'Operation Narnia' and 'Red Wedding': How Israel pulled off 'Game of Thrones' on Iran

Operation Narnia. Red Wedding . A vanished Supreme Leader. Nine scientists dead before sunrise. What unfolded over Tehran this month wasn’t just a military campaign. It was a high-wire act of deception, logistics, and old-fashioned assassination - carried out with such precision it felt pulled from fantasy. But according to the Wall Street Journal, every bit of it was real. And if the consequences weren’t already grave, they are only just beginning to unfold.

Driving the news
Israel’s June 13 airstrike - 'Red Wedding' - marked the deadliest and most consequential single night in its long-simmering shadow war with Iran. The Wall Street Journal reveals how Israeli jets eliminated Iran’s top air force leadership in one fell swoop, comparing the stunning outcome to the infamous massacre from Game of Thrones.

This was no isolated blow. That night also marked the success of 'Operation Narnia', a parallel mission that simultaneously killed nine of Iran’s leading nuclear scientists. Within hours, Iran’s military and nuclear elite were shattered.

Why it matters

• These twin operations signal a tectonic shift in the Middle East power balance. With its military elite decapitated, Iran faces an uncertain future.
• Israel, meanwhile, has solidified its regional military dominance and is now eyeing a historic realignment of alliances.
• US support - delivered through precision bunker-buster strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites - amplified the effect. President Donald Trump declared Iran’s nuclear program “obliterated.” But analysts question whether Iran's capacity has truly been neutralized or merely delayed.
• The attacks also exposed how deeply Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran, including the ability to stage drone strikes from within the country - a psychological as well as tactical coup.

The big picture

• The Wall Street Journal’s report, based on interviews with 18 Israeli and US officials, reads like a thriller - but the consequences are deadly real:
• 'Red Wedding' was designed to wipe out Iran’s senior military planners in a single strike. Israeli intelligence tracked their movements and struck when they unknowingly clustered together. “Rather than scattering, they gathered - sealing their fate,” WSJ wrote.
• 'Operation Narnia', dubbed so for its implausibility, eliminated key scientific minds behind Iran’s nuclear program. The assassinations were nearly simultaneous, designed to prevent escape or dispersion.
• The plan had its roots in a two-decade-long intelligence and training effort. Starting in the 1990s, Israel identified the need not only to destroy Iranian nuclear infrastructure but also the human capital behind it.
• Israeli F-15s and F-16s trained for long-range missions in Greek airspace and later honed those capabilities during strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen - a proving ground for the logistics now deployed against Iran.
• Netanyahu’s final go-ahead came on June 9. To preserve surprise, Israel deployed strategic deception - including faking a wedding for Netanyahu’s son and leaking false tensions with Trump to lull Tehran into complacency.

Zoom in: How they did it

• Spycraft and drones: Mossad smuggled in parts for explosive quadcopter drones hidden in shipping containers and trucks. Teams set them up near air-defense systems and missile sites, ready to strike at launch time.
• Airspace advantage: The fall of Syria’s Iranian-aligned government in early 2025 cleared the path for Israeli jets to fly through without resistance - a key enabler of the operation’s success.
• Information dominance: Israeli intelligence mapped Iran’s air defense grid using thousands of data points. At the critical moment, Iranian defenses were neutralized - by both remote attacks and internal sabotage.
• US partnership: Trump’s support came later - but crucially. US forces struck deep underground nuclear facilities, including Fordo, with B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles.
• Trump claimed, “Nothing was taken out... too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!” in response to reports Iran may have evacuated uranium ahead of the strike.

Between the lines
Deception was critical. Netanyahu’s team played a long game, misleading both Iran and global observers. Media leaks falsely implied Trump was holding Israel back from attacking. Netanyahu publicly planned a family wedding. Israeli military movements were framed as drills.

The real victory? Intelligence. Israeli infiltration of Iran was so complete that it not only enabled high-precision targeting but allowed drone teams to operate inside Iran - and coordinate with airstrikes.

Strategic misdirection worked. Iranian commanders, misreading Israeli and American intentions, assembled in a single location. Israel’s elite strike forces were waiting.

The risk was massive. Had even one part failed - if scientists escaped or defenses held - retaliation could’ve been catastrophic. Israel bet big. It won. For now.

A ceasefire, but not peace

• Twelve days of war between Iran and Israel have ended in uneasy silence. The bombs have stopped falling, but Iran’s theocratic regime is in chaos.
• Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86 and visibly weakened, finally emerged on state TV to insist that the US and Israeli strikes had “achieved nothing significant.” Most observers - and satellite imagery - disagreed.
• Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is badly damaged. Its Revolutionary Guard’s leadership has been decimated. Its elite scientists are dead. And perhaps most damning: Israel operated with almost complete impunity, exposing Iran’s hollow air defenses and compromised intelligence apparatus.
• The ceasefire, brokered with US pressure, gave Tehran a break - but not a win. “There must be some sort of purge,” said Hamidreza Azizi of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “But who will implement it? That is the question.”

Also read: Ali Shamkhani, Hossein Salami & more: Iran's top brass targeted; who were killed in Israel's strike? Full list

What’s next
Iran may accelerate its nuclear weaponization - the very thing Israel sought to stop. US intelligence is divided over whether the program was set back by years or just months.

Meanwhile, President Trump says backchannel talks with Iran are “already happening.” His envoy Steve Witkoff hinted at a “long-term peace agreement.”

Meanwhile, Tehran is denying plans to resume nuclear talks.

For now, Iran's regime seems far away from collapse - it's just wounded. And wounded regimes don’t always back down. They often lash out.

In 'Game of Thrones', the 'Red Wedding' wasn’t just a massacre. It shattered the rules. It ended one war and started another. Israel’s own 'Red Wedding' may have done the same.
(With inputs from agencies)