Israel's Attack on Iran Took 8 Months of Planning

Eight months of intensive preparations led to Israel's attack aimed at Iran's top military officers and scientists, as well as nuclear and missile sites.

Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in Friday's initial attack on about 100 targets.

The attack was aided by the Mossad intelligence service having operatives on the ground conducting covert sabotage operations on missile and air defense sites.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military and intelligence services to begin planning for the attack after Iran and its proxies struck Israel in October, Axios reported Friday.

Adding to Netanyahu's motivation was Iran's fast-growing missile arsenal and its weakened air defenses following Israel's retaliation. Israel also had intelligence indicating Iran could build a nuclear bomb relatively quickly if it chose to.

Israeli officials maintain that despite President Donald Trump's public comments that the U.S. was not involved in the attack on Iran, Washington had coordinated with the plan.

Tel Aviv wanted Iran to think no attack was imminent so that Iranians on Israel's target list wouldn't move to new locations.

"We had a clear U.S. green light," one Israeli official told Axios.

Following the strikes, the United States underlined it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests, but Tehran said Washington would be "responsible for consequences."

Before the attack, Trump said he believed a deal on Iran's nuclear program was "fairly close," cautioning however that an Israeli attack on its arch foe could wreck the chances of an agreement.

Netanyahu was set to speak to Trump on Friday, CNN reported.

During a brief phone call with the network Friday morning, Trump said the U.S. supported Israel and called the strikes on Iran last night "a very successful attack."

"We, of course, support Israel, obviously, and supported it like nobody has ever supported it," Trump said.

"Iran should have listened to me when I said — you know I gave them, I don't know if you know, but I gave them a 60-day warning, and today is day 61."

Earlier on Truth Social, Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program, warning that Israel's attacks "will only get worse."

AFP and the Associated Press contributed to this story.