It is crucial to thoroughly evaluate the Israeli military strikes on both civilian and military sites in Iran at this pivotal moment for the sake of global peace and security.
According to CNN reports from June 13, 2025, an Israeli airstrike resulted in the deaths of several high-ranking officials, including the leader of the covert Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the head of Iran’s armed forces, a close assistant to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the IRGC’s Air Force personnel.
In response, Israel has closed its airspace, advised its citizens to remain indoors, and moved key officers to secure locations,in preparation for potential retaliatory responses from Iran. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that Israel’s strikes on Iran were conducted independently, denying any involvement from the United States. His statement stands in contrast to President Trump’s post on Truth Social, which framed the strikes as a tactic to compel Iran into signing the nuclear agreement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that ‘Operation Rising Lion’ was executed to ensure Israel’s survival, stating that Israel cannot let Iran acquire nuclear weapons. Conversely, some security analysts argue that the attacks on Iran may be part of Netanyahu’s strategy to extend his time in office, so he can evade facing corruption charges and accusations related to crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
From a critical perspective, it is essential to highlight the considerable strategic missteps made by all parties involved in the negotiations surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly by the United States during President Trump’s first administration. This includes the United States’ exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on May 8, 2018.
The JCPOA was established during former President Barack Obama’s tenure in July 2015, entailing the U.S. lifting a majority of sanctions against Iran in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit its nuclear activities. The agreement required Iran to reduce its uranium enrichment and permitted international inspectors to access its nuclear sites. The deal was officially endorsed by the UN Security Council in 2015 and became effective in 2016.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faces accusations of bias and of linking supervised nuclear sites to Israel, a nation that is not a party to the IAEA and possesses unsupervised nuclear weapons.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad BagherGhalibafcriticised the anti-Iran resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors on June 12, 2025, referring to it as “biased” and indicating that collaboration with the agency leads to negative outcomes.
This reaction is expected to be discussed during the next round of negotiations,on June 15, 2025, which has been threatened by the Israeli attacks on Iran.This may lead Iran to accelerate its nuclear programme, as there is serious evidence that Israel destroyed all of Iran’s underground nuclear sites.
Iranian officials have made a strategic error by publicly claiming they could acquire nuclear weapons within a week if they choose. It is crucial to emphasise that while Iran is a signatory to the IAEA, Israel maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity, effectively maintaining a game of uncertainty regarding its nuclear arsenal, while the United States remains a nuclear power with veto power.
Israel lacks the capacity to eliminate Iran’s deep underground nuclear sites independently; it requires support from the U.S., particularly with assets like the Northrop B-2 Spirit, multiple attacks, and other logistics support to conduct successful operations in Iran.
From the point of analysis,the United States has no interest in going to war with Iran, given the presence of approximately 90,000 U.S.personnel and various assets within Iran’s reach. Additionally, Iran has the ability to disrupt oil supplies in West Asia, which could result in global inflation.
Furthermore, one thing that global leaders are not instantly saying is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s preemptive attacks on Iran’scivilians violate international law, as he has not allowed for diplomatic efforts to be fully explored while negotiations remain ongoing. The current global landscape is multipolar, and institutions such as the United Nations and the IAEA do not represent the existing realities.
• Abiodun Ramon Oseni, a former U.S. Police officer, U.S army veteran, who specialises in international security at Harvard University, and American Military University, wrote via [email protected]
