Israel-Iran Conflict

Israel launched a major attack on Iran’s capital Tehran, using warplanes and drones to hit important military structures and residences of senior officials on June 13, 2025 at about 03:30 local time. Israel claimed the strikes were needed to stop Iran from getting closer to making a nuclear bomb. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack - called Operation Rising Lion - targeted "the heart" of Iran's nuclear program. The Israeli military said it targeted over 100 sites and killed top Iranian figures, including IRGC commander Hossein Salami and nuclear scientists Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Israel accused them of working on a nuclear weapons program, which Iran denies having.

United States President Donald Trump stated he doesn’t need to be involved in the conflict. U.S. intelligence disagreed with Israel’s claims, saying Iran wasn’t actively building a bomb and was likely three years away from being able to use one. While Israel damaged the Natanz facility, the heavily fortified Fordow site remained untouched. Former U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk said only a U.S. strike or a diplomatic deal could fully dismantle Iran’s program.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel "should anticipate a severe punishment", while its foreign minister called the strikes a "declaration of war". In response to the attack, Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel on Friday morning and later launched ballistic missiles in cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. At least two people were killed in Rishon LeZion on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Again after an hour an Iranian missile struck near the central Israeli city of Rishon Lezion. On Sunday, the third day of strikes, six people were killed in Israel's Bat Yam when a 10-storey block of flats was hit.

Israel's military said on Sunday that it had struck more than 80 targets in Tehran throughout the night, including the Iranian ministry of defence, and "additional targets where the Iranian regime hid the nuclear archive". Israel said eight people were killed overnight into Monday by Iranian attacks on cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. More than 220 people have been killed in Israeli strikes so far, according to Iran's health ministry, while Israel says Iranian attacks have killed 24 people.

BOOM has debunked misinformation around the Israel-Iran conflict. BOOM fact-checked videos claiming to show strikes from the recent Israel-Iran conflict. BOOM found that the viral videos are from October 2024, when Iran launched missile attacks on Israel. The videos are unrelated to the current escalation between the two nations.