Looking ahead, the IDF warned that Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities could take months or even longer to repair.

After such a devastating attack from Israel, Iran’s leaders see no choice but to fight back. Any sign of weakness would severely undermine the regime’s legitimacy at home.

In recent months, however, Israel talked about a unique window of opportunity to strike Iranian facilities: Iran’s air defences had been damaged by Israeli attacks last year and its proxies in the region, part of what Tehran calls the Axis of Resistance, had been degraded, including Hezbollah.

With the launch of Operation ‘Rising Lion’, Israel appears to have sought to take advantage of a narrow window of opportunity. Through its own actions over the last 18

Iran launched three retaliatory waves of missiles at targets in Israel on June 13, as Israelis rode out the attacks in bomb shelters and world leaders discussed the deepening conflict.

The strikes came after the Israeli military said it had carried out fresh strikes on Iran nuclear infrastructure sites.