Iran – Israel

There were short-lived international armed conflicts (IACs) between Iran and Israel in October 2024 and between the two States on 13–24 June 2025. This entry focuses on the intense IAC in June 2025.

Both States are party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 but neither is a State Party to Additional Protocol I of 1977 (although Iran has signed the Protocol). Customary IHL on the conduct of hostilities is applicable to the IACs between the two States.

The conflict between Israel and Iran represented a significant escalation of the long-standing enmity between the two nations that dates back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Israel has long alleged that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, whereas Iran has argued that its nuclear programme is purely peaceful in nature. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the Iranian programme as a threat to Israel’s ‘very survival’.¹L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 1 October 2024, Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon.²D. Gritten, ‘Iran launches more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel’, BBC News, 1 October 2024 (Updated 2 October 2024). On 27 October, Israel responded to that attack by striking a missile defence system in the Iranian region of Isfahan.³T. Bennett, ‘What we know about Israel’s attack on Iran’, BBC News, 26 October 2024 (Updated 28 October 2024).

Following the attacks on each other’s territory on 1 and 27 October 2024, tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear activities erupted into an intense IAC in June 2025. On 12 June, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution on Iran’s safeguards obligations.⁴‘NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran’, IAEA Board of Governors Resolution GOV/2025/38, Vienna, 12 June 2025. The resolution, which was supported by 19 of the 35 members of the Board, stated that Iran had ‘failed to provide the co-operation required under its Safeguards Agreement, impeding Agency verification activities, sanitizing locations, and repeatedly failing to provide the Agency with technically credible explanations for the presence of uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at several undeclared locations in Iran or information on the current location(s) of nuclear material and/or of contaminated equipment’.⁵‘NPT Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran’, IAEA Board of Governors Resolution GOV/2025/38, Vienna, 12 June 2025, para (e). This was the first time in 20 years that the IAEA Board of Governors had formally declared Iran to be in breach of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.⁶B. Bell and D. Gritten, ‘Global watchdog finds Iran failing to meet nuclear obligations’, BBC News, 12 June 2025.

On 12 June, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told people in Tehran’s District 18, which includes both military facilities and residential neighbourhoods, to evacuate the area.On 13 June, at about 3:30 am local time in Tehran, Iranian state television reported a first volley of strikes, with residential areas in the capital said to have been hit.⁷L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025). Swarms of small explosive drones are said to have pre-positioned inside Iran months earlier by Israeli commandos struck air-defence radars and communications nodes. Minutes later, more than 200 Israeli fighter aircraft conducted precision strikes against over 100 nuclear and military targets across Iran, including senior military leaders.⁸B. Jensen, ‘Ungentlemanly Robots: Israel’s Operation Rising Lion and the New Way of War’, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), 13 June 2025.

The Israeli attacks, conducted under Operation Rising Lion, marked the beginning of the new IAC between Iran and Israel, which lasted for 12 days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the strikes to be ‘a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival’.⁹L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 14 June, six waves of Iranian attacks took place overnight, reportedly killing three Israelis and injuring a further 76. Israel said that its air force had hit dozens of targets in Tehran. An Iranian health ministry official said that around 800 people had been injured in Iran.¹⁰L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 15 June, Israel claimed to have hit more than 80 targets in Tehran overnight. Iranian State television said that Iranian forces had launched strikes on Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other cities in Israel.¹¹L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025). One of the strikes hit the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv. The Institute, which is said to be one of Israel’s most prominent scientific centres, is known for its technological support to the Israeli military.¹²A. Hamdan, ‘Iranian strike hits Israel’s most important scientific centre. What do we know about the Weizmann Institute?’, Euronews, 15 June 2025.

The same day, the Houthis in Yemen said that they had targeted Israel in coordination with Iran, the first time an Iran-aligned group had publicly announced joint cooperation on attacks with Tehran. The Yemeni group targeted central Israel’s Jaffa with several ballistic missiles, military spokesperson Yehya Sarea said in a televised address.¹³‘Yemen’s Houthis target Israel with ballistic missiles in coordination with Iran’, Reuters, 15 June 2025.

On 16 June, Israel said that eight people were killed overnight by Iranian attacks on cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa. In the early afternoon, the IDF told people to leave a significant part of Tehran ‘immediately’ as it would ‘operate in the area’ in the coming hours. An Israeli strike that day hit Iran’s State broadcaster.¹⁴L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 17 June, further Iranian attacks took place overnight, but they were said to be less intense than on the previous nights, and no casualties or direct impacts were reported. The leaders of the G7 nations urged a ‘de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza’.¹⁵L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 18 June, more than 50 Israeli fighter jets conducted operations in Iran overnight. These included a strike on a university linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israel said that 400 missiles had been fired at its territory over the course of the previous days but without causing fatalities.¹⁶L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 19 June, Iran launched a wave of missiles overnight, and a hospital in Beersheba in southern Israel was hit. Iranian state media said that the strike had targeted a military site next to the hospital, not the facility itself. Israel’s military said that it had targeted nuclear sites in Iran. ¹⁷L. Lam, S. Ferreira Santos, J. Lukiv, and N. Williams, ‘Israel-Iran: How did latest conflict start and where could it lead?’, BBC News, 13 June 2025 (Updated 19 June 2025).

