The recent war between Israel and Iran lasted for 12 days but led to the death of hundreds of people.
The war started on 13 June when Israel launched air strikes on Iran. The air strikes occurred two days before Iran and the US were to continue negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. It also occurred after the International Atomic Energy Agency censured Iran for the first time in two decades over its lack of cooperation with inspectors, although the agency’s director, Rafael Grossi, later claimed its report had been misinterpreted.
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Although the Israeli government called its strikes against Iran preemptive, the strikes were considered unprovoked and condemned by many countries, including Nigeria, China and Saudi Arabia.
Iran responded to the air strikes by firing missiles and drones into Israel, leading to more attacks and counter-attacks for 12 days.
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On both sides, casualties rose as the conflict progressed. At least 655 people were killed and more than 4,700 others injured. The Iranian authorities reported 627 deaths in Iran, while Israeli officials reported 28 deaths in Israel.
Amidst fears that the war could spread and destabilise the Middle East, many world leaders called for a cessation of hostilities.
In this report, PREMIUM TIMES identifies 10 key facts that the 12-day Israel-Iran war revealed.
1. Israel has huge air superiority over Iran
One of the major things learnt from the war is that Iranian airspace is not well fortified and Israel has huge air superiority over its arch-rival. Iran largely relies on the old Russian S-300 surface-to-air defence systems, most of which were either destroyed in Israeli air strikes or were unable to stop the many Israeli air raids. Iran’s air fleet, many of which were purchased over 30 years ago, was also no match for Israel’s modern aircraft. Decades of sanctions mean Iran has been unable to modernise its air fleet, and thus could not compete in the air.
On 16 June, four days after Israel commenced its air strikes, the Israeli military announced that it had crippled Iran’s air defence and could fly over Tehran with minimal resistance. This edge made it relatively easy for Israel to hit an expanding range of targets in Iran.
According to reports, Israel began the war with US-made F-35 stealth jets, targeting Iran’s air defences deep inside the country. After disabling key radar and missile systems, older jets like F-15s and F-16s joined in, dropping guided bombs.
Although Iran was able to shoot down two Israeli drones during the war, one after Israel announced it had crippled Iran’s air defences, the fact that none of Israel’s bombers and fighter planes were shot down and that Israel successfully carried out as many air attacks as it wanted, show the limitations of Iran’s air defences.
2. Iran’s home-grown ballistic missile system is effective
It can be argued that Iran used the war to show the world the efficiency of its ballistic missiles. Despite facing decades of sanctions and limited access to foreign weapons and technology, Iran has built a powerful and efficient ballistic missile programme.
Iranian missiles reached many parts of Israel, including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Several military and civilian infrastructures were damaged by the strikes, including the Haifa port, the Mossad headquarters, the Nevatim Airbase (location of the F-35 stealth fighters and the Prime Minister’s air fleet), and the Rafael Defence facilities, where the Iron Dome, comprising major missile systems, is made.
According to Israel’s health ministry, Iranian missiles claimed 28 lives and left 3,238 people injured. Israeli officials also reported that over 9,000 people were displaced because dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.
According to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), Iran has the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East, with a stockpile of over 3,000. Iranian officials, however, have suggested much higher figures.
US President Donald Trump acknowledged that “Israel was hit really hard” by the Iranian missiles, saying those ballistic missiles “took out a lot of buildings.”
3. Israel’s Iron Dome, David’s sling not as effective as claimed
The 12-day conflict also demystified the Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems by exposing their limitations in a way not previously tested.
The Iron Dome is one of three layers of a defence system built to protect Israel from various kinds of air attacks. David’s Sling, which is built to intercept medium-range missiles from a distance, makes up the second layer, and the Arrow system, built to intercept longer range missiles, is the third and most advanced layer. For years, Israel has depended on its layered missile defence system to shield its communities from rocket attacks launched by militant groups in the Middle East
During the latest conflict, many Iranian missiles evaded Israel’s defence systems while others were intercepted. Analysts say Tehran invested in large quantities of missiles to overwhelm air defence systems with sheer volume.
Meanwhile, the IDF assessed that Iran launched between 500 and 550 ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 drones into Israel but claimed that the system intercepted 80-90 per cent of the strikes, which is a “success rate.”
4. US cannot be trusted
The Israeli strikes started two days before the US and Iran were to continue talks over Iran’s nuclear programme. President Trump later admitted that the US was fully briefed about the Israeli strikes before they occurred. The US was thus negotiating a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear deal despite knowing and approving an Israeli attack on Iran.
Also, the US joined in attacking Iran two days after Mr Trump announced that he would use two weeks to review the situation and decide whether the US would get involved in the war or not.
Iranian officials generally distrust American officials, and the actions of the Trump administration must have only confirmed their fears.
On Monday, the BBC reported that the Iranian deputy foreign minister, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, said, “The US must rule out any further strikes on Iran if it wants to resume diplomatic talks.”
5. European leaders are hypocritical when Israel/US is involved
The world was largely divided during the 12-day war, and European leaders, as a group who like to tout themselves as supporters of a rule-based global order, stood on the wrong side of history. Many of them not only failed to condemn Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran but kept repeating that Israel had the right to defend itself, even when Israel was the aggressor.
Western/European leaders also failed to condemn the deliberate attack on nuclear facilities by Israel and the US, in violation of international law. European leaders like European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron even defended the attacks.
The attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities are a clear violation of the UN Charter, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which prohibit the use of force against nuclear installations. Such an attack could lead to a radioactive leak that could endanger civilian populations, contaminate the environment, and trigger a broader regional crisis with devastating humanitarian and ecological consequences. This is why the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, condemned the strikes as a “dangerous escalation” and a “direct threat to international peace and security.”
