As Israeli jets struck military targets, high-ranking officers and nuclear-related facilities in Iran during the opening salvo of Operation Rising Lion, there was another extremely high-stakes clandestine mission taking place. Code-named Operation Narnia, Israeli operatives reportedly used a “secret weapon” to simultaneously kill nine of Iran’s top nuclear scientists as they slept in their beds, according to Israel’s N12 news outlet. It was the latest move in Israel’s long-time effort to blunt Iranian nuclear ambitions by killing off the people capable of advancing the program.
Officials declined to say what this special weapon, “which remains under censorship and has not been disclosed publicly,” was, the Times of Israel explained. The War Zone cannot verify these claims. However, as we have previously reported, Israel hit residences of high-value individuals with smaller munitions and Mossad used drones and anti-tank guided missiles inside Iran (more on those later) on the first night of its attack. These targeted assassinations continue today, although not in the same volume seen during the opening acts of the war. It remains possible that some of these systems were used in the assassination of the scientists.
Israeli intelligence deliberately orchestrated simultaneous hits as the opening blow of the war to avoid any chance of warning or escape, according to the N12 report. In previous incidents, Iranian nuclear scientists had often been targeted with car bombs and drive-by shootings while commuting. As a result, these public events set off alarms and spurred increased protection for other potential high-value targets.
For a reason not yet clear, while nine scientists were killed, a 10th scientist escaped the initial attack but was killed later.
“These scientists believed their homes were safe zones,” a senior Israeli official told N12. “They never imagined they would be reached in their bedrooms.”
Israeli intelligence officials told N12 that killing the scientists was the most important part of the opening phase of Operation Rising Lion. Air defenses, ballistic missile systems, and command and control nodes are important and difficult to replace. However, the officials emphasized that “the knowledge of these people is irreplaceable. It takes many years, if any, to regroup these minds who each worked for 20-40 years on the nuclear and weapons program.”
“There is a long-term effect here for more than many years,” the officials added.
The nuclear scientists who were eliminated “had been involved for decades in promoting nuclear weapons – an essential component of the Iranian regime’s plan to destroy the State of Israel,” according to the publication.
Hellbound and Down 