The Commander of the Quds Force at the Diplomacy and Resistance Conference

The defining moment of this escalation occurred in June 2025, during a twelve-day period of intense conventional warfare that saw hundreds of Israeli aircraft striking Iranian soil. These strikes specifically targeted the backbone of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile production facilities, and energy hubs, signaling a move toward "total deterrence" by the Israeli leadership. In response, Iran launched massive salvos of ballistic missiles and drones directly at Israeli population centers and critical infrastructure, such as the Haifa oil refinery. While many of these projectiles were intercepted by advanced defense systems, the sheer scale of the exchange demonstrated that the era of fighting through intermediaries like Hezbollah or Hamas has been supplemented by a high-stakes, direct interstate conflict.