Israel, the US and Iran in Operation Rising Lion

This post is a continuation of the 12-Day War post about Operation Rising Lion. In this post we have a closer look at the astrology of the three belligerents in this war – Israel, Iran and the US. In doing so we will see how the tide of the war turned for each party and why. For more, read on…

We start our look at what has turned out to be a misadventure for Israel with the transits and directions to the 16:15 Israeli chart, which we have examined in past posts. The chart is below (bigger):

The first item that jumps out in the chart is the transiting Mars return which also activates the directed Vertex (a fated/spiritual event). In turn that is squared by transiting Uranus from the 8^th house (losses from belligerence). The Mars transit is in Leo (hence the hidden Rising Lion emphasis on the operation). Transiting Mars and Uranus formed a Grand Trine with natal Jupiter, giving the Israelis absolute confidence in a victorious outing that day. Transiting Sun was on the natal Uranus, showing Israel expected to produce a new order from its operation. However, when we start digging deeper we start to see where the operation ran into problems and ultimately failed.

Mars/Uranus combinations can be tricky. They are often shown in surgeries and interventions. There is also the inclination to act too suddenly, impulsively and prematurely. Any time I see a client under such influences the advice is always to take matters low and slow and to avoid impulsive action – and also to be careful with machinery, speed and sharp objects. The Israelis thought they had planned this operation carefully and had all their ducks in a row. What they had done instead was to miscalculate the battle plans entirely.

Mars/Uranus in the chart of a belligerent nation will show throwing caution to the wind, which is what the Israelis did. They did so because the government was in danger of fracturing, covered in a bit. They had the blessings of the US, shown by directed north node to the natal Midheaven, which they thought would carry them through, but Washington can be a fickle partner. The midpoint of the natal Saturn/Pluto conjunction (which of interest can indicate mass murder) was directed to a square to the Midheaven. We have the following:

• • MC=Sat/Plu: “The desire to rise from difficult circumstances through the application of tenacity and endurance, severity, one-sided-ness, self-sacrifice. – An ascetic person, a magician or adept. – Separation. (Flight).”

In addition directed Pluto was on the natal Ascendant:

• • “Violent disputes, quarrels, injuries, accidents. A drastic or radical change of one’s circumstances in life. The striving for the attainment of power and authority. The tendency to suppress or to oppress others. The attainment of success in life by brutal and ruthless means.”

And then we have the directed Ascendant square to natal Neptune:

“Becoming dominated by or subjected to the influence of other people, the inclination to make strange or peculiar contacts with other people. An abuse or betrayal of confidence, falsehood, deceit, the experience of disappointment and disillusionment.”

We know the war was planned months in advance, but there were perhaps other reasons the Israelis decided to strike Iran when they did. The ‘cleanup’ of Gaza wasn’t going as planned. Hamas was striking the IDF (IOF) hard. Nearly every day on the Telegram channels there are reports of ‘security incidents’ in Gaza, meaning the IOF was experiencing casualties in its ranks. But there was more.

Just days before the attack, a huge sexual abuse scandal was aired in the Knesset about ritual paedophilia involving high level Israeli officials. Then, Netanyahu was on the verge of losing power because of the bill to draft haredi (ultra-orthodox) men into the IOF. And finally there was the hacking by the Iranians of more than 2 terabytes of sensitive data from Israeli police records in what was one of the largest cybersecurity breaches in Israeli history. Who knows what was in those records? Well, obviously the Iranians do now, but a little war makes for a good distraction from it.

All told, the Israeli chart for Operation Rising Lion points to a major strategic blunder for the Israelis. The aftermath of the war bears that out, with the Israelis having had to sue for peace. The Iranians, on the other hand, were ready to keep going for months, if need be. Their chart on the start of the war is below (bigger):

Immediately noticeable in the chart is the syzygy between the natal and directed Mars and Midheaven aspects. Directed Mars was conjunct the natal Midheaven (MC), which can indicate a coup, or at least an attack on the sitting government (MC). It can also indicate a very energized government, ready for military action if need be. The Iranians were waiting for the war. They were just unsure as to the timing. The directed MC is square the natal Mars. This can have much the same emphasis as the conjunction, except that the government is directed toward war, rather than experiencing what was coming to them. Transiting Mars was sextile the directed MC on the day, showing the speed and energy by which the Iranians rallied and began retaliating against Israel the same day. The collapse of Iran was never in the cards – or the stars.

There is one more point to the Mars/MC placements: There were internal divisions in Iran prior to the start of the war. There are still monarchists in Tehran who are wealthy and powerful, a carry-over from the Shah’s days. There are also reformist secular factions in Iran, of which the current president Pezeshkian is a member. These were the people who were in negotiations about the nuclear deal with the US. Then there is the Shia religious element, which is the general population.

On the day of the attack transiting Saturn and Neptune were opposite the directed Ascendant:

• • • Asc=Sat/Nep: “An emotionally depressing environment, oppressive family circumstances, emotional suffering caused by other persons, limitation of freedom.”

Well, it is certainly emotionally depressing when someone bombs you country, especially if you are caught off guard. But to put a finer point on it, the Israelis killed upwards of 1,000 Iranians in the war, including about 30 senior military officials and 6 nuclear scientists. That amounts to a sizeable amount of emotional suffering. Transiting Neptune was also sesquisquare the natal Ascendant, with Saturn not far behind. But Neptune affecting the Ascendant by hard aspect has the following characteristics:

• • “An abuse or betrayal of confidence, falsehood, deceit, the experience of disappointment and disillusionment. Insincere people, liars, crooks.”

