Global Conflict Reporting

Category: Iran

  • Israel launches Operation “Rising Lion”, Striking multiple targets inside Iran, including its nuclear facilities.

    Part one, Israel’s strike on Iran.

    By. Scott Jackson

    06/13/2025

    (Buckle up folks, this is going to be a lengthy one. part two tomorrow. -Scott)

    As reported last night Israel, early on Friday morning (local time), launched a series of strikes all across Iran with a focus on targets across thr capital of Tehran as well as a number of Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. Surprisingly some of the strikes were confirmed to have been launched by Mossad agents operating inside of Iran, a tactic Israel has used in the past for smaller scale operations. As the operation began this was the first video I noticed being circulated around.

    A view of some of the first strike to hit Tehran.

    Even now, almost a full 24 hours after this strike we don’t know Israel’s full intentions in this operation however we have a better idea of what they managed to hit. Israel conducted heavy SEAD and DEAD missions striking this radar station located in the Hamadan province.

    Iranian Early warning Radar struck in the Hamadan providence. Shown several hours after it was struck when the sun came up. A majority of the strikes happened in the early morning.
    35.185878°N 48.271270°E

    Following the path back from Tehran over the radar site and past Iraq puts us in Deir ez-Zor,Syria where Israeli jets were filmed refueling from their Boeing 707 tanker jets.

    Reportedly shows a IDF fighter refueling above Deir ez-Zor, Syria Friday morning.

    At this point I’d like to include a statement put out by the IDF.

    “A short while ago, following the directive of the political echelon, the IDF launched a preemptive, precise, combined offensive based on high-quality intelligence to strike Iran’s nuclear program, and in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel. A short while, dozens of IAF jets completed the first stage that included strikes on dozens of military targets, including nuclear targets in different areas of Iran.

    The public is requested to follow the instructions of the IDF Home Front Command, which will be updated as necessary, and act calmly and responsibly. The IDF and the relevant authorities are prepared for a wide range of scenarios in defense and offense that may be needed.

    For years, the Iranian regime has been waging a direct and indirect campaign of terror against the State of Israel, by funding and directing terrorist activities via its proxies across the Middle East, while advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Iranian regime is at the head of the axis responsible for all terrorist attacks against the State of Israel since the beginning of the “Swords of Iron” War, including by arming and funding the Hamas terror organization which was responsible for the October 7th Massacre. During the “Swords of Iron” War, Iran even directly attacked Israel twice, firing hundreds of missiles toward the State of Israel.

    The Iranian regime has proclaimed that its objective is to destroy the State of Israel. Senior officials in the Iranian regime have publicly declared their intent to destroy Israel, and are operating to achieve this together with their proxies in the Middle East. Today, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon. Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of the Iranian regime are an existential threat to the State of Israel and a significant threat to the wider world. The State of Israel will not allow a regime whose objective is to destroy the State of Israel to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

    The IDF has conducted a process of preparations for a campaign on the frontline and on the home front. The resilience of Israel’s citizens will be an important factor of the campaign.

    The IDF is ready to continue to act as required. The State of Israel has the obligation to act in defense of its citizens and will continue to do so everywhere it is required to do so, as we have done in the past.

    The IDF is conducting an ongoing situational assessment and will update on any developments.”

    -Statement released to the people of Israel frim the IDF.

    It was around this point that AIs Senator Marco Rubio put out his statement. The most important part from that was that Israel had taken unilateral action and that the U.S. was not involved, but that the U.S. was advised that Israel viewed it as necessary for their self defense.

    Around 9:00 pm (Eastern Standard time) Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin put out a statement saying that Irans nuclear program had been attacked but that the IDF had also focused on targeting Irans nuclear scientist and ballistic missile program. That fit with videos we were already seeing showing strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile storage bases, showing probably the most secondary explosions I’ve ever seen at once as hundreds of ballistic missiles and other munitions cook off after the strike.

    Ballistic missile base in Piranshahr,.

