Why Iran, Israel are trading strikes: Middle East conflict explained

India Today

10 hours ago

In a major escalation against archrival Iran, Israel launched a wave of strikes against Tehran's military and major critical establishments early on Friday, including its nuclear facilities and ballistic missile factories. Following that, Iran targeted key Israeli cities on Saturday, prompting the Jewish state to launch a barrage of missiles on Israel on Sunday. At least 60 people were killed in Tehran.advertisementThe head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, confirmed to the UNSC that Israel's airstrikes have destroyed Iran's above-ground pilot enrichment facility at the Natanz nuclear site.Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz houses the country's main uranium enrichment site, which has been a key target for Israel for years. While Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes, Israel and its ally, the United States, have long opposed it, citing concerns that Iran is close to enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels.This exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel comes even as the US and Shia nation were engaged in talks over Tehran's nuclear program. These developments have pushed West Asia into a dangerous cycle of violence, and a potential regional war.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said its Operation Rising Lion was aimed at dismantling Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.advertisement"Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Netanyahu said on Friday, stressing that Iran's nuclear and ballistic ambitions posed an "existential danger" to the Jewish state.NETANYAHU INVOKES HOLOCAUST IN JUSTIFYING STRIKE ON IRANThe Israeli PM accused Iran of producing "enough highly-enriched uranium for nine nuclear bombs" and taking unprecedented steps toward weaponisation. Invoking the Holocaust of the 1930s-40s, Netanyahu said the operation was a pre-emptive measure."Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime," he said.Netanyahu asserted that history had taught Israel to act before danger fully materialises, declaring, "Never again is now".Analysts believe that Netanyahu has finally acted on his long-standing warnings against Iran — that many within the Iranian leadership had dismissed as rhetorical posturing. After nearly twenty years of sounding the alarm and pressing the international community to intervene, Netanyahu has now chosen to take matters into his own hands, going into a war with Iran.A LOOK AT IRAN-ISRAEL CONFLICTadvertisementIt is important to note that throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Iran, as part of its anti-Israel strategy, waged proxy wars against Israel through non-state militant groups such as Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the Houthis.Relations between the two countries primarily deteriorated after Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, adopted an explicitly anti-Zionist stance following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, branding Israel an illegitimate occupier and advocating for its destruction.After the formation of Israel in 1948, its Arab neighbours, including Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, opposed its existence and launched multiple wars to challenge its legitimacy. While in recent years many Arab states have softened their stance and even normalised ties with Israel, Iran remains staunchly opposed to its existence and continues to support anti-Israel groups.Over the years, Israel has responded to these threats by carrying out targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and top military commanders, a pattern it followed again in Friday's strikes.Over the decades, Israel also conducted repeated military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and numerous military targets in Syria, with the key objective of preventing Iran from re-establishing its strategic foothold in the region.advertisementHowever, this is the first time that Israel has launched an indefinite military offensive against Iran with an official declaration by the prime minister.According to veteran journalist Crispian Balmer, Netanyahu's decision to launch a unilateral strike on Iran may be driven by a desire to cement his place in history, a subject he is known to have a keen interest in.Notably, Netanyahu concluded his Friday address by saying, "Generations from now, history will record that our generation stood its ground, acted in time, and secured our common future. May God bless Israel. May God bless the forces of civilisation everywhere."NETANYAHU THANKS TRUMP; US PREZ SAYS 'I KNEW ABOUT ATTACKS'On Friday, Netanyahu also thanked US President Donald Trump for his leadership in confronting Iran's nuclear weapons program. Incidentally, speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump had warned that there was a "chance of massive conflict" in West Asia, confirming that an Israeli attack on Iran is "possible".Just a day prior to the strikes on Iran, the US State Department and Department of Defence reportedly began coordinating the departure of non-essential personnel from various sites across West Asia.Soon after Israeli strikes, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio released a statement saying Israel had taken "unilateral action" against Iran, warning Tehran to not retaliate against the US. However, a few hours later, speaking to Fox News, Trump said he was aware of the Israeli plan to attack Iran beforehand, but US was not involved in the attack.advertisementSpeaking to Fox News, Trump also said, "Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see..."Later, two American officials told news agency Reuters that the US military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel.US'S ROLE IN IRAN-ISRAEL CONFLICTThe United States has consistently opposed Iran's nuclear program, expressing concerns over Tehran's potential to develop weapons-grade uranium. In the Iran-Israel conflict, the US has largely backed Israel diplomatically and militarily, while also engaging Iran in negotiations to curb its nuclear ambitions.The US, like Israel, also views Iran's nuclear ambitions as a major threat to regional and global stability.But at the same time, it is also a key player in diplomacy with Iran. The US was a founding signatory of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under former president Barack Obama, an agreement aimed at curbing Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting sanctions.advertisementBut tensions have prevailed since Washington's unilateral exit from the JCPOA in 2018 under the first Trump administration, followed by the reinstatement of stringent sanctions on Tehran.American sanctions include targeting Iran's oil exports, which is its main source of revenue, prohibitions on global financial systems, and restrictions on foreign aid over its designated status as a "State Sponsor of Terrorism", among others.In retaliation, Iran has reportedly scaled back its commitments under the agreement, resuming uranium enrichment at levels beyond those permitted by the deal.Yet, when Joe Biden came to power in 2021, he again pursued re-engagement with Iran, though he kept the sanctions in place.US-IRAN RESUMED TALKS UNDER TRUMPThree months after Trump came to power again, he made a surprise announcement that the US and Iran were poised to begin direct talks on Tehran's nuclear program, and senior officials met in Oman in April. A month later, Iranian and US negotiators again met in Rome. However, with the ongoing deadlock over uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, the sixth round of negotiations between the two countries has been called off.Tehran has insisted it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. It says its nuclear energy programme is only for peaceful purposes, and maintains that it has the sovereign right to enrich uranium domestically.But both Israel and the US do not buy this reason, and have consistently maintained that Iran must relinquish its enrichment capabilities to prevent the potential weaponisation of its nuclear programme.Now, with several Iranian hardliners dead in the Israeli strikes, including Iran's military chief Mohammad Bagheri and other top commanders, such as Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Trump has issued a stern warning to Tehran to "just do it (agree to the deal)". Trump warned that US makes the most lethal weapons in the world and several of them are with Israel.Now, after Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pledged a "bitter and painful" retaliation against Israel, the situation in West Asia remains uncertain.Must Watch