Israel Launches Major Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Sites

Summary

WSJ What’s News: Israel Launches Major Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
Release Date: June 13, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of WSJ What’s News, the Wall Street Journal delves deep into the recent and significant events shaping global politics and markets. The primary focus centers on Israel's aggressive military strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, its implications for regional stability, and the subsequent market reactions. Additionally, the episode covers judicial decisions affecting federal-state relations in the U.S., ongoing investigations into a tragic Air India crash, and legal battles over electric vehicle regulations.

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Israel's Operation Rising Lion: A Decisive Strike on Iran

Operation Overview
At 00:22, host Luke Vargas introduces the audacious Israeli military operation, Operation Rising Lion, aimed at crippling Iran's nuclear capabilities. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, emphasizes the necessity of preventing Iran from obtaining the means for its "annihilation" against Israel.

Scope and Scale of the Attack
In an in-depth discussion at 02:28, WSJ Middle East Editor Andrew Dowell elaborates on the extensive nature of the strikes:

"Far from being a set of pinpoint attacks on Iran's nuclear program, it's actually quite an extensive campaign targeting not just nuclear facilities, but also air defenses, military leadership, and nuclear scientists. Israel sent hundreds of warplanes in five different waves and struck many targets."

The operation resulted in the elimination of key military figures, including the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (02:51).

Iran's Retaliation and Regional Implications
At 03:32, Dowell discusses Iran's response, noting:

"So far, we haven't seen anything on the scale that we saw last year when Iran and Israel exchanged direct fire. However, Iran has launched roughly 100 drones, many intercepted over Jordan."

He warns of potential escalations involving Iran's allies, such as Hezbollah and the Houthis, which could extend the conflict beyond Israel and impact U.S. forces in the region (03:32). Additionally, Dowell highlights the precarious timing of the strikes amidst stalled nuclear negotiations and Iran's recent announcement of a new uranium enrichment site (04:40).

U.S. Involvement and Strategic Positioning
At 05:29, Vargas probes the role of the United States in the conflict. Dowell explains:

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Trump on Monday about the potential strike. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that the U.S. wasn't involved, the U.S. has pulled non-essential personnel from the Middle East, indicating a level of awareness and concern."

Dowell points out the delicate balance the U.S. must maintain to avoid further escalation, especially given Trump's previous warnings against jeopardizing nuclear diplomacy (06:15).

Future Dynamics and Potential Escalations
Discussing upcoming developments at 06:34, Dowell outlines key areas to monitor:

• Expansion of Israeli Strikes: Potential for broader and more ambitious targets.
• Iran's Escalation: Possibility of attacks extending to U.S. assets or other sensitive sites.
• U.S. Involvement: Whether the U.S. will take a more active role in the conflict.

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Market Reactions to Geopolitical Tensions

At 07:22, Luke Vargas reports on the immediate impact of the strikes on global markets:

• Oil Prices Surge: Brent crude rises to approximately $75 per barrel, reflecting investor anxiety over potential disruptions in oil supply (07:50).

Finance Editor Alex Frankos provides insights:

"Even though Iran is sanctioned and often sells oil clandestinely to countries like China, the threat of retaliatory actions—such as targeting Saudi oil production or shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf—has traders nervously bidding up prices."

• Safe Haven Assets Strengthen: Investments shift towards gold, government bonds, the Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc as investors seek stability amidst uncertainty (07:22).

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Judicial Ruling on National Guard Deployment

Presidential Overreach Confirmed
A federal judge has ruled that President Trump illegally commandeered California's National Guard during protests in Los Angeles, violating the Constitution's 10th Amendment (09:00). The decision mandates the return of control to Governor Gavin Newsom, a move applauded by the governor.

At 09:43, Dowell comments:

"I hope it's the beginning of a new day in this country where we push back against overreach and authoritarian tendencies."

Appeal and Future Protests
The implementation of the ruling is paused pending an immediate appeal by the Trump administration, scheduled for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (10:01). Concurrently, organizers are planning mass protests nationwide, labeled "No Kings Day," to oppose the administration's immigration policies and assert state authority (10:01).

