Jerusalem, March 13 Asserting that the joint US-Israel campaign against Iran is “going better than expected” and that Israel is “stronger than ever”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said there was “no guarantee” for Iran’s newly chosen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Responding to a question about whether Israel would target Khamenei and Hezbollah leader Naem Qassem, Netanyahu said, “I would not take out a life insurance policy on any of the leaders of the terrorist organizations.”
Mojtaba's father, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in joint US-Israel strikes on February 28.
Israel launched its campaign, dubbed “Roaring Lion”, on February 28 against Iran, which was joined by the US, which gave it the name “Epic Fury”, with the claimed objective of "preventing Iran's nuclear ambitions, dismantling its missile programme, and delivering a crushing blow to its regional proxies".
On the topic of toppling the regime in Iran, the Israeli prime minister said that the US and Israel were acting "to create the conditions for the Iranian people so that they can remove the cruel regime of tyranny".
“We are delivering crushing blows to the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij, both on the streets and at checkpoints – and we are still active,” he said.
Addressing the Iranian people, the Israeli leader said, “The moment when you can embark on a new path of freedom – that moment is approaching. We stand by you, we are helping you. But at the end of the day – it depends on you! It is in your hands.”
When asked by reporters again if Israel would push for a regime change, Netanyahu said, “You can lead someone to water, you cannot make him drink.”
“We will create the optimal conditions to do this, including airstrikes as we did yesterday, and as we are doing now, in order to give them the space they need to take to the streets,” signaling that the campaign would not include deploying ground troops to force the ouster of the current regime.
In any case, the Israeli premier said that the war has ensured that it is “no longer the same Iran, it is no longer the same Middle East, and it is also not the same Israel”.
“We do not wait. We initiate, we attack, and we do so with a force that is unprecedented,” he said, adding that Israel has “many surprises” up its sleeve for the current campaign.
Netanyahu also lauded his relationship with US President Donald Trump.
“We have created an alliance unlike any before with the United States – an alliance with our great friend, my personal friend, President Trump. We speak almost every day. We speak freely, exchange ideas and advice, and make decisions together,” Netanyahu said.
He stressed that he and Trump spoke a short time ago, and the US president told him, “Our relationship is one hundred times stronger than any relationship that has existed between an American president and an Israeli prime minister. We are not thinking only about our countries, or only about this generation. We are thinking about future generations – about the future of humanity.”
Netanyahu hinted at possible new breakthroughs on the diplomatic front for Israel in the region.
“In these days, my team and I are weaving additional alliances with countries in the region – alliances that only a few weeks ago would have seemed unimaginable,” he added, without elaborating.