However, statements issued by many European leaders either supported the attacks or ignored them altogether, instead asking Iran to exercise restraint and “return to negotiations.”
Unlike their European counterparts, leaders of many other countries, like Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and China, condemned Israel for starting the war.
6. Israeli intelligence has successfully penetrated Iran
One of the reasons Israel was very successful in killing top Iranian generals and nuclear scientists during the war was its successful penetration of Iranian society. Israel is believed to have hundreds of spies within Iran who provide it with crucial intelligence.
Since the war ended, Iranian state media have reported the arrest and seizure of weapons from suspected spies accused of sending information, photos, and videos to Israel. The country is clearly shaken by the depth of the Mossad’s penetration of its society.
The Mossad is Israel’s national intelligence agency, and it is considered one of the most effective intelligence agencies in the world.
According to Amnesty International, more than 1,000 Iranians have been detained over the past two weeks on allegations of aiding Israel. The arrests reflect growing anxiety among Iran’s leadership over Mossad’s reach.
The Associated Press reported that just before the first Israeli strike, Israel was able to smuggle precision weapons into Iran that were used to diminish Iranian air defences.
The Mossad also used intelligence gathered by spies to pinpoint key nuclear scientists and senior figures within Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. One Israeli strike on an underground bunker reportedly killed at least eight Guard members, including the head of Iran’s missile programme.
7. Israel can’t sustain long war with worthy adversary without US help
It’s well known that Israel, for all its advanced surveillance and missile defence systems, still relies heavily on the United States. But the recent war with Iran drove the point home.
Iran, unlike Hamas or Hezbollah, is not a proxy militia. It is a sovereign nation of nearly 90 million people, with a ballistic missile programme, and a capacity to absorb Israeli strikes and hit back hard. And it did.
It could be argued that Israel’s opening strikes were a huge success because they caught Iran off guard. On 13 June, it seemed as though Iran was subdued, and it was unclear to many whether the country could retaliate.
President Trump even praised the first Israeli attacks and quickly claimed credit for it, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attempt to distance the US from the war. However, Iran restructured its command and struck back. Israel was soon faced with large volumes of retaliatory strikes that overwhelmed its aerial defence systems.
A few days into the war, it became clear that Israel could not sustain it without American help. Israel and Israeli lobby groups, as well as many Israel-aligned American politicians, mounted pressure on the US to get involved. US media even reported that Israel was running out of munitions for its missile defence systems, despite the fact that they had not been as effective as expec,ted.
8. Iran’s recent rapprochement with Arab neighbours worked for it
The relationship between Shia Iran and the Sunni-Arab world has been cat and mouse for decades. Many Arab leaders believe Iran fuels instability in the region through its support for Islamist groups like the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
However, the recent rapprochement between Iran and its Arab neighbours worked for it during the war. Iran now has good relationships with many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The China-brokered deal between Iran (the Shia leader in the region) and Saudi Arabia (the Sunni leader) is believed to have played a major role in dousing the sectarian tensions in the Middle East.
The recent years of diplomacy paid off for Iran during the war with Israel when 21 Arab and Islamic countries, including those like Egypt and the UAE, which have close relationships with Israel, in a joint statement, condemned Israel for starting the war with Iran.
9. The US influence in Middle East is still unmatched, despite Trump
Nothing in the Middle East is ever simple, least of all the region’s relationship with the United States. The region may be heading toward peace or drifting toward war, but one thing is certain: the United States will be a big part of that journey.
Since the end of the Second World War, the US has had a strong, yet complex relationship with countries in the region. It has become deeply ingrained in the region’s military, intelligence, and political architecture. This remains so despite President Trump’s chaotic diplomacy,
During the first few hours of the war, the US was keen on making it clear that it was not party to the strike on Iran. Aside from Marco Rubio’s announcement, the State Department directed American embassies worldwide to clarify to host countries that the US was not involved in military action against Iran.
Many Middle Eastern countries have deep military ties with the US and rely heavily on American support. Jordan alone receives $1.45 billion annually in US aid, making it one of the top recipients globally.
Even after it intervened militarily against Iran on the 11th day of the Israel-Iran war, it was still the US that led the discussions that led to a ceasefire. In fact, most commentators believed only the US could successfully mediate in the crisis.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the US engaged directly with Israel and negotiated with Iran through Qatar to end the war by the 12th day.
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10. China and Russia are Iran’s allies, but can’t really save it
China and Russia are Iran’s most powerful allies, but neither was willing to offer the kind of support that could shield Tehran in a full-scale confrontation with the US or Israel.
Although both countries have strong economic and strategic ties with Iran, the recent conflict showed that their backing has clear limits. Observers say that Russia, bogged down in its three-year-long war with Ukraine, is unlikely to risk escalating tensions with the West on Iran’s behalf. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to condemn the Israeli attack and pitch himself as a mediator, he also downplayed Russia’s obligations to Iran, stating that it does not have a mutual defence pact with the country.
Like Russia, China was also quick to position itself as a potential mediator. It adhered to its long-standing policy of non-interference in foreign hostilities and maintained its distance, staying out of the conflict. A Senior Lecturer in Iranian Studies at the Australian National University, Alam Saleh, told Al Jazeera that China is focused on global trade and would not want to jeopardise its economic interests by inserting itself in direct military conflict.
“War and security instability not only undermine Chinese investment and trade and business, but also the oil price and gas energy security in general.
“Therefore, China seeks stability, and it disagrees and opposes any kind of military solution for any type of conflict and confrontation, no matter with whom,” he said.
China buys a lot of Iranian oil, and further escalation of the war would have disrupted supplies. However, China also has investments in Israel’s tech sector.