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Investigation into Air India Crash

A tragic crash of a Boeing 787 shortly after takeoff has resulted in over 240 fatalities (10:01). Early investigations focus on:

• Possible Loss of Engine Thrust: Queries about engine performance failures shortly after departure (11:19).
• Aircraft Configuration Issues: Concerns over the position of flaps and landing gear during takeoff.

Air safety reporter Andrew Tangle outlines critical questions that remain unanswered, emphasizing the complexity of the investigation (11:19).

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Legal Challenges to Electric Vehicle Regulations

California, alongside Washington and ten other states, has initiated a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and President Trump to halt the rollback of electric vehicle (EV) regulations. The lawsuit contends that:

• Illicit Congressional Actions: Claims that Congress acted illegally by revoking California's waiver to enforce stricter emissions standards (11:49).
• Auto Industry Support: Major manufacturers like GM, Toyota, and VW back the administration's repeal efforts, arguing that the EV mandates are "wildly unrealistic" and detrimental to the industry (11:49).

President Trump defends the move as a necessary measure to protect the U.S. auto industry from "destruction" (11:49).

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Correction and Clarifications

The episode includes a correction regarding a previous report on Gilead's HIV prevention shot, clarifying that a phase three trial involving a broader population, including men, was concluded last year, contrary to earlier statements (11:49).

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Conclusion

This episode of WSJ What’s News provides a comprehensive analysis of Israel's strategic military actions against Iran, their broader geopolitical ramifications, and the subsequent reactions across global markets and U.S. politics. Through expert insights and detailed reporting, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the unfolding events and their potential long-term impacts.

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Produced by Kate Bullivant and Pierce Lynch, with contributions from Sandra Kilhoff. Special thanks to Reuters for additional sound contributions.

Transcript

[Reba McEntire]

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[Luke Vargas]

One most trusted app based on August 2024 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings. February 2024 through January 20Israel attacks Iran in a bid to cripple its nuclear program Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. We'll get the latest as Tehran strikes back. Plus, a judge orders President Trump to return control of California's National Guard to the state's governor. And a possible loss of engine thrust emerges as an early focus in the probe into yester deadly Air India crash. It's Friday, June 13th. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal and here is the AM Edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories moving your world. Today, Israel launched a wide ranging attack on Iran's nuclear program and military leadership overnight, striking dozens of targets and killing the head of the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel said that some 200 jet fighters participated in first wave of attacks, part of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was an operation aimed at taking out Iran's nuclear enrichment program and which could last for days. Israel will never allow those who call for our annihilation to develop the means to achieve that goal. Tonight, Israel backs those words with action. We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Iran's supreme leader said that Israel should expect severe punishment for the attacks, with Israel already intercepting some of the roughly 100 drones that were launched by Iran this morning. With more on this rapidly evolving situation, I'm joined by Wall Street Journal Middle east editor Andrew Dowell. Andrew, these attacks began under the COVID of darkness, though it is now midday in the region. What can we say about the scope and the scale of what's occurred here?

[Andrew Dowell]

There are a couple of important things here. One is that far from being a set of pinpoint attacks on Iran's nuclear program, it's actually quite extensive campaign that targets not just nuclear facilities, but also air defenses, military leadership, most importantly, and also nuclear scientists. Israel sent hundreds of warplanes in five different waves and struck many targets in.

[Luke Vargas]

Its campaign, including the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. I imagine that has provoked quite a lot of anger in Iran.

[Andrew Dowell]

Yeah, the dad include three very senior members of the military, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as you mentioned, the head of the Iranian military chief of staff, and one more senior general. And, yeah, it's not only something that's sparked a lot of outrage, but it's also left a significant hole at the.

[Luke Vargas]

Top of Iran's military leadership in terms of their response. We mentioned drones being intercepted by Israel already coming from Iran. Do we understand the retaliation is ongoing and tell us a little bit about what we've seen and maybe could see going forward?

