As soon as a cease-fire ending a 12-day offensive on Iran took effect in June last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory, saying the Israeli strikes had sent Tehran’s nuclear program into “oblivion”.
Nearly nine months later, Iran is facing another attack, with Israel and the United States both launching attacks and saying they want regime change in Tehran in a major escalation that could destabilize the entire Middle East.
Saturday’s attack comes amid talks with the US over Iran’s nuclear program. At the end of the third round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Thursday, Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, acting as mediator, announced that “significant progress” had been made and said technical talks were expected to resume on Monday.
“Iran has agreed to give up its stockpile of enriched material — allowing for zero accumulation and full inspection by the IAEA of its nuclear program,” CBS News reported, citing Albusaidi. “With zero storage, it would be impossible to build a bomb, regardless of the level of enrichment,” he added, according to CBS.
Tehran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has repeatedly said its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes and does not intend to build nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu is calling for military action to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying Tehran’s nuclear facilities are an existential threat to Israel.
US and Israeli officials said the strikes on Saturday targeted Iranian officials, missile storage and launch sites and Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iranian media reported attacks on the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defense, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Parchin military complex.
Iran responded with attacks on Israel, on bases used by the US military throughout the Gulf region, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Negotiations under threat
Netanyahu, the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, has long built his career around the mission of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In 2015, then-US President Barack Obama vehemently opposed a nuclear deal with Western allies known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program rather than easing sanctions on Tehran.
Trump officially withdrew from the deal in 2018, calling it a terrible deal, and reimposed sanctions on Tehran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to force Iran to renegotiate the accord.
After Trump won his second term in office, Netanyahu saw an opportunity to move against Tehran. After attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, Netanyahu, with a green light from the United States, launched his attack on Iran on June 13, 2025, while Israel engaged in a genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. The US briefly joined the campaign, bombing several nuclear facilities.
Although Trump declared that the US strikes had destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities, he demanded that Iran dismantle its nuclear program completely, a demand Tehran rejected.
The US has stockpiled its largest military arsenal in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford.
While Trump has spoken of the need to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu has agreed to negotiate with Tehran on its missile capabilities, including reducing its range to a “300-kilometer (185-mile) red line.”
Netanyahu urged the United States to force Tehran to stop supporting proxy allies in the Middle East, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
While Israel claimed to have emerged from the 12-day war in June with a strategic victory, Iranian missiles inflicted heavy damage on Israeli cities. 33 people were killed in the attack, compared to more than 600 Iranians, and more than 3,000 were hospitalized.
what next
Although it is clear that Iran’s military capabilities do not compare with those of the United States and Israel, it is too early to predict how this confrontation will end.
US officials are wary of being drawn into a protracted conflict in the Middle East, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which Trump has criticized as a “disastrous mistake”, while Iranian officials have said the US would be reprimanded if it attacked.
The Washington Post reported that the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Gen. Dan Cain of the potential risks of attacking Iran, including becoming embroiled in a protracted conflict and the possibility of US casualties.
On Thursday, Vice President J.D. Vance was quoted by the Washington Post as saying that US attacks on Iran would leave the United States “no chance” of engaging in a years-long, drawn-out war.
“The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle East war for years with no end in sight — there’s no chance of that happening,” Vance said Thursday, according to the outlet.
(tags to translate)Editorial