    At around 9:30Pm (5:00AM in Iran) Iranian media announced that their enormous nuclear site at Natanz was struck overnight. Around this same time I was seeing videos coming in from the capital, Tehran. Israel has multitasked this operation, striking at Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, IRGC, leadership. Multiple videos and images showed penthouse and high level apartments that were struck with precision munitions, killing Hossein Salami Iran Revolutionary Guards chief, Hossein Salami, along with Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri chief of staff of the Iranian armed Forces. Both were killed along with others in the first wave of strikes.

    After this was announced Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this,

    (Israel)…should anticipate a harsh punishment. The strong hand of the Islamic Republic will not let them go.” He added “ The Zionist regime with this crime has created a dark and painful fate for itself, and it will definitely receive it.”

    Thanks to Planet Labs we have some amazing satellite images of some of the strikes. The first set is from the Tabriz missile base.

    This one is the massive nuclear facility Natanz from last month. According to reports coming out of Iran this one is completely destroyed. I’m hoping to get some more images tomorrow.

    A couple unconfirmed things I’ve heard. It appears that the F-14 Tomcats, the only combat F-14s left in the world might have been targeted. Also have reports that Iran lost many of its remaining F-4 phantoms.

    This was a large strike and we’ve only scratched the surface here. I’ll have more as information is discovered.

    I would like to split Iran’s response into a separate article just for the sake of making it easier for people to read and also because I believe it is still ongoing as I write this. So consider this Part One.

  • U.S. Middle East assets placed on high alert. Embassy staff in region preparing to pull out.

    By Scott Jackson

    06/12/2025

    A lot is happening in the Middle East today as the state department have put U.S. diplomats and embassies on alert that they could be evacuated at any moment as the U.S./Iran nuclear talks seem to be stalling after months of meetings.

    If these talks fail it’s likely that Israel with or without US backing will launch military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities causing Iran to launch retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, utilizing conventional ballistic missiles, as well as drones. The deadline set by the U.S. for these nuclear talks roughly two months ago was two months. Time seems to be almost up for the question of what’s going to happen with Iran.

    We’ve had some indication earlier this week as a load of anti drone missile that were earmarked for a shipment to Ukraine were sent to the Middle East. Some said this was the Trump administration pulling away from Ukriane however it seems more likely that the DoD views these assets as being mission critical right now.

    So far only non essential staff have been evacuated however that is subject to change as things progress. When asked about this earlier today why military and government families and non critical staff were being evacuated he said that they would “ have to see, thank you”

    Multiple unnamed U.S. officials who spoke to members of the media are saying that they doubt this weekends round of US and Iran talks will even happen. you can find that quote in WP.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/11/state-department-embassy-baghdad/e8d1a6a6-46ec-11f0-9210-87ee82efcc80_story.html

    The airspace around Iran has been subject to a heavy amount of t of GOs jamming. A thing that can be measured by looking at historical flight data of airplanes that flew close to the areas. This phenomenon is noticed a lot near Israel’s borders who were almost constantly jamming GPS signals during the war in Gaza. This is something we also see originating from Russia’s Kaliningrad however at a greater degree there.

    You can see this planes course was incorrectly recorded near Baghdad. This is a tell tale sign of GPS jamming.

    Speaking of air assets. I’m sure it will suprise almost nobody when I say that Iran has seen an uptick in aerial monitoring from the U.S. as of late. Reconnaissance and signals gathering platforms making daily trips around the countries borders.

    Image shows a the flight tracks of a number of US recon and signals gathering platforms thag have done recent mission around or near Iran. Most of the planes stayed near the Iran Iraq border however it looks like some flew into Irans airspace.

    The next bit we have is an advisory put out by the UKMTO or the UK Maritime Trade Organization.

    This UKMTO goes out to mariners operating in the region and warns them away from the Strait of Hormuz due to “increased security tensions in the area that could affect mariners”.

