Operation Rising Lion

Operation Rising Lion was the Israeli air campaign that launched the Twelve-Day War on 13 June 2025. More than 200 fighter jets struck in five coordinated waves, targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure, senior IRGC leadership, and air-defence systems. At Natanz, Israeli munitions destroyed the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant and struck the underground cascade halls with earth-penetrating weapons; IAEA Director General Grossi described the underground strikes as "seriously damaging." At Esfahan, a first wave on 14 June destroyed the enriched uranium metal conversion plant, described by ISIS as a key capability for weapon-grade uranium cores, and struck three further buildings. A second Esfahan wave on 20-21 June damaged six additional facilities.

The strike was publicly announced by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who gave the operation its name. Satellite imagery confirmed three impact craters above Natanz's underground halls consistent with earth-penetrating munitions. IAEA measurements found alpha particles and uranium hexafluoride gas released inside the facility, but no elevated off-site radiation. Rising Lion also struck Fordow on the opening day, though the most significant structural damage there came from the subsequent US Midnight Hammer strike nine days later.

Rising Lion set the strategic frame for the entire Twelve-Day War: it destroyed the surface elements of Iran's enrichment chain and degraded air defences, enabling both the continued Israeli campaign and the US decision to deploy the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator against the deeply buried Fordow and Natanz underground halls. By the time the Trump-brokered Ceasefire was announced on 24 June 2025, the core of Iran's nuclear-enrichment infrastructure had been eliminated.