Inside the clandestine Israeli operation to kneecap Iran

Israel planned its sophisticated wave of airstrikes targeting Iran and its nuclear program on Thursday night under a veil of secrecy for several months, according to multiple reports.

The audacious attack is believed to have largely decapitated Iranian leadership, damaged Iranian nuclear sites, eliminated key nuclear scientists, and destroyed air defense assets in one fell swoop, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying strikes will continue for “as long as it takes” to completely neutralize Iranian nuclear capabilities. The attack, named “Operation Rising Lion,” was launched after talks between the U.S. and Iran to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program did not bear fruit, with Israel and the U.S. reportedly laying the groundwork for the strike through careful diplomacy and secret preparations.

“Israel has again made military history with a complex attack including special forces deep inside Iran, drones, and air-launched strikes,” Brent Sadler, senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This comprehensive attack has decapitated much of Iran’s senior military leadership, degraded its ballistic missile arsenal, and, of course, seriously destroyed parts of Iran’s nuclear capacity.”

“All told, this is just day one of what will likely be a long air campaign to ensure the best outcomes. U.S. forces remain vigilant and, if attacked, expect a swift U.S. response,” Sadler told the DCNF.

Before the attack took place, Israel and the U.S. reportedly coordinated to maintain strategic ambiguity on whether or not a strike would occur.

Public-facing U.S. officials — including President Donald Trump — repeatedly suggested that they opposed any attack from Israel as they sought a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, two Israeli officials told Axios on Friday. The goal of these statements reportedly was to ensure that Iran would not move or hide any targets in anticipation of an Israeli attack.

“We had a clear U.S. green light,” one Israeli official told Axios.

Netanyahu briefed his aides to tell the media that Trump had tried to talk the prime minister out of a strike against Iran in a Monday phone call, but in reality, the call was used to coordinate the strikes, according to Axios.

“It’s clear the earlier U.S. messaging was part of a coordinated deception,” Simone Ledeen, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East during President Donald Trump’s first term, told the DCNF. “Public opposition from President Trump and his administration lulled Iran into letting its guard down, keeping key assets in place. That kind of deception only works when both governments are aligned behind the scenes, as was clearly the case.”

Then, when Iran was vulnerable under the feigned pretenses of diplomacy, Israel took advantage.

First, Israeli Mossad assets within Iran reportedly used drones and missiles smuggled in to cripple air defenses while also targeting key Iranian officials, paving a way for Israeli jets to approach their targets, according to The Times of Israel. The Mossad reportedly managed to set up a drone base inside Iranian territory undetected to help carry out the attacks when the time came.

Israel previously attacked Iran in 2024 in reaction to an Iranian attack, which put a significant strain on Tehran’s air defense capabilities.

Iranian proxies and allies such as Hezbollah and Hamas have also been severely weakened in the time since the October 7 attacks; the two terrorist organizations have long been key assets for Iran to pressure Israel, but their weakened condition has made the two proxies far less threatening to Israel in their capacity to immediately attack the Jewish state. So far, Iran has reportedly sent around 100 weaponized drones to strike Israel in retaliation for the Thursday strikes.

Around 200 Israeli Air Force jets were involved in the strikes, according to CNN. The covert smuggling of weapons into Iran bears strong resemblance to Ukraine’s strike on Russian bomber assets, which utilized a similar tactic to cripple one arm of the Kremlin’s nuclear triad.

Notably, Israel reportedly killed IRGC commander-in-chief Hossein Salami in the strikes targeting Iranian leadership, according to Iranian state media reports reviewed by Reuters. Numerous other high-ranking Iranian military leaders were also reportedly eliminated, along with top nuclear scientists working on the Iranian program.

“Israel’s strikes are targeting the heart of Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure,” Ledeen told the DCNF. “The success of leadership decapitation efforts has been extraordinary. Add to that the revelation of a secret Israeli drone base inside Iran, and it’s clear this operation was meticulously prepared. Iran’s ability to command, retaliate, or protect its nuclear program is unraveling in real time. At this point, the regime is largely powerless to respond in any meaningful way.”

The U.S. has not confirmed any reports of coordination with Israel on the strikes, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Israel acted “unilaterally,” and that the U.S. is primarily concerned with protecting American assets in the Middle East.

Iran has since called off further negotiations over its nuclear program with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, officials announced on state television Friday. Trump still offered Iran a way out in negotiating a deal, telling Fox News Thursday night that he is still holding out for talks despite deaths among leadership.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back,” Trump told Fox News.

The White House and the IDF did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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