As more news trickles out about the Israeli air strikes on Iran’s military leadership and nuclear capabilities, we are starting to get a glimpse into how much planning and effort went into preparations for this strike. And you have to admit, even if you are not a fan of Israel (I am), they are damn good at this war thing.
Everybody was blown away by the masterful planning and execution of Operation Grim Beeper–the decapitation strike against Hezbollah using Israeli-made beepers–but Operation Rising Lion takes things to a whole new level.
The attack was years in the making–not just in planning, but in execution well within Iran’s borders.
The Mossad spy agency reveals footage showing its actions against Iranian air defenses and ballistic missile launchers in Iran this morning.
According to an Israeli official, the Mossad built a secret explosive drone base in Iran for this morning’s operation.
The drones were… pic.twitter.com/JYJWBV82fg
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) June 13, 2025
Israel built a secret drone base in Iran over the years. Not months, but years. You can’t make that up.
Israel spent years preparing for the operation against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, a security official tells The Times of Israel, including building a drone base inside Iran and smuggling precision weapons systems and commandos into the country.
The effort hinged on tight joint planning between the IDF and the Mossad intelligence agency.
According to the official, Mossad agents set up a drone base on Iranian soil near Tehran. The drones were activated overnight, striking surface-to-surface missile launchers aimed at Israel.
In addition, vehicles carrying weapons systems were smuggled into Iran.
These systems took out Iran’s air defenses and gave Israeli planes air supremacy and freedom of action over Iran.
The third covert effort was Mossad commandos deploying precision missiles near anti-aircraft sites in central Iran.
Israel had to know exactly where to strike, when to strike simultaneously, and who was at any particular location at any given time. And they did–succeeding in taking out top IRGC leadership, key nuclear scientists, Iran’s remaining air defense capabilities, and at least some of the country’s drone production facilities.
🔥EVERYONE IN IRAN THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MEETING THIS MORNING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO RESPOND ARE ALL DEAD – Bret McGurk
The Iranian Military Chief of Staff the head of their drone program, the head of their National Security Council, the head of their Revolutionary Guard… pic.twitter.com/6WGuvs9ftH— Johnny St.Pete (@JohnMcCloy) June 13, 2025
Decapitation strikes. Amazing.
On the strikes against IRGC Air Force leadership: Israel tricked the top command of Iran’s air force into a meeting and then kept them there, I’m told by an Israeli security official.
“We did specific activities to help us understand things about them and then used that…
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) June 13, 2025
On the strikes against IRGC Air Force leadership: Israel tricked the top command of Iran’s air force into a meeting and then kept them there, I’m told by an Israeli security official.
“We did specific activities to help us understand things about them and then used that information to make them act in a specific way,” the official said. “We knew this would make them meet, but more importantly we knew how to keep them there.”
On top of everything else, it is a total humiliation for the regime, and it will cost Iran dearly with its own citizens.
If I were in the Iranian government, I would not have let Israel build a secret drone base in my country. Just my opinion, YMMV.
— Megan McArdle (@asymmetricinfo) June 13, 2025
Just as impressive is the deception campaign Israel and the United States coordinated, which, it sure looks like, has been in the works for months. Trump’s negotiation strategy gave Iran an out, but also a deadline, setting up the timeline. The US and Iran engaged in several rounds of negotiations, with Trump ostentatiously holding Netanyahu’s leash–insisting he not strike during negotiations.
This is how precise Israel’s intelligence and execution is: pinpointed attack eliminating head of IRGC directly in his apartment, nearly 2,000 kilometers away from Israel. pic.twitter.com/M8rmx8ddeM
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) June 13, 2025
IRGC Commander Hossein Salami promised the next clash with Israel would be “far more crushing and destructive.”
He wasn’t wrong.
He was eliminated less than 24 hours later. pic.twitter.com/kMldkg2t7i— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) June 13, 2025
But as the deadline approached, Trump and Netanyahu engaged in a deception operation that apparently convinced Iran that Israel would not strike once the deadline was passed, and it worked. Trump was in on it.
The next attacks will be even MORE brutal, Trump warns Iran after Israel wiped out its military leadership and hit nuclear sites from secret drone base https://t.co/OqPIrdKd7t
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) June 13, 2025
Though the US initially sought to distance itself from the attack, Trump has now told Iran: ‘There is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end.’
He said in a post to Truth Social: ‘I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.
‘I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it.
‘Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!
The word is that Trump and Netanyahu’s recent talks were not about convincing Israel to hold back, but rather to coordinate the final deception campaign. It seems unlikely that the US was not sharing real-time intelligence for the attack, although US officials are making it clear that US military assets were not used to strike Iran directly. This is very similar to our policy in Ukraine, where assistance is given for the Ukrainian military to strike Russian troops and Russia itself, but the Western countries can claim clean hands.
Axios is reporting that Netanyahu and Trump pulled off a great deception as part of Israel’s preparation to strike Iran. If true, this would go down in history books. pic.twitter.com/R4L5azriC8
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) June 13, 2025
The coordination went deeper, though. While it is unlikely that Arab nations in the region knew the time and scope of Israeli attacks, they were all prepared to help Israel beat back any Iranian counterstrike, and they did. While many of them are making noises about how unhappy they are about the Israeli attacks on Iran, they are also helping Israel defend itself against retaliation.
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates allowed Israel to use their airspace and/or defended Israel against Iranian drone attacks last night. That also suggests Russia was likely OK with the Israeli strike and China at least knew about it.
— Pino Americano (@PinoAmericano) June 13, 2025
So far, around 100 Iranian drones have been launched against Israel, and none have hit anything important.
After Drones were intercepted in Saudi Arabia…Now Sirenes can be here in Jordan.
Remember. First, Jordan closed its Air Space, then again opened it after Iran launched more than 100 Drones towards Israel.
Israel, Operation Rising Lion Tehran Iranpic.twitter.com/4MxHVvDRkN
— Anmol (@anmol_kaundilya) June 13, 2025
Arab countries are no more interested in Iran having a nuclear weapon than Israel is, and they see the current Iranian regime as a mortal enemy.
This level of coordination is extraordinary, making Operation Spider Web look tame by comparison. I was pretty amazed at Ukraine’s ability to strike from within Russia–it was a tactical masterstroke–but Israel shows the world how it is done.
