Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear program as U.S. denies involvement

Axios-June12th2025

Israel launched a massive wave of attacks across Iran on Thursday night, bombing nuclear and missile sites, targeting military leaders and nuclear scientists, and conducting covert sabotage operations on missile and air defense sites.

Why it matters: Israel is directly attacking its biggest and best-armed adversary without backing from the U.S., which swiftly distanced itself from the operation.

President Trump publicly opposed an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites on Thursday, saying he still believed a nuclear deal was possible.
Hours later, Israel began targeting nuclear sites as well the Iranian military’s top brass and senior scientists working on the nuclear program.

What they’re saying: “Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

“Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense,” he continued.
“President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel.”

Driving the news: Sirens sounded across Israel on Thursday night. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared a special state of emergency across the entire country.

“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the state of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Katz said.

The big picture: The Israeli strikes have launched a new military conflict that poses grave danger to both Israel and Iran.

An IDF official told reporters the operation to destroy Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities will take several days, and Israel expects Iran to retaliate with missile and drone attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign would continue “as long as it takes.”
The IDF official claimed that in recent weeks, Israel had indications that Iran was racing for a nuclear bomb — and that with every day that passed, Israel would have less visibility into Iran’s advancements. “We are now in a strategic window of opportunity and close to a point of no return, and we had no choice but to take action,” the official said.
Iran denies that it is pursuing a nuclear weapon, and the U.S. and other allies have made no such warning about Iran racing toward a bomb.

Behind the scenes: The U.S. notified several of its allies in private on Thursday that Israeli strikes were imminent and made clear it was not involved, a source familiar with those discussions said.

The Trump administration told Israel it would not participate in any strikes on the nuclear program, Axios reported.
However, the U.S. has previously helped defend Israel from Iranian attacks and is likely do so again.
Before the operation became public, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee tweeted that he was at the embassy in Jerusalem and “will remain here all night,” adding: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

State of play: The Israeli operation is very broad in scale, with both nuclear and missile sites and high-ranking Iranians targeted.

Netanyahu said planning had been underway for months to simultaneously strike Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. He claimed Iran had taken unprecedented steps in its nuclear program and was rapidly producing a massive stockpile of ballistic missiles, both of which Israel was seeking to “eliminate.”
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said only “necessary” activities should take place in Israel starting Friday morning local time. That includes a ban on “educational activities, gatherings and workplaces, with the exception of essential businesses.”
Israel closed its airspace, and Iran also suspended flights out of Tehran’s international airport. Israel’s political leaders were moved to a secure location.

Friction point: Israel has been preparing and drilling for weeks, but had previously told the U.S. it would wait to see what happened with Trump’s nuclear talks.

In his statement, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his years of support for Israel and opposition to Iran’s nuclear program. But he does not appear to have had Trump’s support for this attack.
A sixth round of U.S.-Iran talks had been scheduled for Sunday, but Israel has likely now wiped out any prospect of a deal.

What to watch: Iran has vowed to strike U.S. targets in the region in the event of any attack on its nuclear program.

The U.S. is in the process of withdrawing diplomats and military families in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait who could be in harm’s way.
The U.S. has also boosted air defenses around several of its sources in the Gulf.