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← The June 2025 Twelve-Day War

Timeline of the Twelve-Day War, June 13 to 24, 2025

Evidence rating: CONFIRMED. The dates, operation names, and main events below are on the public record, reported day by day by Israeli outlets (Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post) and confirmed by US government statements.

If you only heard "we bombed Iran," this is the order things happened in. Israel started the war on June 13, 2025. The United States joined it nine days later, on the night of June 21 (Washington time), which was the early morning of June 22 in Iran. Iran fired back at Israel every day and, once, at an American base in Qatar. President Trump announced a ceasefire on June 23, and it took hold on June 24. He named it "the 12 Day War," and the name stuck.

Two code names matter. Operation Rising Lion was Israel's campaign. Operation Midnight Hammer was the American strike on three nuclear sites. Iran called its missile retaliation Operation True Promise III.

Go deeper (Level 4): Before the war: talks and the order · Day 1, June 13: Rising Lion · Days 2 to 7, June 14 to 19 · Days 8 to 12, June 20 to 24 · Information war and fake footage · The final night, hour by hour

Before the war: talks under way, and an order already given​

Full detail: Before the War.

The most important fact a newcomer usually does not know: the war began in the middle of negotiations. The United States and Iran held five rounds of nuclear talks in the spring of 2025, led by Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi: April 12 in Muscat, April 19 in Rome, April 26 in Muscat, May 11 in Muscat, and May 23 in Rome, where Oman, the mediator, reported "some but not conclusive progress" (dates as compiled by @MichaelARothman). Le Monde reports that "the sixth round of negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program was scheduled for Sunday, June 15" (Le Monde, June 26, 2025). Investigative reporter Emily Kopp adds that "on the day Israel launched the 12-day war, one of Iran's enrichment sites was due for inspection by the IAEA" (Kopp on X, March 1, 2026).

The decision to strike had been made days earlier. The Telegraph reports that "On Monday June 9, he [Netanyahu] told his military chiefs to proceed. The following day, he phoned Mr Trump," and that "nearly 200 aircraft – mostly F-35 stealth fighters and F-16s – took off from bases in southern Israel, flying through Jordanian and Syrian airspace" (The Telegraph, June 24, 2025).

Iran's president later framed it the same way from his side: "Iran was present at the negotiating table... History will not forget the breaking of covenants and charters by the enemies of Iran, who resorted to aggression and invasion during the negotiations" (Masoud Pezeshkian, June 24, 2025, as posted by @SuppressedNws). That is Iran's framing, but the dates behind it are not in dispute.

Two events on June 12​

  • The IAEA vote. On June 12, 2025, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, the United Nations nuclear inspectors) voted 19 to 3, with 11 abstentions, that Iran was not complying with its nuclear safeguards obligations, according to UN News. Iran answered that day by announcing a new enrichment site. See The Nuclear Case Versus the Intelligence.
  • The 14-month build-up. The Jerusalem Post's explainer by Yonah Jeremy Bob traces Israel's planning back to Iran's first direct missile and drone attack on Israel in April 2024, and describes Mossad Director David Barnea working to "convince Trump's team to harden their negotiating positions" in April 2025 (Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2025).

Day 1 — Friday, June 13: Israel launches Rising Lion​

Full detail: Day 1: Rising Lion.

In the early hours, Israeli jets and Mossad teams struck across Iran. In his televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion — a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival," and that it would "take as long as is needed," as quoted by CNN.

The Times of Israel's liveblog that day lists the dead commanders: IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) chief Hossein Salami, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC air force chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and Gholam Ali Rashid. It reports the above-ground enrichment hall at Natanz destroyed and damage at Fordow and Isfahan. It quotes Netanyahu telling Iranians, "The objective of Israel's operation is to thwart the Islamic regime's nuclear and ballistic missile threat" (Times of Israel liveblog, June 13, 2025). The Times of Israel later counted about 30 senior commanders and at least 15 nuclear scientists killed (Times of Israel, June 24, 2025).

Part of the attack came from inside Iran. In a January 2026 report on Israel's Channel 12 investigative program "Uvda," an Iranian agent working for the Mossad, identified only as "Arash," described teams that used rockets and drones deployed inside the country to destroy air defenses and missile launchers in the first hours of June 13 (as summarized by The Cradle, January 30, 2026). A senior Israeli official described the opening minutes to an Israeli commentator: "We simultaneously scheduled three things for 3:00 AM. The elimination of the scientists, the elimination of the military officials, and the destruction of Natanz," and, of the people targeted, "we caught them in their homes" (as posted by @JewishWarrior13, June 15, 2025; the official is not named).

