On the night of June 13, 2025, Israel launched an unprecedented military operation against Iran, using more than 200 fighter jets to strike over 100 strategic sites. The attack, dubbed Am Qalavi (Hebrew for "People Like a Lion"), destroyed key nuclear and military facilities, including the uranium enrichment centers in Natanz and Fordow, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases in Tehran, Tabriz, and other cities. According to Iranian sources, three high-ranking military leaders were killed in the strikes: Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC commander Hossein Salami, and Gholam-Ali Rashid, commander of the IRGC's Hatem al-Anbiya unit. Several nuclear scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program were also reported to have been killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an emergency address to the nation that the operation was aimed at preventing a nuclear threat. Israeli sources say the strikes were carefully planned based on intelligence indicating significant progress in Tehran’s nuclear program. Israel has declared a state of emergency, with schools, universities, and businesses closed except for strategic ones, and its airspace closed to civilian flights. Air defense systems, including Iron Dome, have been put on high alert in anticipation of Iranian retaliation.

Iranian authorities confirmed significant losses. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the attack a "terrorist act by the Zionist regime" and promised "severe retribution."