Situation as of 13 June 2025
ISRAEL LAUNCHES OPERATION RISING LION
Around 03:00 local time Israel sent roughly 200 fighter-bombers across Iraqi air-space to strike “more than 100” targets inside Iran, focusing on the Natanz enrichment plant, ballistic-missile factories in Isfahan and Tabriz, IRGC headquarters in Tehran, and homes of senior officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign would last “as many days as it takes” to remove the nuclear threat.
HIGH-LEVEL CASUALTIES REPORTED
Iranian state media confirm the deaths of IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami, joint-forces chief Gholam Ali Rashid, and nuclear scientists Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani & Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.
An Israeli briefing claims that Chief-of-Staff Mohammad Bagheri was also killed; IRNA denies this.
Tehran’s emergency services list at least 43 civilian fatalities, including children, after residential blocks near Tajrish were hit.
IRAN's FIRST WAVE OF RETALIATION
By mid-morning Iran had fired ≈100 Shahed-136 drones toward Israel; Iron Dome and David’s Sling are intercepting most of them over the Negev.
Israel has declared a nationwide state of emergency and closed Ben Gurion airport; Iran has sealed its own air-space.
REGIONAL & GLOBAL FALL-OUT
Oil briefly spiked 9 % above $102/bbl; Asian equities sold off and gold hit a 14-month high.
The UN secretary-general urged both sides to “show maximum restraint”; Gulf carriers are rerouting over Syrian and Saudi airspace.
President Donald Trump reiterated that the US “did not take part” but would defend Israeli and US personnel if attacked; Sunday’s Oman back-channel nuclear talks are, for now, still on the calendar.