Killing the programme, one mind at a time: Inside Israel's Operation Narnia

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During the operation, Israeli intelligence classified Iran's nuclear scientists into four tiers based on priority for elimination, ranking them from highest to lowest threat. Those with the most critical military knowledge and hardest to replace were placed at the top read more
Israel's 'Operation Narnia' against Iran was a well-coordinated and much-sought-after mission that culminated after years of planning. The 12-day-long conflict between Israel and Iran reportedly killed members in the central leadership of the IRGC as well as nuclear scientists believed to be working at uranium enrichment sites of the country.
While the US largely took credit for 'destroying' Iran's nuclear facilities after it joined the conflict over the weekend, Israel's 'Operation Narnia' brought supposed victory to the country by eliminating people associated with Tehran's nuclear programme.
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Here's how the mission took shape:
'Operation Narnia': The improbable attack
Israel was initially unsure if it could conduct the operation when its military began charting out some plans more than a decade ago. The name reflects the operation's improbable nature, something that cannot happen in reality and is straight out of fantasy.
During the operation, Israeli intelligence classified Iran's nuclear scientists into four tiers based on priority for elimination, ranking them from highest to lowest threat. Those with the most critical military knowledge and hardest to replace were placed at the top. Israel then drew up a hit list, ready to be activated on command, with the most dangerous figures leading the list.
The precision of the strikes was made possible by the Intelligence Directorate's inputs. The scientists who were targeted and eventually killed in the attacks were pivotal to Iran's nuclear program. The nine eliminated scientists, according to the Jerusalem Post, are:
Fereydoun Abbasi, a nuclear engineering expert
Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, a physics expert
Akbar Matlali Zadeh, a chemical engineering expert
Saeed Beraji, a materials engineering expert
Amir Hassan Faqahi, a physics expert
Abd al-Hamid Minushahr, a reactor physics expert
Mansour Asgari, a physics expert
Ahmad Reza Davalparki Daryani, a nuclear engineering expert
Ali Bakhayi Kathehremi, a mechanical expert
How was the operation planned?
'120 individuals from Military Intelligence and the Air Force were brought into a facility in Unit 8200 to plan the operation. By January, the pressure was mounting as no solutions had been found. The consensus was clear - we needed to develop solutions targeting air defense systems,' a senior IDF official told JP.
Over the past year, Israel started building a target database and made a breakthrough after locating an intelligence base and an air force base. Still, the list of targets was insufficient. Different teams were assigned specific objectives like taking out nuclear scientists, destroying command centres, and disabling radar systems, which marked the beginning of Operation 'Rising Lion,' the official added.
Operation Narnia operated in concert with the larger overt air campaign Operation Rising Lion.
An op that took decades to plan
Operation Narnia was not a product of short-term planning. It took several years since the mid-1990s for Israel to finally launch the mission earlier this month. During the 90s, Israel identified signs of Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. In response, it built a covert network inside Iran to carry out sabotage missions, including assassinations of nuclear scientists and attacks on enrichment facilities. But officials eventually concluded that only a direct airstrike could fully dismantle Iran's nuclear program.
But an airstrike was a long shot considering Israel's size and resource strain at the time. However, by 2008, the country tested its long-range strike capabilities with Operation Glorious Spartan, sending over 100 fighter jets to Greece to simulate a mission to Iran.
Over the next several years, Israel weakened Hamas and Hezbollah, and Syrian opposition forces toppled the pro-Iran regime. With a new anti-Iran government in place, Israel gained unimpeded access to Syrian airspace, removing a key barrier to launching a full-scale strike.