By all accounts, Operation Rising Lion by Israel, in its initial stages, was an incredible success.

As the dust cleared on Friday, we learned that not only had Israel taken out top generals and nuclear scientists, but that the Mossad had pulled off some of these precision hits on specific military targets from INSIDE Iran itself.

Intelligence agents with Mossad, Israel’s top spy agency, started infiltrating the heart of Iran several months back in order to pull off the surprise attack aimed at obliterating Iranian nuclear and military facilities, as well as a swath of top military commanders.

The spy agency planted the explosive drones inside Iran ahead of time as they laid the groundwork for the major strikes, according to Israeli security sources.

Agents also managed to smuggle precision weapons into central Iran so Israel could target Tehran’s defenses from within.

The stealth campaign, dubbed Operation “Rising Lion,” was eventually conducted in three separate operations early Friday – with the airstrikes each targeting specific weaponry and defense systems in Iran, one Israeli security source told The Post.

Not only will this infiltration and attack be legendary (right up there with “Operation Grim Beeper” against Hezbollah), but the amazing misdirection that both the United States and Israel participated in, while still giving clear warnings to Iran (President Trump, as he put it, gave Iran 60 days to make a deal – the attack happened on day 61) is a stunning example of coordinated efforts between the two countries.

As new details emerge as the levels of coordination and talking between the United States and Israel over this current wave of attacks, it is clear that President Trump was actually playing 4D chess with all of this.

He put Iran in a box to keep them there and allow for the possibility of Israel to destroy their nuclear facilities and large swaths of their military capability, with no risk to American troops.

The president was asked by the Wall Street Journal about whether he was given a heads-up by the Israeli government. He replied, “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, ‘We know what’s going on.’”

President Trump is being very clear about this. It appears the United States was not just read in on the operation. Think of the extent to which this was a 4D chess plan, in which the appearance of negotiations with Steve Witkoff was actively put forward by the United States in order to sucker the Iranians into going to sleep after it was clear that the Iranians were not making a deal.

It’s quite plausible that the United States was involved in a disinformation operation targeted directly at the Iranian government.

And the Iranian leadership has paid for their refusal to take a deal from Donald Trump. There were five top military leaders (with an additional 15 other commanders) and at least six top nuclear scientists who were targeted and killed. Israel’s attacks were as precise as they could possibly be, and the images coming out of Iran are striking in their pinpoint accuracy.

Insane precision to avoid civilian casualties. More evidence that Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields to drum up international sympathy and antisemitism from naive liberals and the woke right. Obviously. https://t.co/Ktnuv20vbQ

— Mikhaila Peterson (@MikhailaFuller) June 13, 2025

However, the retalitatory attacks by Iran have not been nearly so precise. Their goal, with no air superiority and limited accuracy, has been to simply aim in the direction of Israel at the largest population centers and attempt to overwhelm the Iron Dome. Unfortunately, there have been some missiles that have gotten through in Tel Aviv, and some fatalities have been reported.

The Israeli death toll rose to three as hospitals were flooded with dozens of wounded civilians after a wave of retaliatory missile strikes from Iran rained down on the Jewish state overnight Friday.

One woman succumbed to her injuries after being taken to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, increasing the death toll in Israel to three.

At least 43 people are being treated at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, while Shamir Medical Center in Be’er Ya’akov reported four wounded — two in moderate condition and two in mild — are currently receiving care, the Times of Israel reported.

Seven injured individuals were evacuated overnight to Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, with most in mild condition and one in moderate condition.

Two men — ages 88 and 57 — and a 64-year-old woman were also treated at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariyya after they were injured seeking shelter during the overnight barrages, the outlet reported.

Israel has kept hammering at Iran, with the Israeli Air Force carrying out strikes overnight outside of Tehran, targeting missile infrastructure. Their next target very well could be oil refineries.

Iran continued to send missiles into Israel well into Saturday morning.

Here’s another close up of the incoming missiles. This is northern sky over Tiberias. pic.twitter.com/uruBsWUvES

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) June 14, 2025

While Prime Minister Netanyahu has tried to send the message directly to the Iranian people that their fight is with the mullahs, not with them, it is unlikely that they have heard that message. But perhaps that is going to change, very quickly.

BREAKING: @elonmusk has announced that Starlink is now active in Iran—to help Iranians communicate, organize, and rise up against the regime. pic.twitter.com/b5PtvXxndS

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) June 14, 2025

If the Iranian people can access the internet via Starlink, with zero interference by the regime, it could change the dynamic on the ground inside Iran rapidly. According to the BBC (no friend to Israel), the people are angry at the regime for dragging them into this war.

The Iranian regime remains deeply unpopular, and many citizens have shown little sympathy for the assassination of senior military commanders, figures widely seen as responsible for brutal crackdowns on peaceful protests.

But reports of civilian casualties in last night’s Israeli strikes have stirred a different reaction. Explosions rocked residential areas of Tehran and other cities, with people across the country reporting blast waves.

Iranian state media says 78 people were killed in the capital alone and more than 300 injured.

These people in Iran, who got in touch with BBC Persian, expressed their feelings:

“This incident was truly horrific, especially for us living very close to the explosions and I really hope that the situation won’t get worse. This should not have happened – civilians in Tehran or any other city in Iran should not have been hurt,” one person said.

“I’m not pro-Islamic Republic, but this issue is about Iran, it’s about home. See how they are attacking us, destroying our infrastructure, killing our people,” said another.

The regime is also being blamed for dragging Iran into a war through its support for armed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza, as well as its ongoing nuclear programme.

Many Iranians are openly critical of their leaders for failing to protect the country. They point out the hypocrisy: authorities are quick to crack down on women who refuse to wear the compulsory hijab, but when it comes to identifying and preventing a major military threat, the same authorities seem powerless – despite all their political posturing.

If Israel wanted to inflict civilian casualties – the way that Iran is trying to do so in Israel – then there would be a whole lot more dead being reported (and trusting Iranian state media is a foolish proposition at best). President Trump is again trying to appeal to Iran to negotiate – but the mullahs have apparently thrown in the towel, claiming that additional talks would be “meaningless.” Okay then. It’s your funeral, guys – and it might very well just be that, once Israel is done.

Featured image: composite image of Israel’s flag (via PublicDomainPictures on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license) and Iran’s flag (via jorono on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license)