Knowledge Nugget | US-Israel war on Iran: 10 must-know tidbits for UPSC Exam

Key Takeaways:

1. Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’: On Saturday, February 28, Israel launched a daylight strike on Tehran, targeting key military and strategic sites. Iranian cities targeted included Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, Kermanshah, Lorestan, and Tabriz, along with southern naval facilities in Kenarak. Isfahan, a key hub for Iran’s ballistic missile program, sustained significant damage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States had launched a joint operation against the Islamic Republic, dubbing it Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’.

2. Operation “Epic Fury”: US President Donald Trump confirmed Washington’s involvement in the strikes on Iran via Truth Social, describing the operations as “major combat operations in Iran” and reaffirming that the US would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Codenamed “Operation Epic Fury” by the US, the strikes represent the most direct confrontation with Tehran in decades.

3. Operation ‘True Promise 4’: After the US and Israel launched coordinated air strikes against Iran and its leadership on Saturday, the Islamic regime launched Operation True Promise 4 against Tel Aviv and US assets in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic launched counterattacks on Washington’s regional allies – UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar – all of which house US military bases.

A view of destruction where an Iranian ballistic missile hit a residential building, in Tel Aviv on Sunday. (TPS-IL/ANI Video Grab)

4. Strait of Hormuz: The ever-widening conflict involving Iran, US and Israel has severely disrupted oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical artery for global energy supply. Late Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) transmitted messages to vessels saying that the strait had been closed.

Strait of Hormuz. (Wikimedia Commons)

— The strait lies between Oman and Iran. It links the Persian Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just two miles (three km) wide in either direction. It is key passage through which 20–25 per cent of global oil supply transits, as well as a critical corridor for LNG shipments from Qatar and the UAE. 

5. Begin doctrine: Israel’s Begin doctrine has been a source of significant conflict – diplomatic and otherwise – between Israel and Iran. The Begin doctrine effectively dictates that even the potential of an enemy having weapons of mass destruction (nuclear weapons) can justify preventive strikes from Israel. 

6. North South Transport Corridor: The escalated US-Israel war on Iran puts India’s regional connectivity strategy like the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and the Chabahar port at risk. 

— INSTC: The INSTC, which was initiated by Russia, India, and Iran, is a multi-modal transportation project linking the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and onward to northern Europe via St Petersburg in Russia. This corridor aims to reduce transit times to about 25 days — 20 days fewer than the Suez Canal route — and cut freight costs by 30 per cent. 

— The INSTC envisages the movement of goods from Mumbai to Bandar Abbas in Iran by sea; from Bandar Abbas to Bandar-e-Anzali, an Iranian port on the Caspian Sea, by road; from Bandar-e-Anzali to Astrakhan, a Caspian port in the Russian Federation by ship across the Caspian Sea; and onward to other parts of the Russian Federation and Europe by rail.

Learn through image: Iran’s Chabahar port and the planned INSTC corridor (in red).

7. Chabahar port: Chabahar is a deep water port in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province. It is the Iranian port that is the closest to India, and is located in the open sea, providing easy and secure access for large cargo ships. The port is also part of the proposed INSTC. Chabahar is of strategic importance for India. It offers New Delhi an alternative route that bypasses Pakistan, which does not allow India land access for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia.

8. Axis of resistance: It is a coalition of Iranian-backed groups. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Houthis are some of the major groups in the alliance.The roots of the ‘axis of resistance’ go back to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which paved the way for radical Shia Muslim clerics to come to power. To expand its political and military influence in a region where most powers — such as US-ally Saudi Arabia — are Sunni-majority nations, Iran’s new regime began to support non-state actors.

9. Hezbollah: Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah condemned US-Israel strikes on Iran and killing of Khamenei — by firing several rockets at northern Israel. The terror group said that it had launched the strikes in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Lebanon, however, has condemned Hezbollah’s action. Notably, Hezbollah, meaning “Party of God”, is a Shiite militant organisation that was set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon that year. 

10. Houthis: It is  a Zaydi Shia militant group which has been involved in the civil war in Yemen for over a decade. They also have a presence in most regions of the country.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: What is Operation ‘Ghazab Lil Haq’?

With the US–Israel conflict with Iran hitting the headlines, another operation going in our neighbourhood has also come into focus. Therefore, understanding it is equally important.

1. Pakistan late Thursday night  (February 26) launched a retaliatory operation following the alleged attacks by the Afghan Taliban on its several border posts, claiming it has so far killed at least 133 Taliban fighters, Dawn reported.

2. In response to what Pakistan calls an “unprovoked firing” on multiple locations along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s in Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors on Thursday evening (February 26), according to Dawn, Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, a military offensive that involves airstrikes and ground operations.

3. According to Dawn, the Arabic phrase ‘Ghazab Lil Haq‘ is translated as “Righteous Fury” in English, emphasising Pakistan’s retaliation rather than aggression against the Afghan Taliban regime.

4. Notably, tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated following cross-border airstrikes and retaliatory military operations along the disputed Durand Line.

Post Read Questions

(1) What is the importance of developing Chabahar Port by India? ( UPSC CSE 2017)

(a) India’s trade with African countries will increase enormously.

(b) India’s relations with oil-producing Arab countries will be strengthened.

(c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

(d) Pakistan will facilitate and protect the installation of a gas pipeline between Iraq and India.

(2) India is one of the founding members of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal transportation corridor, which will connect: (UPSC CSE 2025)

(a) India to Central Asia to Europe via Iran

(b) India to Central Asia via China

(c) India to South-East Asia through Bangladesh and Myanmar

(d) India to Europe through Azerbaijan

(Sources: Key developments in two days of US-Israel vs Iran conflict, Iran’s retaliatory strikes,   Over 130 killed in Pakistan’s ‘open war’ against Afghanistan: What is Operation Ghazab Lil Haq?, ‘Axis of resistance’)

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