On 20 June, the IDF said that it had conducted dozens of strikes on Iran overnight. Iran launched a total of eight attacks against Israel – six drone attacks and two ballistic missile barrages. One barrage consisted of a missile that the IDF failed to intercept due to an interceptor system malfunction. The second barrage consisted of up to 25 missiles, and two impacts, at least one of which appeared to have been a cluster munition, were recorded in Haifa and Beersheba, in southern Israel. Five people were injured as a result of Iranian military action in Beersheba, according to Israeli emergency services.¹⁸ An Iranian strike in downtown Haifa damaged at least two places of worship, New-York Times. For the fourth day in a row, however, none of Iran’s attacks directly caused any fatalities, although one woman died of a heart attack during the attacks and 51 people were wounded.¹⁹D. Daoud and A. Sharawi, ‘Iranian drone and missile attacks against Israel: June 20, 2025’, Long War Journal, FDD, 20 June 2025.

On 21 June, Iran launched 11 attacks against Israel: 10 drone attacks and one small ballistic missile barrage consisting of five missiles. All missiles were intercepted, but their shrapnel and remnants caused property damage. Additionally, one of Iran’s drone attacks impacted for the first time since the onset of the war, hitting a residential building in northern Israel. It was unclear if the impact was the result of the drone being intercepted by the Israel Air Force and falling in a residential area. This was the fifth day in a row in which Iran’s attacks did not cause any Israeli fatalities and the first in which Iranian strikes wounded no Israelis.²⁰D. Daoud and A. Sharawi, ‘Iranian drone and missile attacks against Israel: June 21, 2025’, Long War Journal, FDD, 21 June 2025.

On 22 June, Iran launched four attacks against Israel: three drone attacks and one ballistic missile barrage, in two waves, consisting of 35 missiles. The attacks came in the wake of Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the United States used B-2 stealth bombers and submarines to strike Iranian nuclear installations in Esfahan, Fordo, and Natanz. Israel intercepted most of the Iranian missiles. But two impacts occurred, one in Tel Aviv and another in Ness Ziona, causing significant damage and wounding 86 Israelis. This was the sixth day in a row in which Iran’s attacks did not cause any Israeli fatalities. The projectiles were also noticeably less numerous and intense than on previous days, with Iran launching the smallest number of attacks since the onset of the war.²¹D. Daoud and A. Sharawi, ‘Iranian drone and missile attacks against Israel: June 22, 2025’, Long War Journal, FDD, 22 June 2025.

On 23 June, Iran launched four attacks against Israel: one drone attack and three ballistic missile attacks, one of which occurred in three waves and consisted of up to fifteen missiles. Israel intercepted most of the missiles although four impacts occurred. The strikes caused property damage, including to a power generator in southern Israel. However, no casualties were reported.²²D. Daoud and A. Sharawi, ‘Iranian drone and missile attacks against Israel: June 23, 2025’, Long War Journal, FDD, 23 June 2025. In one strike on 23 June, Israel hit Evin prison in Tehran, which holds many political detainees, damaging parts of the facility and killing 80 people, including five inmates, 41 prison staff and 13 military conscripts, according to Iranian authorities.²³D. Gritten, ‘Israel says it struck Tehran’s Evin prison and Fordo access routes’, BBC News, 23 June 2025; G. Habibiazad, ‘Iran’s detainees in “unbearable” conditions after Israeli strikes on prison’, BBC News, 22 July 2025.

On 24 June, the date the ceasefire was agreed between the parties (reportedly with US support), Israel said that Iran had fired missiles after the ceasefire had taken effect, and that the Israeli military had retaliated by striking a radar system near Tehran. Iran’s military denied violating the ceasefire, and a statement from Israel’s prime minister indicated that Israel’s retaliation was limited.²⁴F. Fassihi, D. E. Sanger, and A. Boxerman, ‘What to Know About the U.S. Strike on Iran and the Israel-Iran Cease-Fire’, The New York Times, 12 June 2025 (Updated 24 June 2025). Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, issued a statement acknowledging the ceasefire with Israel and saying that the conflict had been ‘imposed’ on Iran by Israel’s ‘adventurism’ and claiming that the ‘people of Iran’ determined the end of the 12-day war.²⁵‘Iran’s president also acknowledges ceasefire’, The Business Standard, 25 June 2025. Little is known about the detail of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on 24 June.²⁶UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ‘MENA Regional Escalation – Flash Update 2 OCHA Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (As of 28 June 2025)’, 28 June 2025.