    While the U.S. presence in the Middle East isnt what it once was it still has the capability to retaliate if Iran starts launching ballistic missiles. On the 9th satellite flyovers at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean show that the base still holds at least 4 B-52s as well as at least 6 F-15s (along with some transport and refueling aircraft). Beyond that the USS Carl Vinson (CVN- 70) along with its CSG and carrier air wing 2.

    I haven’t even mentioned everything. The U.S. still has some several thousand soldiers in the region along with multiple air squadrons spread across Iraq and Saudi Arabia and the rest of the gulf partner states. 

    Hey guys I just wanted to go a little less formal to say that I don’t know whats going to happen, but whatever it is feels like it’s coming soon. Some signs are there that we are coming to a point where decisions are going to be made regarding all of this we talked about above. My point is tensions for these players are high and when tensions are high things seem to happen. Anyway for now we wait and see. 
    -Scott

  • F-15s deployed to protect Diego Garcia.

    Picture of an F-15E

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/20/2025

    The U.S. Air Force has sent several F-15 fighters to the base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The fighters are being deployed to help protect the isolated base as well as the important strategic asserts currently deployed there.

    In recent months the base has been the subject of many talks as the arrival of a number of long range strategic bombers was noted by analysts. Satellite imagery taken in late March shows at least 4 B-2 Spirit long range stealth bombers.

    Image taken in late March showing some of the B-2s as well as the refueling aircraft.

    The bombers were used to strike targets in Yemen before the White House announced thag the U.S. had completed its mission in the region (to the dismay of Israel and several other American partners in the region).

    The B-2s have reportedly since left the base but for a time their presence overlapped with that another titan of American air power, 4 B-52H’s that are currently still stationed at the base as of writing.

    At the time this article was started their was believed to be 4 F-15’s that had been moved to the Indian Ocean to help protect the island base and the bombers however TWZ (Who originally broke this story) have since wrote another article and added two more fighters bringing the total to six. While official sources decline to state where the F-15s were moved from, open source trackers believe the jets came from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. This belief comes from watching the flight tracking data. While fighter jets don’t usually broadcast their live position through ADS-B, the refueling aircraft often do and can be tracked.

    Kadena airbase in Japan is located 4,000 miles away from the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.

    Last month Kadena received a contingent of F-15E’s forward deployed from the 336th Fighter Squadron (FS) (Also called the Rocketeers) at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Their relatively close proximity to an otherwise remote island makes them ideal candidates for this ACE force protection mission.

    “As the Keystone of the Pacific, Kadena is a pivotal hub for Agile Combat Employment (ACE),” from an Air Force press briefing on the deployment of the 336th to Kadena.“The 18th Wing will continue to receive rotational units that strengthen capabilities, such as ACE, and project combat power in concert with allies and partners.”

    From The War Zone on ACE (From the article that originally broke this story).

    ‘ACE is a term that currently refers to a set of concepts for distributed and disaggregated operations centered heavily on short notice and otherwise irregular deployments, often to remote, austere, or otherwise non-traditional locales.’

    Diego Garcia is one of the most “Austere or otherwise non traditional locales” while still being critically important to Department of Defense operations in the region. While remote the base is used for multiple different DoD needs such as hosting space force activities, being an important navy port(Especially to the nuclear submarine fleet) and using its lagoon as a shelter for the Sealift Command Prepositioning Ship Squadron.

    While the bases remote location protects it from attack, some have suggested that Iran would be capable of hitting the base using missile carrying smaller warheads. Besides Iran, other peer and near-peer adversaries and potential adversaries have the ability to carry out longer range strikes using bombers, drones or missiles, making the presence of these fighters a welcome sight. 

    The War Zone originally broke this story, go check them out, their articles have always been a huge inspiration and they do some really amazing work.

    Thank you for taking the time to read and for your constant support. I wouldn’t be here without you all. To further support my work I would invite you to sign up for my Patreon, where I will be releasing some podcast episodes very soon. Membership and access to the podcast is $1 a month. I wanted to keep it cheap as a thank you for joining me on this adventure and allowing me to do what I love. 

    -Scott

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  • President Trump orders US forces to stop striking targets in Yemen; effective immediately.

