--- title: "Operation Rising Lion: Israel’s air campaign and command strikes" description: "Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025, with 200 fighter jets striking more than 100 targets. The opening wave hit nuclear and military sites, air defenses and senior commanders in Iran." url: "https://hasbara.co.il/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/operation-rising-lion-inside-israel-s-air-campaign" type: "resource-page" locale: "en" categories: ["The 12-Day War: US-Israel Strikes on Iran's Nuclear Sites 2025"] --- # Operation Rising Lion: Israel’s air campaign and command strikes *Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025, with 200 fighter jets striking more than 100 targets. The opening wave hit nuclear and military sites, air defenses and senior commanders in Iran.* Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025, with a coordinated air campaign against Iran’s nuclear-related infrastructure, missile forces, air defenses and military leadership. The IDF said 200 fighter jets dropped more than 330 munitions on over 100 targets in the opening night, including senior commanders and leaders of Iran’s nuclear program. ## What the opening wave hit The campaign began with strikes across several Iranian regions. The IDF identified the Natanz uranium-enrichment complex and Iran’s western air-defense network among its early targets. It also said aircraft struck ballistic-missile sites and launchers aimed at Israel. The June 13 briefing described a synchronized operation involving targets linked to both Iran’s military and nuclear program; see the [IDF’s account of the opening strikes](https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/israel-at-war/briefings-by-idf-spokesperson-bg-effie-defrin/june-25-press-briefings/press-briefing-by-idf-spokesperson-bg-effie-defrin-june-13-2025/). The first attack also killed three of Iran’s most senior military leaders, according to Israel: Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Hossein Salami, and emergency-command head Gholam Ali Rashid. The IDF said these deaths occurred in the opening wave. Other senior officers were killed later, including wartime chief of staff Ali Shadmani, whom the IDF announced it had struck on June 17. The [IDF announcement](https://www.idf.il/299317) identified Shadmani as the regime’s wartime chief of staff. The [campaign’s reported casualty and command figures](https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-israel-iran-war-by-the-numbers-after-12-days-of-fighting/) distinguish the first-night losses from later strikes. ## How the campaign developed Israel continued attacking nuclear infrastructure, missile production and launch capacity, command sites, and air defenses during the 12-day campaign. The IDF said its aircraft operated over Iranian territory and targeted launchers to reduce attacks on Israeli civilians. The military also reported that Iran launched more than 100 unmanned aircraft toward Israel during the opening hours; Israeli defenses engaged them. These are IDF-reported operational figures, not an independent assessment of every target’s damage. The attacks on Iran and the later US mission were separate operations. Washington said on June 12 that Israel had acted unilaterally; the United States then carried out its own strike on June 21–22 under Operation Midnight Hammer. US forces attacked Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan with different aircraft and weapons. For the US mission and its damage assessment, see [Operation Midnight Hammer](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/operation-midnight-hammer-us-strikes-and-damage-assessments). ## Command losses and their limits The death of Bagheri, Salami and Rashid removed the top officers then heading Iran’s armed forces, IRGC and emergency command. Israel also reported killing other senior commanders in subsequent days. Those deaths show the scale of the opening attack on Iran’s command structure; they do not, by themselves, prove that Iran’s military or its ties to armed proxies ceased to function. A separate IDF account says nine nuclear scientists were killed in the opening strikes; the names and attributed details are covered in [the scientist-targeting page](https://hasbara.co.il/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/operation-narnia-decapitating-iran-s-nuclear-brain-trust). ## Pages - [Iran’s nuclear program and the June 2025 IAEA finding](/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/iran-s-2025-nuclear-escalation-and-the-iaea-resolution.md) - [Mossad operations and the targeting of Iran’s nuclear scientists](/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/operation-narnia-decapitating-iran-s-nuclear-brain-trust.md) - [Operation Midnight Hammer: US strikes and damage assessments](/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/joint-strike-neutralizes-iran-s-hardened-nuclear-facilities.md) - [Cyberattacks on Bank Sepah and Nobitex](/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/cyber-warfare-targeting-bank-sepah-and-nobitex-exchange.md) - [Iranian missile attacks, Israel’s defenses and civilian protection](/resources/the-12-day-war-us-israel-strikes-on-irans-nuclear-sites-2025/iranian-missile-assaults-and-israel-s-civil-defense-shield.md) ## Sources - [idf.il](https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/israel-at-war/briefings-by-idf-spokesperson-bg-effie-defrin/june-25-press-briefings/press-briefing-by-idf-spokesperson-bg-effie-defrin-june-13-2025/) - [idf.il](https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/june-25-pr/the-announcement-by-the-chief-of-the-general-staff-ltg-eyal-zamir/) - [idf.il](https://www.idf.il/299317) - [timesofisrael.com](https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-israel-iran-war-by-the-numbers-after-12-days-of-fighting/) - [whitehouse.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/06/statement-from-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio/)