The United States and Israel launched their Saturday daytime strike on Iran to coincide with a meeting of the country's top political and military leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported on the 28th (local time).
Aerial bombardments typically occur at night to disrupt enemy visibility and air defense systems. This operation, however, began in the morning.
"It was a rare opportunity when Iran's senior political and military leaders were meeting, and they likely judged they could eliminate them all at once," the WSJ reported, adding that "Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was in mind."
The U.S. and Israel launched military operations at 9:45 a.m. Tehran time on the 28th of last month. A daytime attack is highly unusual.
The WSJ analyzed that the strike highlighted two factors: Israeli intelligence capabilities and the ability to exploit Iran's vulnerabilities and lapses in vigilance.
Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli Military Intelligence, said, "While everyone expected targets in the darkness of midnight, this daytime attack was a 'tactical surprise.'"
The New York Times also reported that "Israeli forces chose Saturday morning for the airstrike—when leaders gather in one place—to launch a surprise attack on Iranian leadership," adding that "while Iran's defenses may be vulnerable late at night or at dawn, they chose the meeting time when leaders would be gathered in one location to maximize strike efficiency."
Analysts noted the strike came immediately after the third round of U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, catching Iranian military authorities off guard. While conducting negotiations with Iran, the U.S. had deployed its largest military force around Iran since the 2003 Iraq War began. Aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford were positioned in the region, while dozens of fighter jets stood ready at Jordanian air bases. Destroyers and littoral combat ships in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea also participated in the operation armed with ship-to-surface missiles.
Meanwhile, Israel continued large-scale airstrikes targeting Iran for a second consecutive day following the previous day's attacks. However, strikes on this day were conducted at dawn. Foreign media reported successive explosions heard across Tehran, Iran's capital.