The ‘insincere people’ and ‘liars’ in this case were the Trump administration, with whom the Iranians thought they were negotiating in good faith. The attack was a huge betrayal. The disillusionment of the Iranians with the West is now complete. The Iranians across the board have put aside any differences that existed before and have rallied around the government, especially the IRGC. What the Israelis and Americans have done with this war was to solidify Iranian society around its leadership, having put in place a hard line military leadership due to having assassinated the older and more patient leaders. The new leadership will have no compunction against striking Israel again.

Then we have the chart of the US with transits and directions, with the act that went on to close the war – Operation Midnight Hammer – below (bigger):

From an astrological perspective Operation Midnight Hammer was a piece of theatre. It was meant as a distraction rather than as a successful military operation. Why was it a distraction? – because of transiting Saturn on the 4^th house cusp. At the time Trump was busy trying to get his Big Beautiful Bill passed, amidst stiff opposition. It passed on 3 July by one vote in the Senate, with JD Vance casting the deciding vote. Trump needed a win to get his bill passed. Midnight Hammer helped him. But that wasn’t all.

On the day after Israel struck Iran there were the US Army birthday celebrations, Trump’s birthday and the No Kings protests in the US. The 4^th house represents opposition parties to the sitting government, as well as a nation’s infrastructure and the people themselves. It is estimated 5 million people were out in the streets protesting against Trump’s policies on the 14^th. The majority of the American public was against American involvement in the war. And Israel was being pounded by Iranian missiles. The Trump administration had to do something to bring the war to an end or Israel would have been left in a sorry state. So, the mission to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites was decided – to much fanfare and back-patting after the fact.

The attack was spun as a masterful stealth mission, perfectly executed, with the nuclear facilities and Iran’s nuclear program having been ‘obliterated’, at least for a few years anyway. It was a false narrative, but it was great headline in the US, with national pride pumped up, at least a bit. There were demonstrations of the huge bombs that were used. And there were vociferous rebuttals of anyone who suggested the bombing runs were anything other than a magnificent success. But was any of it even true, and what did the astrology say on the matter?

We note several items in the chart that point to the story of this mission being spin. Mercury was heavily involved in the chart. There is a natal configuration in the US chart that was described in a previous post, wherein Mercury is semisquare to Uranus and sesquisquare to Ceres. Mercury is conjunct the Vertex of the chart. This configuration is always activated at times of major changes in the US, often with very surprising and sudden change. It is activated now by a direction of the Midheaven to Uranus, showing that the Trump administration is a real catalyst for change in the US. On the day of Midnight Hammer there was a Mercury return for the US, triggering the configuration. At the time of the announcement of the feat, the Ascendant at the time was opposite Uranus. Mercury and Pluto are on the Vertex axis of the US chart natally, so the media (Mercury) played a big role in the operation. But media outlets do not fly B2 bombers.

Venus rules the MC of the US chart and it was overflowing with energy on the day. The transits to Venus showed a successful operation. Transiting Jupiter was on the natal US Venus, nearing its Jupiter return. Transiting Mars (military) was sextile Venus, which is very good for presentation, but then things get a little murkier.

Transiting Neptune squared natal Venus on the day, with transiting Pluto in quincunx. That combination speaks of ‘illusions of love’ and deception. Washington loves a good war story in times of political difficulties. What better way to lift the national spirits than to put on a good display of military porn. The operation was not all it was spun out to be – not with directed Saturn on the natal Mars, even though separating. Why would we say the operation was not the fabulous success the administration claimed?

The Iranians knew the attack was coming. They had been warned. In the few days before the attack satellite pictures showed lines of heavy trucks at the entrances to the Fordow site. There were claims the Iranians were blocking the entrances. But the Iranians later revealed they had moved all the essential equipment, along with over 400 kg of highly enriched uranium out of the site to a secret location. Those trucks were most likely transporting the equipment and material away from the site. Then there were the bombs themselves, which Ted Postol explained.

The bombs were supposedly dropped on the vents to the facility. But those vents are not directly over the enrichment chamber. They go down, but then form a dog leg to the main chamber and were most likely baffled to absorb the shock of the blasts. There was probably some damage in the chamber, but they would not have been obliterated.

Then there was the operation itself. There were no reports of planes overhead. There was no anti-aircraft fire. It was as if the Iranians knew the planes were on their way and were allowed to complete the operation. Then there were cruise missile attacks on the other sites. Again, there were no reports of anti-aircraft fire. 30 cruise missiles would have been tracked. Iranian air defences were active at the time.

So, with all of the preceding points combined, what emerges was that Operation Midnight Hammer was a show piece, meant as an off-ramp from the war. Trump’s donors and the Israelis would have been happy and Washington could declare victory and stand down. That was later confirmed by the Iranian attack the next day on the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where there were no American casualties and Iranians had fired the same number of missiles at the base as the number of American bombs dropped on Fordow. Everyone, then, had an ‘out’, and could walk away and declare victory, which Iran, Israel and the US duly did.

A day after the Iranian attack on al-Udeid Trump told the Israelis to stand down and the war ended. At least, we are told the war ended. But now there is talk of a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza (which the Israelis never honor). Ceasefires for the West are used to rest, regroup and rearm. Trump has slapped new sanctions on Iran. The Israelis are talking about ‘punishment strikes’ on Iran if they can invent the story that Iran is rebuilding its strategic infrastructure – which the Iranians are already doing. The Iranians have already stated that if they are struck again the reprisal will be far more severe than what Israel has already suffered. And Bibi is in Washington for emergency talks with Trump. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, I guess we will all find out soon enough.

Featured pic from The Economic Times