Why Israel attacked Iran, and what it could mean for the U.S.

Israel launched air strikes into Iran early Friday, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and killing top military leaders, officials and nuclear scientists in the process. Iran launched over 100 drones toward Israel on Friday morning in retaliation, and the region is bracing for further military escalation.

Israel launched the strikes over its concerns about Iran’s advancing nuclear program. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel targeted Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility.

“We are at a decisive moment in Israel’s history,” Netanyahu said early Friday, adding that the operation would “roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s survival.”

Ahead of the attack, the U.S. and Iran were discussing a deal that would have Iran scale down its nuclear program in exchange for the U.S. to lift sanctions, which have crippled Iran’s economy. Though Iran insists it does not want to create a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu has been adamant that the only way to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is by going to war. The U.S. was set to meet with Iran on Sunday, but Iran says it will not attend the meeting after the Israeli attack.

“The Israelis calculate that even if there is an improvement in US-Iran relations and a reduction in U.S. Iran tensions, it will not be accompanied by a reduction in Israeli Iranian tensions,” Parsi said. “So the Israelis have, for more than 20 years, tried to sabotage any diplomacy between the United States and Iran.”

“After October 7th, we learned that we are not going to wait for our enemies to surprise us again,” Danon said. “That’s why we targeted the nuclear sites and also the industry of the ballistic missiles that Iran developed.”

For more insight into Israel’s attack on Iran and what the strikes mean for the region, here is more from Parsi and Danon.

The following interviews have been edited for length and clarity. 

Israel UN Ambassador explains why Israel attacked Iran 

U.S.-Iran relations expert says Trump coordinated with Israel to strike Iran

But Trump shifted his position a couple of weeks ago and was no longer content with just limiting the program. He wants to essentially eliminate the program. And that led nowhere, predictably. And now instead, it appears that he has shifted towards allowing the Israelis to conduct these strikes in order to see whether that will change the Iranian position or not.

So, Trump is making a major gamble here, thinking that this actually will soften the Iranian position and make them capitulate. If they don’t, what are his options? And this is where I think the Israelis are hoping that the Iranians will not capitulate and that will force the United States into the war.

Treye Green edited the digital piece.