Unprovoked, Israel Risks Major War in Middle East

Consortium News
Volume 30, Number 163 —Friday, June 13, 2025


Unprovoked, Israel Risks Major War in Middle East


Israel has risked a potentially devastating conflict with Iran that could engulf the region and undermine the world economy with an unprovoked attack on nuclear facilities and Iranian leaders on Thursday, reports Joe Lauria

Anti-aircraft guns guarding Natanz Nuclear Facility, Iran, which Israell said it struck on Thursday, file photo. (Hamed Saber/Wikimedia Commons)

By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News




Israel has opened the gates of hell in the Middle East.

In a thoroughly unprovoked attack on Iran, the Israeli military rained down fire on several major sites including the capital Teheran. The New York Times reported:


“The targets of the Israeli strike include nuclear facilities, air defense batteries, homes and headquarters of senior officials, weapons depots and laboratories. The first wave of the assault focused on senior officials. According to two defense officials familiar with the initial assessments of the Israeli attacks in Iran, there is increasing likelihood that Israel succeeded in killing Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, along with several senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and leading scientists involved in the country’s nuclear program.”

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was not involved in the attack but he warned Iran not to retaliate against U.S. targets in the region:


“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. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. 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.”

The United States had restrained Israel while Washington was negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran. That restraint was apparently lifted on Thursday as the negotiations with Iran had stalled.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said in a statement: “Israel’s attack on Iran, clearly intended to scuttle the Trump administration’s negotiations with Iran, risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America.”

Benjamin Netanyahu said in a television address:


“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

As a justification he invoked the Holocaust, alleging that Iran could commit another one.

Israel was put in a state of emergency. Iranian officials vowed to retaliate against Israel and the latest reports indicate that Iran fired 100 drones at Israel in retaliation.

In the days leading to Israel’s attack, Iran warned that U.S. military installations in several nations in the region could be targeted. The U.S. will “receive a forceful slap” said a spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces after Israel’s attack, and that “a retaliation attack is definite, God willingly.”

Analysts have long warned that all-out war between Israel and Iran, particularly if the U.S. becomes directly involved, could bring about catastrophic consequences to the Middle East.

The world economy could be plunged into recession if Iran shuts down the Straits of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf from which about 30 percent of world oil supplies exit.

The attack on Iran and the risks involved demonstrate that the madness driving Israel to commit genocide in Gaza appears to have no bounds.

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. PLEASE COME BACK FOR UPDATES.


Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange.