Operation Red Wedding was designed to crush Iran’s military leadership in one fell swoop, denying them the ability to coordinate a retaliatory strike. Simultaneously, Israeli jets and drones were tasked with dismantling missile launchers and nuclear sites to cripple Iran’s future capabilities.
In a covert strike reminiscent of the infamous “Red Wedding” from Game of Thrones, Israeli military generals executed a meticulously planned operation on June 13th to eliminate Iran’s top military commanders. Running parallel was Operation Narnia, a deadly mission that successfully assassinated nine of Iran’s most prominent nuclear scientists – right at their homes in Tehran.
These twin operations have now cemented Israel’s standing as the undisputed military powerhouse in the region.
“When we started to plan this thing in detail, it was very difficult to know that this would work,” said Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, head of the Israeli military Operations Directorate and a key architect of the assault, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The groundwork for this mission wasn’t laid overnight. It dates back to the mid-1990s when Israeli intelligence first flagged Iran’s clandestine efforts to develop nuclear weapons. What started with a vast web of spies evolved into a sabotage campaign – two bombings at enrichment facilities, and a string of targeted assassinations of Iranian scientists. But as Iran’s nuclear ambitions persisted, Israel concluded that mere sabotage wasn’t enough; the entire program had to be dismantled.
Several times, Israel came close to launching a full-scale attack. Yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was repeatedly overruled by his own cabinet and security chiefs-fearing a direct war with Iran could rupture ties with the US, which then preferred diplomacy over military strikes.
Everything changed after Hamas’s October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. In the two years that followed, Israel decimated Hamas and significantly weakened Hezbollah. Meanwhile, opposition forces toppled Syria’s Iran-backed government, replacing it with an anti-Iran regime-opening up Syrian airspace for Israeli jets.
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