    By. Scott Jackson

    05/06/2025

    After a months long bombing campaign against the Iranian backed Houthi terrorist in western Yemen, the White House has today announced that those strike will stop immediately. This was announced after Houthi leadership made contact with the U.S. leadership and according to trump agreed to stop striking ships in the Red Sea. This puts a close to “Operation Rough Rider” under president Trump as well as hundreds of strike carried out by the former Biden administration.

    The announcement was made during Trump’s meeting with Canadian PM Mark Carney. The conversation with the Houthis had been had the night before.

    “They have capitulated, but more importantly … we will take their word,” Trump said. “They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.”

    It’s very likely Iran played a part in this turn. Possibly telling the Houthis to cease their actions against shipping following threats from the U.S. during the ongoing negotiations.

    Trump wouldn’t say specifics on who he talked to only that the k do that the Houthis would be backing down came from “a good source”. The Houthis, reeling from yesterday’s attack by Israel released this statement yesterday.

    “The operations of our armed forces will continue and the support by Yemen to Palestine will only end with the end of the aggression and siege against Gaza,” -Houthi statement from Al Masirah TV.

    While the U.S. has agreed to stop bombing the Houthis, Israel is another matter and have carried out more strikes since what was reported yesterday. Locals in Yemen as well as the IDF report the bombing of Sana’a airport as well as various power stations, and another concrete factory. Videos included below.

    Video showing the full footage of the aftermath of the attack on Sana’a international airport.

    US forces in the region.

    The U.S. has brought in a large amount of military assets to carry out its attacks against the Houthis. Currently from the navy two aircraft carriers are operating in the region, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75), these ships are both escorted and supported by numerous destroyer squadrons and several cruisers, not to mention their air wings. Several other destroyers have been ordered to the region and are operating separately of the carrier strike groups. Also USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Princeton (CG-59) both Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers have also been ordered to the region as apart of Operation Prosperity Guardian and have been used to strike Houthi targets as well. At least one Ohio class submarine USS Georgia (SSGN-729) has been spotted in theater as well. The Air Force has sent a large number of planes to the region included F-35s and F-22s as well as B-2 Spirit bombers stationed at Diego Garcia. As of several hours ago a pair of B-52s were heading towards the region from the continental US. It’s likely at least some of these assets will remain in the CENTCOM area of responsibility as negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program continue. The White House and Trump have threatened to use military force if the negotiations fail.

    Image from USNi news shows the current general location of the U.S. aircraft carriers.

    The Truman just several days ago had its deployment to the Middle East extended by another week, to continue to keep up a high tempo of attacks against the Houthis. This could possibly be extended further if negotiations are unsuccessful.

    After writing this it was announced that Oman had carried out the negotiations between the Houthis and the US. They had been the go between in the conversation which led to the U.S. ceasing it’s military strikes. 

    I’d like to thank everybody for the constant support I’ve received. These last 5 years have flown by but I feel like GCR continues to grow and improve in its reporting and analysis. I’m always open to comments and questions and can be reached on Facebook or through my email which is listed on the website. 

    I’m currently looking for guest for a future podcast series I’m planning on running. If you have an interesting military story to tell contact me and let’s talk. I want to hear your stories. 

    If you would like to go the extra mile and further support me and the work being done here, you can sign up for my Patreon through the button below for only $1.00 a month. Future video and audio projects to be released there soon. 

    -Scott

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  • Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    Massive explosion destroyed a large portion of Iranian port.

    By. Scott Jackson

    April 26th, 2025

    Five were killed and a staggering 700 injured in an explosion at the port in Bandar Abbas in southwest Iran. Video was taken of the fire directly before the explosion that destroyed part of the Shahid Rajaee port. The government has said the explosion is linked to chemicals that were being stored at a facility there. The cause of the fire is unknown but the fire quickly grew and ignited something which caused the blast.

    Locals report the blast destroying buildings in the immediate area and blew out windows and roofs further away. Others report feeling the blast up to 30 miles away.

