The Twelve-Day War of June 2025: Israel and Iran Have We Turned A Corner?

After years of debate, negotiations, threats and risks, the inevitable finally came: military action. Israel pre-emptively attacked Iran’s nuclear program while neutralising its nuclear scientists and top military men. There was the Six-Day War of June 1967; now we have the Twelve-Day War of June 2025. The combatants: Israel, Iran, and briefly, the United States. Despite all this, have we turned a corner?

The state of war started in 1979 after the successful installation of a theocratic, fundamentalist, puritanical regime called the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic overthrew the Shah of Iran, the last sovereign of a monarchy which lasted 2,500 years since the days of Cyrus the Persian, who is prominently mentioned in the Bible. The Shah was replaced by a Shia Muslim cleric, called the Supreme Leader, who possesses broad executive powers, more than the elected Iranian President. The Supreme Leader is the most powerful person in the country.

From Day One, Iran announced its eternal hostility (and de facto state of war) against the United States, whom they call ‘The Great Satan’ and the State of Israel, ‘The Little Satan.’ Iran regularly talks (and plans) for the ‘soon demise’ of both nations. It waged war by arming proxies like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis of Yemen to vex Israel from all directions. It has supported terrorist acts waged by the proxies. They even wage war in cyberspace with some well-trained hackers. Only in June 2025 did actual military action take place. And all of it was done in the air - no ‘boots on the ground.’

A Few Observations

1. Global consensus: There are a few issues that gain universal agreement in the West, like the topic of Iran and nuclear weapons. On this point, the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union agree. Repeatedly, we have heard over the years, ‘Iran must not be allowed to gain nuclear weapons.’ The main reason is that the Middle East is an unstable tinder box, and an atomic Iran would upset the balance of power in the region. Another compelling reason is that a nuclear-armed Iran would spawn an arms race in the Middle East. Chances are high that if a nuclear weapon exists, it will be put to use for the first time since Hiroshima in 1945. Some argue that the clerics who rule the nation await the return of the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi. Before he comes will be a global apocalypse. Critics say this messianic regime is dangerous and must not be allowed to facilitate this apocalypse but possessing and using the most dangerous weapon known to man. 

• Israel has raised the alarm for years: The Jewish state considers an atomic Iran a grave existential threat. There is no doubt in their minds that Israel would be the first target of an Iranian nuclear attack. The Sunni Arabs consider Iran a grave threat to their nation, too.

• A well-planned and executed military operation: Operation Rising Lion, a name based on Numbers 23:24, has been planned by Israel for many years. The precision and effectiveness of their campaign are a testament to its effectiveness. They have a lot of local operatives in Iran; planted drone launchers near key Iranian targets; and knew where everything and everyone was located; quickly gained control of Iran’s airspace and bombed Iran’s multi-site nuclear facilities, with total impunity. Despite the large number of sorties, not one plane or pilot was lost.

• American involvement: American presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have been declaring that Iran will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. Bill Clinton first made this declaration in 1995, and it has been regularly repeated for the last thirty years. So, like Israel, America’s military operation, called Operation Midnight Hammer, had been planned for many years. Under the current US President Donald Trump, the ultimate deal maker who hates war, there was a big emphasis on negotiations. When that failed, and with an urgency that Iran was about to have a nuclear breakout and be able to produce a few bombs, Trump decided to attack. Regardless of what one thinks about Trump, the US, and Iran, from a military perspective, it was a grand and flawless operation. From an airbase in Missouri, 125 aircraft made a staggering thirty-seven-hour non-stop round-trip flight, refuelling several times in the air. They entered Iranian airspace around 2 AM and spent a total of twenty-five minutes from the air, while submarines offshore, bombed Iran’s three key nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Fordow was the key uranium enrichment site considered impregnable because it is buried deep in a mountain (perhaps half a kilometre down). For the first time ever, America dropped fourteen of its legendary 30,000-pound (13,600 kilos) bunker-busting bombs. The aircraft returned to Missouri safe and sound without being detected by Iran, and not one shot was fired.

• Not a forever war: The Trump Administration went to great lengths to explain that their involvement was not about regime change or a war against Iran. The goal was strictly limited to destroying Iran’s nuclear capability.

War Over: Operation Midnight Hammer occurred early Sunday morning, the 22nd of June, 2025. On Monday, the 23rd, Iran did a face-saving token counterattack on the US military base in Qatar (Iran warned the Qataris ahead of time), and on Tuesday, the 24th, the two sworn enemies Iran and Israel agreed to a Trump-brokered ceasefire. The Twelve-Day War was over.

Israel declared victory because its main military objectives had been met. The Jewish state incurred damage from Iranian retaliatory drone and ballistic missile attacks. Unlike Israel, which only attacked nuclear targets, Iran used its firepower against civilians. Several thousand apartments were badly damaged, and there were at least two dozen deaths.

What’s Next: As of this writing, the ceasefire is fragile but holding. Whether the ceasefire continues to be honoured or the fighting flares up again, we have definitely turned a corner, and things will not be the same. We are at a pivot of history.

Trump insists everyone go back to the negotiation table. The topics: Iran must give up its uranium enrichment program, and it must renounce its death to America and Israel mantra. Considering that these two issues are not just part of public policy - they claim it’s part of their (Shia) theology, it will be difficult for a cleric-run regime to backtrack on its aims.

Then again, the Middle East is where you can expect the unexpected and also a place of miracles. Could the footsteps of the Messiah be at the door (James 5:9)?