[Andrew Dowell]

So far, we haven't seen anything on the scale that we saw last year when Iran and Israel exchanged direct fire and Iran responded with hundreds of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. There's been a wave of drones launched at Israel by Iran, perhaps 100, many of which have been intercepted over Jordan. But Iran does have a number of assets. Israel's degraded their capabilities, but they have large stockpile of missiles. They have allies around the region, the Houthis in a very diminished capacity, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and other militias in Iraq, all of whom have the capacity to fire missiles at Israel or at US Assets in the region. Iran had also warned before the strike that any military attack on Iran could lead to Iran attacking US Forces in the region as well. So there's the chance not only of greater scale of response against Israel, but also a widening of the response to include the United States.

[Luke Vargas]

And this is coming in spite of Tehran being engaged in recent weeks with nuclear talks with Washington. It also comes basically just a day after Iran said it was going to open up a secret new uranium enrichment site. How should we understand the timing of.

[Andrew Dowell]

All of this, just given the scale that we've seen? This is obviously something that's been planned and considered in the works for a long time. It's a major operation with a lot of different components. Israel is doing airstrikes. We've also reported that Mossad is doing operations on the ground, Israel's spy agency. It's a complex, widespread operation that I don't think is something that would have been put together as a response to developments of the moment. The nuclear talks that have been going on are at an impasse. Iran refuses to give up nuclear enrichment, which is what the west, what the United States and what Israel expect them to do. And Israel alleges that Iran has been making other forms of progress on its nuclear program. And while those are developments that have probably contributed to the concern, it seems like this is something that's been in.

[Luke Vargas]

The works for a while on that point. What, if anything, do we know about the role of the US in all of this? President Trump has lately been warning Israel quite publicly about not striking Iran, lest that derail the nuclear diplomacy he'd been pursuing.

[Andrew Dowell]

Yeah, I think it's a situation that the US Was aware of. We've reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu let Trump know Monday on a phone call that Israel was considering a strike on Iran. The US in the middle of the week pulled non essentials in its embassies in Iraq and military personnel in the Gulf out of the Middle east or ordered them out of the Middle East. So, you know, there was clearly some awareness on the US Part. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the US Wasn't involved in the attack, and there's no indication that it was.

[Luke Vargas]

Just in terms of those comments from Secretary Rubio, the US not being involved, not wanting to have its forces targeted by Iran. I imagine, though, that is something to watch in the days ahead, whether the US Sort of remains on the sidelines here. What else should we be watching for dynamics to be monitoring in the coming hours days here?

[Andrew Dowell]

I think there are several important things to keep an eye out for. One is like the continued scale of Israel's attack, how much broader their target set gets and how much more ambitious they get in terms of the sorts of targets and perhaps even personnel that they go after. The second thing is to see Iran's response, whether it escalates significantly from what we saw today in terms of this drone attack and whether it extends beyond Israel to maybe American assets in the region or other more sensitive sites, economically sensitive or militarily sensitive sites across the region. And yeah, the final thing is to see whether the response and the disruption is significant enough that the United States, even though it seems to have sat out this round, ultimately gets pulled into the conflict.

[Luke Vargas]

Andrew Dowell is the Wall Street Journal's Middle east editor. Andrew, thank you so much for the update.

[Andrew Dowell]

Thank you.

[Luke Vargas]

And the market reaction to Israel's attack on Iran has been swift. Oil prices jumped while safe haven assets such as gold, government bonds, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc strengthened as the attack spurred investors to pare down Risk Journal finance editor Alex Frankos says oil prices shot up to around $75 a barrel, which would mark one of the biggest moves in several years if prices hold for the day, even though.

[Alex Frankos]

Iran is sanctioned and isolated in a lot of ways. Its oil finds its way to markets through kind of clandestine means. A lot of it gets sold to China. And if someone's buying some Iranian oil, they're not buying other people's oil. And so that keeps prices low. The second order effect is what is Iran going to do to retaliate against possible oil producing countries around the Middle East? If they retaliate against Saudi Arabia or choke off shipping lines in the Persian Gulf or in the Red Sea, that could cause disruption. So oil traders are reflexively bidding up the price because they think there's any number of possibilities that could happen. And the timing, anyways of this was a big surprise.

