Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s war on Iran aimed to help Iranians “bring down the regime,” as he appealed directly to the Iranian people and mocked the country’s new supreme leader, AFP reported.
Speaking in a televised media briefing, Netanyahu said he had added a third objective to Israel’s campaign, alongside preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and destroying its ballistic missile capabilities.
“I have added a third objective, which is to create, for the Iranian people, the conditions to bring down this regime,” he said.
Addressing Iranians directly, Netanyahu said: “Now is your time. The moment when you will be able to embark on a new path of freedom is approaching.”
“We stand with you. We are helping you – but in the end, it is in your hands,” he added.
Netanyahu also said Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, “can’t show his face in public” after Iranian state media broadcast his first message through a television presenter.
“We eliminated the old tyrant, and the new tyrant, the puppet of the Revolutionary Guards, can’t show his face in public,” Netanyahu told the press conference.
Earlier on Thursday, Mojtaba Khamenei said in a message attributed to him that Tehran would not back down and vowed revenge.
Israel’s military said separately on Thursday that it had struck checkpoints set up in Tehran by the Basij paramilitary force, which is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as part of efforts to undermine the authorities’ control.
“Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force, acting on intelligence, has targeted the Basij roadblocks and operatives,” the army said in a statement.
“These forces led the regime’s primary efforts to suppress internal protests, particularly in recent months, employing severe violence, mass arrests, and the use of force against civilian demonstrators,” it added.
Iran was rocked by unprecedented protests against the clerical establishment that peaked in January. The unrest was crushed in a sweeping crackdown that rights groups said left thousands dead and tens of thousands arrested.