Did the Israeli attack anticipate the Iranian response?,- By Kehinde Yusuf

George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s famous 1980 book has an interesting title: Metaphors We Live By. The book is of the view that metaphor (the indirect comparison of two or more things which share one or more features) reflects or influences how people think and what they do. In this regard, metaphor is related to stereotypes (uncritical assumptions and positive or negative over-generalisations) and myths (ideas which are based on long-standing or widespread fascination, fear or awe).

Metaphors, stereotypes and myths have been on ample display since 13 June, 2025 when Israel carried out a surprise attack on Iran. According to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attack was carried out to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Israel itself is widely believed to have hundreds of nuclear weapons, and it has refused to admit or deny its possession of these weapons in media interviews. Israel has also refused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to its nuclear research facilities, and has declined to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Apart from being used to produce offensive weapons, nuclear capabilities can be put to peaceful uses for human well-being, especially to provide access to alternative energy sources for overall development. Such peaceful uses of nuclear resources are approved by the IAEA. For a country to seek to prevent another sovereign one from developing its nuclear capabilities or even possess nuclear weapons, while the aggressor nation possesses those capabilities, is therefore an overreach and amounts to a usurpation of the regulatory duty of the IAEA.

Some have argued that the best thing for humanity is to create a nuclear-free world, because of the unimaginable devastation that usually attends nuclear accidents or the deliberate use of nuclear weapons. Such people however contend that if the world cannot be made nuclear-free, then all countries which have the capacity to develop nuclear weapons should be free to do so, to facilitate their development and guarantee their security.

In fact, it has been pointed out in this regard that it is countries that do not have nuclear weapons or which agree to abandon their nuclear programmes (e.g., Iraq and Libya) that end up being attacked. Conversely, it is countries that possess nuclear weapons or stockpiles of other forms of weapons of mass destruction (e.g., Pakistan and North Korea) that appear to be safe from aggression however much such nuclear nations or their leaders may be hated or despised by some sections of the international community.

It is for these reasons that some have argued that Iran does not actually possess nuclear weapons and is not on the verge of acquiring them. In fact, attention has been drawn to the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu has been alleging, ostensibly as a scaremongering tactic, for the past thirty-three years now, that Iran is only weeks, months or a few years away from possessing nuclear weapons.

For example, Al Jazeerah, like CBS, noted that in 1992, as a member of parliament, Netanyahu told the Knesset that “within 3 to 5 years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear weapon.” He made related claims three years later and also in 2009 and 2012. As Al Jazeerah notes, “and, 33 years after Netanyahu’s first so-called imminent warning, Israel attacks Iran [and he said], ‘If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months.’ … That’s despite the US Director of National Intelligence saying Iran isn’t building a nuclear weapon, months earlier. … But for Netanyahu, the slogan has been the same for decades.”

Whatever the credibility or lack of Netanyahu’s allegations may be, Israel took it upon itself to attack Iran on 13 June, 2025, and the surprise attack has wrought remarkable damage on Iran in human, intellectual and physical terms. Specifically, the attack led to the killing of top Iranian nuclear scientists, some top Iranian military personnel, Iranian civilians, and also resulted in immense physical damage.

In spite of the devastation, Iran has not appeared to have been dazed for too long, and it didn’t seem to have had the time to mourn its dead, considering the fact that within hours of the Israeli attack, Iran started its retaliation. And it was spectacular. It launched a mass of ballistic missiles against Israel. Some were successfully intercepted by the Israeli defence system respectively metaphorically named ‘Iron Dome’, ‘David Sling’ and so on, but some of the missiles beat the Israeli defence and managed to hit their targets. Considering the ease with which these Iranian missiles seemed to have been penetrating the Israeli anti-missile system, some have claimed that rather than call it “Iron Dome”, it should be called “Paper Dome”.

There have been speculations that as the attacks and counter-attacks continued, Iran was launching more advanced missiles which were increasingly beating the Israeli defence system. This drew attention to some metaphors of the war. The Israeli attack on Iran was code-named “Operation Rising Lion”. However, given the robust retaliation by Iran, and speculations that at some point Netanyahu had fled from Israel under pressure, and also from the images of Israelis scampering to safety as the sirens were constantly sounding, some suggested that the Israeli attack should actually have been codenamed “Operation Running Rabbit”.

The Iranian missiles hit various strategic targets in Israel and have caused extensive damage. These include the headquarters of the Israeli military, the offices of Israel’s famed intelligence agency (MOSSAD), Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, and the strategic Haifa Port. The Iranian missile attacks have created an unaccustomed image of devastation in Israel and widespread panic among the citizens, leading to desperate efforts to leave the country to escape the Iranian barrage. One estimate put the number of Israelis who had fled to Cyprus within the first week of the war with Iran at 30,000.

Following Iran’s confounding response to the Israeli attack, Israel has been inviting America to join it in the war to decapitate any presumed imminent Iranian nuclear endeavours and to topple the current Iranian government. According to CNN in a 20 June, 2025 report, “Under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kameinei, Iran has emerged as a formidable power in the Middle East and a vital counterweight to US dominance – just as China is working to expand its own diplomatic and economic footprint in the region.”

There have been ambivalent signals from America’s President Donald Trump regarding Israel’s call, and the American ambivalence has been eliciting threats by different countries, such as Pakistan, to come to Iran’s aid, should the United States accede to Israel’s request.

In the meantime, Pakistan has made the following demands of the United Nations Security Council as reported on 20 June, 2025: “First, categorical rejection and condemnation of Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran since 13th of June … Second, play its role to end the hostilities and promote de-escalation for achieving a comprehensive ceasefire before the situation spirals out of control and threatens the peace and stability of the entire region.”

Pakistan continued: “Third, clear denunciation of the targeting of IAEA safeguarded nuclear facilities against provisions of international law and the UN Charter as reflected in the UN Security Council resolutions, IAEA resolutions and international humanitarian law including the Geneva Conventions. The Security Council must implement its own resolution 487. Fourth, call for dialogue and diplomacy to promote a peaceful and lasting resolution of the crisis. Diplomacy must be given a chance. … Regrettably, Israeli unlawful strikes against Iran came at a time of intense diplomatic engagement on Iran’s nuclear issue.”

Meanwhile, Israel has been creating the farfetched scenario that when Iran finishes with Israel, the US will be Iran’s next target of attack. This is a further attempt to try to persuade America to join the war on the side of Israel. Moreover, as the Telegraph of 19 June, 2025 reports, “Israel has warned that missiles launched by Teheran could hit Europe as it intensified efforts to win Western support for its war with Iran in an online advertising campaign.” These propaganda efforts designed to denigrate Iran seem to be ironically lionising the country.

A war or military attack must have a strategic objective. Was seeing Tel Aviv devasted, Haifa in ruins, and Ben Gurion Airport shattered a strategic objective of Netanyahu’s 13 June, 2025 surprise attack on Iran? Was exploding the myth of the unmatchable Israeli intelligence as symbolised by MOSSAD and the shattering of the stereotype of the invincibility of the Israeli military one of Netanyahu’s strategic objectives? Was shredding the close to a century of cutting-edge research as represented by the destruction of the Weizmann Institute Netanyahu’s strategic goal? Was seeing Israelis die and making Israelis feel unsafe in Israel an anticipated outcome?

As a Yoruba proverb cautions, war is not like a delicious dish to be relished by either the person serving it or the person to whom it is served. Another Yoruba proverb admonishes that it’s the beginning of war that we know; we never know how it will end. It is therefore never out of fashion to preach and maintain peace.