Operation Rising Lion hit a range of targets in Iran in the course of more than 350 attacks in 27 provinces over the course of the IAC. Iran responded to the attacks by firing volleys of missiles at Israel each day between 13 June and the end of the conflict. Both sides hit – and on occasion targeted – civilian objects. The hostilities caused civilian casualties in both nations and led many hundreds of thousands of civilians, if not millions, to flee their homes temporarily.

Between 13 and 24 June, hundreds of casualties were reported, including many civilians. In Iran, 627 people were killed and a further 4,935 injured according to the Iranian Ministry of Health.²⁷ OCHA, ‘MENA Regional Escalation – Flash Update 2, OCHA Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (As of 28 June 2025)’, 28 June 2025. Iran’s president was slightly wounded in one of the Israeli attacks.²⁸ K. Naji, ‘Iran president was reportedly injured in Israeli strikes’, BBC News, 13 July 2025. In Israel, 25 people were killed and a further 1,300 were injured in the first nine days of the conflict according to Israeli authorities quoted during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on 22 June.²⁹ OCHA, ‘MENA Regional Escalation – Flash Update 2, OCHA Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa (As of 28 June 2025)’, 28 June 2025.

ACLED – the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project – has described the scale and intensity of Israel’s attack on Iran as ‘unprecedented’, qualifying it as ‘the most severe security challenge the Islamic Republic has faced since the Iran-Iraq War’. The intensity of the attacks on Tehran was ‘particularly notable’ with almost one third of all attacks attributed to Israel occurring in Tehran province, and most concentrated within the capital. Seventeen of Tehran’s twenty-two districts were attacked.³⁰ A. Mehvar, ‘Twelve days that shook the region: Inside the Iran-Israel war’, Q&A, ACLED, 4 July 2025.

In Israel, military bases ³¹P. Nuki and B. Butcher, ‘Iran struck five Israeli military bases during 12-day war’, Daily Telegraph, 5 July 2025, as well as key population centres came under missile attack from the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran is reported to have launched more than 500 ballistic missiles during the conflict.³² E. Fabian, ‘IDF: Sunday’s Haifa impact was not a failed interceptor, but undetected Iranian missile’, Times of Israel, 23 June 2025. Most were destroyed by Israeli missile defences before they hit the ground but a number of Israelis were killed or injured by missile strikes and buildings were damaged, in particular in Tel Aviv. Targets included the Israeli Military Intelligence School, the Ministry of Interior in Haifa, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and an oil refinery and power plants.

A closely related, but distinct IAC between Iran and the United States concerned US attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities during the night of 21 to 22 June 2025. This conflict is addressed in a separate entry. See International armed conflict between Iran and the United States. Following the cessation of active hostilities with Israel on 24 June 2025, discussions between Iran and the United States about its nuclear programme have continued, albeit with the apparent risk of further hostilities should those discussions not result in a negotiated settlement.

Before the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities on 22 June, Israel had already conducted at least ten strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. In addition, Israel targeted government buildings, including the ministries of defense, intelligence, and petroleum, as well as the headquarters of Iran’s national broadcasting agency. It killed more than 30 senior Iranian military commanders — many in targeted strikes on the first day of the war — and at least 11 nuclear scientists.³³ A. Mehvar, ‘Twelve days that shook the region: Inside the Iran-Israel war’, Q&A, ACLED, 4 July 2025. Israel justified its attacks on Iran as being necessary to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. In contrast, it was reported that the US government had determined that Iran was not actively working on a nuclear weapon before the strikes. ³⁴J. Gambrell, M. Lidman, and J. Frankel, ‘Israel strikes Iran’s nuclear sites and kills top generals. Iran retaliates with missile barrages’, Associated Press, 18 June 2025.

Yet, despite extensive damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, the fate of its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium remained unknown at the time of writing. Reports suggest some or all may have been hidden before the strikes, either to preserve leverage in future talks or to enable a potential dash toward weaponization.³⁵ A. Mehvar, ‘Twelve days that shook the region: Inside the Iran-Israel war’, Q&A, ACLED, 4 July 2025. According to remarks by the IAEA director-general after the end of the conflict, Iran could resume uranium enrichment ‘in a matter of months’.³⁶ L. Sharman and S. Tanno, ‘UN nuclear watchdog chief says Iran could again begin enriching uranium in “matter of months”’, CNN, 30 June 2025.

State Parties

• Iran
• Israel

Non-State parties

• Houthis