[Luke Vargas]

Coming up, we'll look at the rest of the day's news, including plans for mass protests against the Trump administration's immigration crackdown this weekend. We've got that story and more after the break. This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on an elegant Viking longship with thoughtful service, destination focused dining and cultural enrichment on board and onshore.

[Andrew Dowell]

And every Viking voyage is all inclusive.

[Luke Vargas]

With no children and no casinos. Discover [e-mail] A federal judge has ruled that President Trump illegally took federal control of the California National Guard when he deployed them in response to protests in Los Angeles over the objections of the state's elected leaders. The ruling found that the president exceeded his statutory authority and violated the Constitution's 10th Amendment, which reserves certain powers powers to the states and ordered that he return control of the Guard to California Governor Gavin Newsom, a ruling that Newsom applauded.

[Andrew Dowell]

I hope it's the beginning of a new day in this country where we push back against overreach, push back against these authoritarian tendencies of a president that has pushed the boundaries, pushed the limit, but no longer can push this state around any longer.

[Luke Vargas]

The implementation of yesterday's ruling is currently on hold through Tuesday, when an immediate appeal by the Trump administration goes before the 9th U.S. circuit Court of Appeals. The White House and the Justice Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Meanwhile, protests are planned in over 2000 cities nationwide tomorrow, dubbed no Kings Day, organizers are hoping to highlight what they say is President Trump's overreach and are encouraging attendees to wave American flags to show grassroots patriotism. One city without a scheduled rally is Washington, D.C. where President Trump has organized a military parade to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday. Trump had warned this week that protesters at his event would be met with a very big force Investigators probing yesterday's Air India crash that killed over 240 people are focusing early attention on a possible loss of engine thrust shortly after takeoff. The London bound Boeing 787 issued a mayday and vanished from radar just 50 seconds into flight, crashing into a residential area in the Indian city of Ahmedabad. Air safety reporter Andrew Tangle says the latest video footage of the plane raises several questions.

[Andrew Dowell]

They include the aircraft's configuration. Were the flaps on the rear of the wings extended as they generally speaking, should be during takeoff to help generate aerodynamic lift to help the aircraft take off? Why was the landing gear down, generally speaking, would probably be up at that point after takeoff. Did the engines lose thrust for some reason? And why? These are some of the early big questions around this accident.

[Luke Vargas]

The investigation is expected to last for months, with people familiar with the probe saying that many questions remain unanswered. And in another legal challenge aimed at Washington, California and 10 other states have sued to stop the rollback of electric vehicle rules that are meant to phase out the use of gasoline powered cars by 2035. The suit, filed against the Environmental Protection Agency and President Trump contends that Congress acted illegally in revoking waivers that allowed California to set stricter emissions rules than the federal government and did so after the federal government carried out a playbook of steps to limit DEB debate and judicial review that it claimed was also illegal. President Trump has backed the repeal of California's EV rules, saying yesterday that Washington's intervention would rescue the US Auto industry from destruction. An auto industry group representing gm, Toyota, VW and others supported Trump's effort, calling the EV rules harmful and wildly unrealistic. And before we go, a quick correction. A previous episode of what's News said that a further study of Gilead's HIV prevention shot, which involved men, had yet to be completed when in fact a phase three trial involving a broader population, including men, was concluded last year. And that's it for what's News for this Friday morning. Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Kate Bullivant and Pierce lynch, our supervising producer, with Sandra Kilhoff and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with a new show. Otherwise, have a great weekend and thanks for listening.

[Reba McEntire]

Isn't home where we all want to be? Reba? Here for realtor.com, the Pro's number one most trusted app, finding a home is like dating. You're searching for the one. With over 500,000 new listings every month, you can find the one today download the realtor.com app cause you're nearly home. Make it real with realtor.com Pro's number.

[Luke Vargas]

One most trusted app. Based on August 2024 proprietary survey. Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings February 2024 through January 2025.