    Video of the fire that led to the explosion. The explosion itself is only heard in this video but it gives the impression that this was large.

    A video of the aftermath shows how powerful this blast was and puts you into the shoes of the people who crawled from the wreckage directly after. Windows would have been turned into claymores spraying glass fragments at the speed of sound, wood and bricks and metals would have been turned into supersonic projectiles.

    Video of the aftermath. From Tasnim news.

    We also have another video shot from a news helicopter afterwords that gives us a better view of the location which is actually at a cargo holding area about a mile from the actual port.

    Video shot from a news helicopter showing black smoke climbing into the sky from the site of the disaster.

    From this footage the geolocation of the site is fairly standard and only took a couple minutes. The exact site of the fire that caused the blast is 27.125056°N 56.066710°E, which I’ve included a picture of . The area seems to be a long term storage area for cargo that won’t be moving for a while.

    Overview of the entire area.
    Zoomed into the site.

    A spokesperson for the Iranian government said that an investigation into the cause of the blast would take some time to complete but that it seemed that the cause was not malicious.

    “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded. But until the fire is extinguished, it’s hard to ascertain the cause.”

    Fatemeh Mohajerani, an Iranian goverment spokeswomen.

    So far, some of the area affected remains on fire. The Iranian state has announced a state of emergency in the Hormozgan province, as chemicals in the air could be harmful to those living in the area.

    Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country’s interior minister was heading to the region to oversee the situation. He also expressed “deep sorrow and sympathy” for the disaster.

    The port at Bandar Abbas is located on the Strait of Hormuz, a busy and strategic location that sees a good percentage of the worlds oil and natural gas shipments. 

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve. 

    -Scott 

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  • US accuses Chinese satellite company of aiding Houthi rebel attacks in U.S. warships.

    By Scott Jackson

    April 21st, 2025

    The U.S. has accused a Chinese Satellite company of aiding the Iranian backed Houthi rebels with its targeting of ships in the Red Sea. The U.S. State department has said that data and imagery from the satellite firm is directly being used to target and attack US and international shipping.

    Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited.

    Tammy Bruce said that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited, is the company helping the Houthis.

    “We can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on U.S. interests,”

    Tammy Bruce State Department Spokeperson told Fox News. She later continued,

    “China consistently attempts … to frame itself as a global peacemaker … however, it is clear that Beijing and China-based companies provide key economic and technical support to regimes like Russia, North Korea and Iran and its proxies,”

    GCR reached out for a statement from the company named here however after a day I’ve heard nothing back yet. Will update if they respond to me directly.

    Middle East image from satellite.

    In a statement to other media outlets this was the statement from the company.

    “In our global operations, we strictly comply with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards both in China and internationally. With a mature business model and high-quality services, we are committed to contributing Chinese expertise and solutions to the advancement of the global remote sensing industry,”

    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian claims that China has played a positive role in easing tensions in the region.

    The Houthis have carried out a number of attacks on international shipping through the area, using missiles, drones and attempted hijacking. These attacks have been ongoing since the October 7th 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, the war in Gaza afterwords has been a brutal one, claiming the lives of many and destroying whole swaths of Gaza. The Houthis along with other Iranian backed proxy groups have shown support for Palestinian Hamas (the Iranian backed Palestinian liberation group fighting Israel) in various ways. The Houthis in Yemen have disrupted international shipping and regularly launched ballistic missiles at Israel. Hezbollah has also joined with regular rocket attacks. These attacks drove Israel to invade L Lebanon in October 1st 2024 . Iran itself has also launched several large scale attacks on Israel.

    Thank you for reading. I hope you get as much out of what I’m doing here as I get out of making these reports. If so I would invite you to join my Patreon. Doing that would help me more than I can describe. I’ve kept it as cheap as possible to become a member. It’s only a $1.00. However a dollar from even half of my Facebook followers would be a life changing amount of money for me and for this page.

    Thank you for all the support over the years and as we continue to grow and evolve.  

    -Scott

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