 13, targeting nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, and killing senior military commanders, nuclear scientists, and academics in what Israeli officials described as the opening salvo of a prolonged military campaign.
Israel’s strikes have killed at least 406 people in Iran and wounded another 654, according to several media outlets. However, Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures, Associated Press reported. The attacks with multiple blasts shook the capital, Tehran, and several cities in a move that observers and analysts say was unprecedented.
In response to the unprovoked aggression, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei delivered a staunch warning to Israel. “The Zionist regime has committed a crime in our dear country today at dawn with its satanic, bloodstained hands,” said Ayatollah Khamenei, reported Tasnim News Agency.
Israel had revealed its “malicious nature” by targeting residential areas, he continued. “With this crime, the Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see,” warned Ayatollah Khamenei.
After sending staunch warnings to forthcoming response at a time of their choosing, Iran’s answer began 18 hours later with a barrage of missiles raining down into Tel Aviv. The United Nations Security Council convened an emergency meeting on June 13 in direct response to Israel’s airstrikes
Despite global calls for de-escalation, the longtime foes are engaging in fire for fire with no end in sight, sending the region into a sea of uncertainty and probable war.
Some view Israel’s attack as a major escalation that could open the floodgates of war, potentially drawing in other nations, particularly the United States. For years, U.S. foreign policy, combined with instigation from Israel, advanced a political atmosphere to justify attacking Iran.
Multiple administrations worked to influence the international community and particularly the Muslim world to isolate the Islamic Republic.
Growing condemnation
Growing condemnation of Israel for its decades-long winds of injustice backed by America is a whirlwind, sown by errant policy. Global condemnation of Israel’s attack on Iran was swift, with several countries weighing in.
“It is evident that West Jerusalem has made a deliberate decision to further escalate the situation and raise stakes,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement on its website.
“We have warned on numerous occasions about the destabilizing effects of military ventures that threaten peace and security in the region. The full responsibility for the consequences of these provocative acts lies with the Israeli leadership,” said the statement.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China firmly opposes any violations of Iran’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, as well as actions that “escalate the tension” reported the South China Morning Post. “The sudden escalation in the region benefits no one,”
Mr. Lin said. “China calls on all parties to take actions conducive to promoting regional peace and stability, while avoiding further deterioration of the situation.” He added that China was prepared to play a constructive role in de-escalating the crisis.
Qatar expressed strong denunciation of Israel’s targeting the territory of the sisterly Islamic Republic of Iran, considering it a “flagrant violation” of Iran’s sovereignty and a “clear breach of the rules and principles” of international law, in a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Senate of Pakistan unanimously passed a Resolution in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Israel’s attack is blatant violation of the fundamental principles of the UN and all international norms; the resolution read in part. “It has put peace and security in the region and beyond in grave danger,” said the resolution.
“This act represents a blatant violation of the fundamental principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” said Iraqi leader Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the heinous Israeli attacks against the brotherly Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on X.
“This enemy adheres to no logic or laws and knows only the language of killing, fire, and destruction,” the group Hezbollah said in a statement.
The U.S. has aircraft carriers in the Middle East to back Israel, replete with fighter planes and thousands of soldiers. America maintains the force is also to protect U.S. bases.
“America wants everyone to believe she is right in her wicked dealings with the people of earth. With her might of arms commanding the high seas and the land around the globe, she wishes everyone to think she is right in building up arms and forts in foreign countries and on their shores a bristling, deadly navy with guns trained on foreign peoples’ towns and cities, as a dare without any cause.
This only shows her pride and daring aggressive acts against people who would like to be at peace,” wrote the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in Chapter 33 of his monumental book, “The Fall of America.”
Calls for restraint
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “maximum restraint” to avoid “descent into deeper conflict.”
“The secretary-general condemns any military escalation in the Middle East,” Guterres’s spokesperson Farhan Haq said. “He is particularly concerned by Israeli attacks on nuclear installations in Iran.”
“This development is deeply concerning … I reiterate that any military action that jeopardizes the safety and security of nuclear facilities risks grave consequences for the people of Iran, the region, and beyond,” said Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a statement.
For decades, Israel has threatened an attack on Iran and instigated America to engage Iran militarily. While Israel committed the deadly attacks, Washington denied any participation.
The same week of the attack, America began removing its diplomats from neighboring Iraq and non-essential personnel from across the region. The aggression comes amid mounting hostilities in the region, fueled by warmongering rhetoric by Israeli officials. Observers say the nature of the attack on nuclear facilities and their scientists should be cause for alarm.
Irony and hypocrisy about nuclear weapons
Israel is the only country in the region possessing nuclear weapons, say observers. The controversy over Iran developing nuclear power is wrought with hypocrisy. The U.S. is a top nuclear power, and Israel practices a policy of “nuclear ambiguity” or “deliberate ambiguity” while never officially confirming or denying possessing nuclear weapons.
Despite that, numerous reports and expert analyses estimate that Israel has 80 to 400 nuclear warheads.
The country is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has never conducted or openly acknowledged nuclear tests. Some argue Israel’s ambiguous policy allows it to dodge international scrutiny of its program. The treaty is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promote disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has not found conclusive evidence that Iran is currently building nuclear weapons.
According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Israel spent more than $1 billion on its nuclear weapons program in 2024.
While the U.S. and Israel are bent on Iran’s destruction, that could trigger a wider war known scripturally as the War of Armageddon, and the posture has kept the three nations on the precipice of war.