Briefing | Target acquired

Israel’s race to kill Iran’s nuclear dream

If it fails the regime could make a frantic dash for a bomb

A satellite image shows the Isfahan enrichment facility
Photograph: Reuters
|5 min read

ISRAEL’S fearsome bombing campaign has brought Iran to its knees militarily. It has killed lots of its most senior generals and wiped out much of its air defences. Israeli aircraft are now free to conduct daylight raids over Tehran, the capital. On June 16th the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it had destroyed more than 120 of Iran’s ballistic-missile launchers, about a third of the total. Iran is still firing ballistic missiles at Israel, and these are killing Israelis. But the salvoes, already less intense than those seen in clashes between Israel and Iran in April and October, have been getting smaller.

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This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Deep concern”

From the June 21st 2025 edition

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