Inside Israel’s 'Op Red Wedding' that killed 30 Iranian generals in MINUTES
ISRAEL has revealed details of its devastating wave of assassinations in Operation Red Wedding, killing 30 Iranian generals within the first few minutes of the conflict.
On June 13, the IDF launched a "preemptive" operation aimed at not only decimating Iran's nuclear program but also taking out its military chiefs.
Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on June 13Credit: AP
People look over damage to buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes on the first day of the conflict
Mossad commandos direct strikes inside Iran
The 'Red Wedding' scene in Game of Thrones that Israel named its operation after
The 12-day conflict began when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion which saw Israeli jets blast Iran's nuclear sites - as well as assassinate generals and scientists.
Within its first few minutes, Operation Red Wedding saw some 30 top Iranian military chiefs killed in near-simultaneous blitz as Israel sought to root out the country's military strength entirely.
This proved to be effective as, with three of its most senior generals dead, any possible response from Iran was halted for nearly a whole day, according to the IDF.
The strike on military chiefs was given the code-name Red Wedding from popular TV show Game of Thrones, as it echoed a similar brutal massacre depicted in the series, local media reports.
read more newsThe scene shows a political wedding reception where the groom and his entire family are betrayed and killed by the family of the bride - much like Israel lulling Iran into a false sense of security before the operation.
Benjamin Netanyahu's office had announced he would take work off for a holiday weekend, with his eldest son Avner set to get married on June 16.
Except neither Avner nor Netanyahu's wife Sarah knew the Israeli leader was delaying the wedding as he plotted the Friday 13 carnage - continuing to get plans publicised to throw Iran off the scent.
Most significant among the 30 military deaths was the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' air force, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
He was killed alongside fellow officials of the IRGC Aerospace Force - the unit responsible for Iran's ballistic missiles and drones.
They had been meeting underground with the intention of preparing Iran's retaliation.
Iran’s Ayatollah breaks silence after WEEKS cowering in bunker during Israel’s blitz and ‘obliterating’ Trump strikesIsrael had launched a deception campaign purely to deceive Iran and cause IRGC air force officials to congregate in the early hours.
Meanwhile Operation Narnia - named after the British C.S. Lewis fictional novel series - was unfolding where nine senior Iranian nuclear scientists who were working on a bomb were also killed.
The deadly strikes all hit within minutes of each other.
In the hours that followed 200 Israeli fighter jets struck numerous Iranian nuclear sites, with air defences also destroyed and ballistic missile launches decimated - thwarting any imminent Iranian response.
The IDF said it used 330 munitions on 100 targets, including uranium enrichment plants and key command centres.
By the end of the 12 day conflict, it said it had "fully met, and even exceeded, all the objectives and goals" that were set out prior to the operation.
Head of the Israeli military Operations Directorate and a key architect of the operation Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk described how it almost came as a surprise when the operation went as smoothly as it did.
He told the Wall Street Journal: "When we started to plan this thing in detail, it was very difficult to know that this would work."
It was determined by IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir that June would be the time for the complex operation - and that any delay could mean Israel wouldn't be able to stop Iranian threat later down the line.
Operation Rising Lion was therefore launched as a preemptive campaign with the intention of eliminating "the existential threat to Israel" - Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
Israeli spy agency Mossad had reportedly spent years plotting the operation, and even built a drone base inside Iran and smuggled precision weapons systems and commandos over.
Bombshell footage appeared to show Mossad commandos directing attacks from inside Iran at the beginning of the 12-day conflict.
It captured troops on the ground as they helped direct drone strikes against Iran's missile defences.
President Donald Trump, left, stands with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuCredit: AP
Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran, IranCredit: Reuters
Destroyed storage building and tunnel entrances at Kermanshah missile facilities, western IranCredit: AFP
A closer satellite view shows holes and craters on a ridge at Fordow underground complexCredit: Reuters
The US joined in on decimating nuclear facilities on June 22.
To do so, President Donald Trump used some of the US military's most advanced weapons.
Twelve 30,000lb bunker busting bombs - officially called the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) - were used to hit the most difficult target.
Then within 24 hours starting Monday, Iran launched a "very weak" response on a US air base in Qatar before a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel was brokered by the US.
Calls are now ringing louder for the Ayatollah's regime to be taken down - and for a new democractic republic to take shape.
Trump hinted at regime change in a post of Truth Social as he demanded "Make Iran Great Again" - but the White House said it was not one of the authority's official goals.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, claimed victory over Israel and America despite his country being hammered in the "12 Day War".
Khamenei is hiding away in a bunker deep below ground despite the ceasefire as he fears being assassinated by secret agents, the New York Times reports.
The supreme leader was seen in a video sitting in front of the same brown curtain - presumably still cowardly hiding in his bunker - as he had last week.
On Israel, he ludicrously claimed Iran had almost crushed the country and the government in Tel Aviv was on the verge of collapse.
That's despite the IDF controlling the skies over Tehran, assassinating dozens of top generals and nuclear scientists, and destroying dozens of valuable missile batteries in just 12 days of fighting.
On America, Khamenei claimed to have given the country a "severe slap" to its face and that it had "gained nothing" from the attack on Iran's nuke plants.
The Ayatollah said: “The American regime entered a direct war because it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed.
"However, it gained no achievements from this war.
“Here, too, the Islamic Republic emerged victorious, and in return, the Islamic Republic delivered a severe slap to America’s face.”
Read More on The US SunKhamenei also bizarrely claimed his rockets had hit the American's Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, despite his forces giving advanced warning so the rockets could be all shot down.
The supreme leader was last seen a week ago in a video message, but it's two weeks since he appeared to his people in the flesh.