By: Fern Sidman

In a dramatic escalation of Israel’s preemptive military campaign against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched an unprecedented wave of airstrikes overnight Wednesday, striking deep into Iranian territory with surgical precision and overwhelming force. According to reports confirmed by The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), no fewer than forty Israeli fighter jets participated in coordinated attacks on dozens of nuclear and military targets, including the plutonium reactor near Arak and a critical nuclear weapons development facility near Natanz.

The strikes represent the most intensive Israeli aerial operation on Iranian soil to date and come amid mounting intelligence indicating that Tehran is accelerating its path toward acquiring nuclear weapons. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the campaign’s primary objective is to dismantle key elements of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, eliminate missile production sites, and significantly degrade the Islamic Republic’s ability to export terrorism across the region.

Of particular note was the IAF’s strike on the heavy water reactor near Arak, a facility long suspected of being capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. The IDF confirmed that the mission targeted the reactor’s core seal structure, a crucial component required for the controlled production of plutonium. While Iran had previously agreed under international pressure to repurpose the facility for low-grade plutonium production, the JNS report noted that the regime never completed the conversion—leaving the reactor dangerously viable for military use.

“The IAF raid aimed to destroy components essential for plutonium production, thereby preventing the reactor’s use for nuclear weapons development,” the IDF announced. The move marks a significant escalation, shifting the focus from uranium enrichment to plutonium capabilities—both central pathways to nuclear armament.

According to Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, the IDF’s chief spokesperson, the operation is part of a larger strategic framework designed to “eliminate the existential threat to the State of Israel.” Speaking to JNS, Defrin explained that the intelligence-led strikes were calibrated to inflict lasting damage across Iran’s dispersed nuclear ecosystem.

“The aim of the operation is to significantly damage Iran’s nuclear program in all its components and severely impact its missile array. We have additional targets, and we are determined to achieve them,” Defrin said.

Earlier in the evening, 60 additional IAF jets struck more than 20 high-value targets in and around Tehran, including weapons manufacturing facilities, centrifuge production sites, research centers, and laboratories associated with ballistic missile development.

JNS reported that these strikes specifically sought to curtail Iran’s efforts to expand uranium enrichment capabilities and accelerate its timeline toward a nuclear weapons breakout. Intelligence assets within the IDF Intelligence Directorate had reportedly been monitoring these sites for years, waiting for the opportune moment to neutralize them with maximum impact.

Likud MK Osher Shkalim, a member of Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, offered a candid assessment of the operation’s scope in remarks to JNS. “In an amazing way, we have hit the military leadership, their scientists, and other strategic facilities—and they are in a very difficult situation and overwhelmed by the force of the attack—causing great chaos for them,” Shkalim stated.

He added that Iran’s airspace, once heavily defended, has become increasingly penetrable due to the degradation of its air defense systems. “We are progressing with the action much further than planned, as Iran’s airspace is open to us,” he said.

Shkalim also signaled that Israel expects potential American military participation. “If the U.S. joins, it will greatly facilitate our effort, and this has widespread international implications. We are exactly on our way there,” he told JNS.

Speaking with JNS, Religious Zionism MK Moshe Solomon emphasized the global stakes of the operation. “The struggle against Iran is not just Israel’s struggle—it is a global battle against the axis of evil that threatens the stability of the region, the global economy, and free nations,” Solomon stated.

“Iran has deceived the world for decades about its nuclear program, and today it is clear that this is a project for mass destruction. Israel is fighting the war of all enlightened nations,” he continued. Solomon also hinted at increased coordination with Washington, saying, “The United States—which is in close contact with us, supports us, and collaborates with us to damage the infrastructure—is likely to take an active part in the attack.”

Beyond nuclear targets, Israeli jets also struck ballistic missile assembly facilities, radar detection systems, surface-to-surface missile storage depots, and factories manufacturing components for anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. These materials, according to the JNS report, form the backbone of Iran’s proxy warfare strategy, arming Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen.

According to the IDF, one site targeted in this wave was a production facility for Iranian anti-tank missiles, which have been used extensively against Israeli troops and civilians since the October 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas. In total, hundreds of such weapons have been funneled to Israel’s enemies across multiple fronts.

Despite the success of the operation, Brig. Gen. Defrin warned that Iran retains significant residual capabilities and continues to pose a substantial threat. “Although the number of missile launches has decreased, the regime has not been defeated,” he told JNS. He stressed the importance of ongoing vigilance, including continual assessments by the Home Front Command to balance civilian protection and societal function during wartime.

Defrin concluded with a stern warning to Tehran and its network of terrorist proxies: “If you attempt to rebuild your terror capabilities in the region, you will be struck. We launched this operation to remove an existential threat. We will act as long as necessary to accomplish the mission.”

As the JNS report indicated, Israel’s sweeping strikes across Iran mark not only a tactical military campaign but a watershed moment in its national security doctrine. The IDF is no longer merely disrupting Iran’s progress—it is systematically dismantling the architecture that underpins the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and regional ambitions.

With its airspace now pierced and its strategic facilities under siege, Tehran finds itself in a moment of profound vulnerability. Whether the regime doubles down or recalibrates remains to be seen. For now, however, Israel has made one thing unmistakably clear: it will not permit Iran to become a nuclear power—and it is prepared to act alone, or with allies, to ensure that outcome.