Iran's Supreme Leader answered within hours: "At dawn today, the Zionist regime opened its dirty and bloody hand to crime in our beloved country and exposed its evil nature more than ever by attacking residential centers. The regime must expect severe punishment" (Ali Khamenei, June 13, 2025, as posted by @prestonstew_).

That night Iran fired two barrages, fewer than 100 ballistic missiles, at Israel, injuring about 63 people in the Tel Aviv area, the same liveblog reports. The Institute for the Study of War judged the first response weak: a "two-wave ballistic missile attack targeting Israel from Iranian territory about 18 hours after the initial Israeli strikes. This retaliation seems to have had limited to no effect at this time" (ISW on X, June 14, 2025).

Days 2 to 4 — June 14 to 16: missiles on Israeli cities, Israel hits Tehran​

Full detail: Days 2 to 7.

  • June 14–15. An Iranian missile killed four women of one family in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. Another hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, and killed nine people, including three children, the deadliest single strike on Israel in the war (Times of Israel; Times of Israel liveblog, June 15).
  • June 16. Israeli jets bombed the headquarters of Iran's state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran during a live newscast; the anchor fled the studio on air (Times of Israel). The IDF said it hit a "communication center" used by the military (NPR).

Days 5 to 7 — June 17 to 19: Washington debates, a hospital is hit​

  • June 17. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told CNN's Christiane Amanpour, "We did not have any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon" (Amanpour on X, video clip). The same day, asked about his intelligence director's March testimony that Iran was not building a bomb, Trump said, "I don't care what she said" (Axios).
  • June 17, also. Trump called for Iran's unconditional surrender, and Iran rejected the ultimatum (as logged on the Wikipedia current-events portal, June 2025, citing BBC and The Guardian). Hours earlier, Reuters had reported Trump saying everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran (as logged by a same-day Reddit timeline of wire headlines). That same day, an X post quoted by a forum attributed to Deputy Assistant to the President Alex Pfeiffer the line "This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture" in answer to reports that the US had joined the attack (as quoted on AR15.com). Rep. Thomas Massie announced a war powers resolution: "This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution" (same source). Treat the forum copies as leads until the original posts are opened.
  • June 19. An Iranian missile hit the surgical wing of Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, Israel's main southern hospital (Times of Israel). The ward had been evacuated the day before. Standing in the ruins, Netanyahu set the war's goal wider than nuclear sites: "By the operation's end, there will be no nuclear threat to Israel and no ballistic missile threat either. We will remove both of these threats" (video posted by Israeli journalist Noga Tarnopolsky).
  • June 19, also. The White House said the President would decide on direct US strikes "within the next two weeks" (S2 Underground wartime report, June 19, 2025). The Associated Press later described that line as "ostensibly to allow additional time for negotiations, but in actuality masking the impending attack" (AP via PBS NewsHour). The strike came two days later.

Day 8 — June 20: "weeks to months"​

Full detail: Days 8 to 12.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard posted that "the dishonest media is intentionally taking my testimony out of context" and that "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly" (Gabbard on X, June 20, 2025). Trump told reporters that day that she was "wrong" (FactCheck.org).

Days 9 and 10 — night of June 21–22: the United States enters the war​

Seven B-2 bombers dropped fourteen 30,000-pound bunker-busters on Fordow and Natanz; a submarine fired more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at Isfahan. Most Americans learned of it from one post. Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow... NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" (as relayed by the Washington Examiner and @EricGrimberg1). One analyst account noted within the hour that "every American is discovering that the United States has struck Iran from a single social media post" and that "Congress has NOT declared war on Iran" (S2 Underground, June 22, 2025). Satellite images taken June 21 showed Iran filling Fordow's entrance tunnels with earth before the bombs fell (Open Source Centre on X). Trump then addressed the nation and said, "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated" (Times of Israel full text, June 22, 2025). Full account: The June 22 Strikes.

On June 22, Iran's parliament voted, in a non-binding step, to back closing the Strait of Hormuz; the final decision sat with Iran's Supreme National Security Council (CNBC). It never closed. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization called the strikes a "savage assault" that violated the Non-Proliferation Treaty and said its program would continue, according to the Fars news agency (as relayed by @Osint613). The next day, Iran's parliament approved the outline of a bill suspending cooperation with the IAEA's inspectors; it passed on June 25 (Wikipedia summary of the war).

