Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities for years – it’s now happening.
A wave of initial strikes across Iran has targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile production and senior Iranian officials including military leaders.
This is not a one-and-done. Israel’s campaign could last days, as could the Iranian response.
The consequences for the region could be massive.
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With another round of US-Iran nuclear talks due to take place in Oman this Sunday, it was expected Israel might wait until then to see the outcome before striking. Instead they’ve acted with an element of surprise.
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Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he was still planning to take a short holiday in the north of Israel over the weekend. That now was clearly a deliberate ruse to distract Iran.
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Israel believes Iran is politically and militarily as weak as it has been for many years. Its proxies around the region have been severely degraded. Hezbollah, in Lebanon, was always supposed to be Iran’s first line of defence and a deterrence against an Israeli attack – the group was all but defeated in a war with Israel last year.
Israel’s strikes on Iran in October 2024 eliminated much of Iran’s air defences, giving the Israeli air force some freedom of movement in Iran’s skies, but Iran has been rebuilding those defences and so Israel’s window to operate was closing.
It is first light in Tehran and the damage from initial strikes is starting to emerge. The sun is starting to come up here in Israel where millions have been sheltering in safe rooms and bunkers for hours.
The world will watch in the coming hours as Israel and Iran now teeter on brink of an all out war.
