Spycraft, infiltration, weapon smuggling: Everything that helped Israel in Operation Rising Lion

Israel-Iran War: Israel's sudden airstrikes on Iran's crucial nuclear and military sites on Friday (June 13) was not just any attack - it was the result of years of planning, intelligence collection, infiltration into Iran and factors like Mossad. Israel's Operation Rising Lion was the result of an intense spycraft that helped Israel damage Iran's defence to an extent, three top officials from the Israeli government told the New York Times.

The operation was initiated by smuggling weapons into Iran by Israeli operatives and deploying drones in the region, the officials said.

'With the Strength of a Lion'

Before launching Operation Rising Lion and killing top Iranian officials, the Netanyahu government tracked the movements of those scientists and officials.

This was done jointly by the Israeli military intelligence and the Mossad foreign intelligence service. The Israeli teams used the code name - “With the Strength of a Lion" - one of the officials told the American news agency.

The officials, who talked to the agency on the condition of anonymity, said they do not know when and how the weapons were smuggled into Iran.

Israel's aerial attack on Iran

Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes on Iran under its Operation Rising Lion on Friday (June 13). Dozens of Israeli Israeli jets targeted Iran's nuclear and military sites. Major General Hossein Salami, chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed in the Israeli strikes along with multiple other key officials. The Iranian media called the strikes a "direct assassination by Zionist forces."

Israel targets Iran's crucial nuke site.

During Operation Rising Lion, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted multiple crucial sites in Iran, among them was the sprawling Natanz complex - Iran's main uranium enrichment facility. The complex spanned approximately 100,000 square metres in Isfahan Province. It was partially buried beneath the desert plains of central Iran. The site was at the centre of Western and Israeli concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Khamenei warns 'armed forces are ready'

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Saturday (June 14) that his country's armed forces were ready against Israel after the Netanyahu government launched a barrage of airstrikes on the Islamic nation under Operation Rising Lion.

Taking to the social media platform X, Khamenei wrote, "The Zionist regime has made a big mistake, a grave error, and committed a reckless act. By God's grace, the consequences of this will bring that regime to ruin."

"The Iranian nation won't permit the blood of its valued martyrs to go unavenged, nor will it ignore the violation of its airspace," he added.