Day 11 — June 23: Al Udeid, Evin, and a ceasefire​

  • Israel struck Tehran's Evin prison. Iran's judiciary later said at least 71 people were killed there, including staff, prisoners, and visiting relatives (France 24).
  • At about 7:39 p.m. local time Iran fired missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US base in the Middle East, after warning Qatar. Trump wrote, "I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured" (CBS News; Fox News).
  • Hours later, at 6:02 p.m. Eastern, Trump announced on Truth Social a "Complete and Total CEASEFIRE" and congratulated both countries for ending "what should be called, 'THE 12 DAY WAR'" (Washington Examiner; ABC News). The ceasefire was mediated by the United States and Qatar.

Day 12 — June 24: last missiles, then quiet​

In the final hours before the 7 a.m. start, Iran fired six salvos. One missile hit an apartment building in Beersheba and killed four people sheltering in safe rooms (Times of Israel). Israel prepared a large response. According to Channel 12, as reported in the Times of Israel liveblog, Trump posted "ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS," and Israel hit a single radar site instead. Netanyahu then said, "Israel has never had a friend like President Trump in the White House," and "we sent Iran's nuclear program down the drain" (Times of Israel liveblog, June 24, 2025).

The ceasefire held. By the Times of Israel's count, Iran fired about 550 ballistic missiles and about 1,000 drones at Israel over the twelve days. How the ceasefire was announced, what each side actually agreed to, and who broke it first are on their own page: The Ceasefire, June 23–24.

Side note: Israel's request reaches the Pentagon (June 15)​

Two days into the war, the account Clash Report posted: "NEW: An emergency Pentagon meeting discusses Israel's request to intervene in the war against Iran. Source: NBC" (Clash Report, June 15, 2025). The NBC story itself was not linked in the post. Rating: MODERATE. It fits the later reporting, on the Midnight Hammer page, that Israel asked the United States to join.

A war fought in a fog of fake video​

Full detail: Information War and Fake Footage.

A reader trying to follow the war in real time was fighting a second battle: fake footage. BBC Verify found that a clip "falsely claimed to show an Israeli F-35 being shot down" reached 21 million views, but "was actually from a flight simulator video game," and that "the three most-viewed Iranian fake videos collectively gained 100 million views"; pro-Israel accounts, it found, recycled old clips of Iranian protests (BBC Verify, June 20, 2025, as quoted in the Wikipedia Twelve-Day War article). Months later, the head of Iran's state television admitted that its own report of Israeli F-35s being shot down "was not true" and had been based on military sources that "later proved inaccurate" (as reported by Globes analyst Dean Shmuel Elmas). On day three, a popular pro-Israel account posted "Huge explosions in the Fordow nuclear area" and corrected itself within the hour: "The video shows a fire at a missile base in the region and not the nuclear site" (@MOSSADil). Israel's military censor, meanwhile, told newsrooms on June 16 not to film damage near military sites (see Iran's Retaliation). The lesson for a citizen: in the first days of a war, date-check every clip.

Why the dates matter​

The war is usually dated June 13 to June 24, 2025. Counting June 13 as day one, the ceasefire took hold on day twelve, which is how Trump arrived at the name. The American part lasted one night. But it was the American strike, and Iran's answer to it at Al Udeid, that put US troops in the line of fire.

Status: Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Tulsi Gabbard, Rafael Grossi, David Barnea, Abbas Araghchi, Steve Witkoff, and Thomas Massie are alive. Hossein Salami, Mohammad Bagheri, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and Gholam Ali Rashid are deceased (2025). Ali Khamenei is deceased (2026). Masoud Pezeshkian: Unknown (not established by these sources after the 2026 war).

What a citizen can check​

  • Put the negotiation calendar (talks set for June 15) next to the strike date (June 13). Ask whether a country that is bombed during talks has a reason to trust the next round.
  • Read one Israeli liveblog day in full, June 13 or June 24, and compare it with what you remember hearing on American TV.
  • Note the gap between the IAEA vote (June 12) and the first Israeli strike (hours later). Ask whether the vote was a finding of a bomb program. It was not; see the next pages.

Sources on this page​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

Research captures: twitter/t82__v973.md, t82__v974.md, t82__v975.md, t82__v976.md, t82__v977.md, t82__v978.md, t82__v979.md, t82__v980.md, t82__v981.md, t83__v989.md, t84__v1003.md, t86__v1025.md, t86__v1027.md, t86__v1029.md, t85__v1015.md, t88__v1053.md

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