Israel attack Iran, launching one of the most aggressive military actions in recent regional history. Under the codename “Operation Rising Lion”, Israel, with clear logistical and intelligence backing from the United States, targeted over 100 strategic sites in Iran — including air defense systems, nuclear research centers, and high-ranking military officials’ residences.
What Israel frames as “self-defense” is, in effect, a declaration of regional dominance. The operation is not merely a response to drone provocations. It is part of a decades-long Israeli-American strategy to curb Iranian sovereignty, echoing the dispossession of Palestinians now being replayed on a wider map. The attack come mere weeks after Iran leaked internal Israeli security documents detailing covert operations and nuclear weaponization programs. In a just world, these revelations would have triggered international investigations. Instead, they became Israel’s pretext for war.
A Calculated and Coordinated Attack
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that over 200 aircraft took part in Thursday night’s attack. The scope was staggering: facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Mashhad were hit. Iranian state television acknowledged extensive damage and the deaths of multiple high-ranking officials, including IRGC Commander Hossein Salami and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri. Israeli media, citing military intelligence, claimed success in disrupting what it called Iran’s “nuclear threshold capabilities,” according to Reuters.
While the Israeli narrative focuses on national security, the reality on the ground reflects a deliberate attempt to cripple Iran’s infrastructure, sow political chaos, and provoke a broader war in the Gulf — one that benefits US geopolitical interests.
Drones Over the Occupier’s Skies
Within hours, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded with a coordinated drone barrage. More than 100 unmanned aerial vehicles were launched toward Israeli airspace. Israel claims most were intercepted. Yet the point was made: Tehran will not absorb attacks in silence.
The Leaked Israeli Documents: The West’s Deafening Silence
In April, Iran revealed thousands of classified Israeli military files obtained through cyber-espionage. The documents confirmed what many global analysts long suspected: Israel has been operating secret nuclear sites in defiance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, with quiet acquiescence from the United States and its European allies.
According to CBS News, Instead of demanding accountability, Western capitals — led by Washington — dismissed the revelations. The US National Security Council even called the leaks “a distraction.” European media largely ignored them. This deafening silence only confirms what the Global South has long argued: that the rules-based international order applies to everyone — except US allies.
Humanitarian Cost and Regional Fallout
Footage aired on arebic Al Mayadeen showed families fleeing residential areas in northern Tehran amid bombings. At least 53 civilians were reported injured. Children wept in underground shelters as sirens blared across the capital. The US-enabled Israeli campaign makes a mockery of humanitarian law.
This is not the first time Israel has carried out such attacks in vengeance of classified Israeli military files leaks. From Gaza to Beirut, civilian infrastructure has repeatedly been targeted under the guise of anti-terrorism. But this time, the stakes are global.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for immediate cessation of hostilities and access to affected zones. As of this writing, no Western nation has condemned the Israeli attack’s civilian toll.
The US Role: Not a Bystander, But an Enabler
While the Biden administration (and now President Trump’s interim team) denies involvement, reports from Reuters indicate that American satellites provided intelligence support. US Air Force radar surveillance from Al Udeid Base in Qatar reportedly coordinated data relays during the initial phase of the attack.
Former CIA analyst Edward Kirsch, now a whistleblower, revealed to independent outlet Intercept that “Washington signed off on every critical target shared with Tel Aviv.”
If proven, this would place the US in direct violation of the UN Charter’s prohibition against unprovoked military aggression.
According to Reuters, The Israeli military said it had been forced to act by new intelligence information showing that Iran was “approaching the point of no return” in the development of a nuclear weapon.
But a source familiar with US intelligence reports said there had been no recent change in the US assessment that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and that Khamenei had not authorised a resumption of the nuclear weapons programme that was shut in 2003.
Arab Inaction: A Dangerous Precedent
While Iran endures relentless attacks, large parts of the Arab world remain constrained by diplomatic caution. Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE—consistent supporters of the Palestinian cause—have called for restraint and de-escalation. Yet the absence of a unified and forceful regional response risks reinforcing the perception that Israel, backed by the US, can attack any Muslim nation that resists its agenda without consequence.
Political analysts in Doha and Beirut warn that the Arab world has already crossed a red line. Palestine is not a future target—it is a nation already destroyed by continuous Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure. The International Court of Justice has issued arrest warrants implicating Israeli leaders in war crimes, yet Western complicity remains intact. If Iran is subdued next, southern Lebanon or Iraq could follow. There is no limit to the territorial ambitions of this axis of aggression unless it is forcefully opposed.
The Next Front: Proxy Escalations?
Hezbollah in Lebanon has elevated its alert status, preparing for what it calls an unavoidable clash with Israeli forces. Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have declared their readiness for cross-border retaliation. Yemen’s Ansar Allah movement condemned the Israeli attacks as deliberate war crimes carried out with the full blessing and military backing of the United States.
This is no longer a regional standoff—it is the result of reckless US-Israeli militarism that has plunged the entire Middle East into turmoil. The Israel, emboldened by decades of American cover and impunity, has turned the region into a war laboratory. Washington, ever the architect of destruction under the guise of diplomacy, continues to bankroll and enable these provocations. As resistance grows across Arab capitals, the message is clear: the era of silent submission to American-sponsored Israeli aggression may be coming to an end.
According to Saba, Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Hossein Salami said: “Our hostility toward America is based on ideological foundations and is in line with the fight against imperialism. It is a continuation of the steadfastness and epics achieved during the Sacred Defense period.”
The Crisis of the Western Moral Order
Israel has now opened a new warfront. The United States has once again proven that its foreign policy is driven not by principle, but by proxy. The West’s selective outrage — silent on Israel’s aggressions, loud on others — has shattered its credibility.
If the Arab world does not unite now, the consequences will echo beyond Tehran. Just as Gaza became a humanitarian graveyard under the world’s watch, Iran may soon face the same fate.
And when it does, historians will not just blame the aggressors. They will also blame the silent.
