He vowed to keep hitting Lebanon’s Hezbollah after the Iran-backed group opened fire on March 2 to avenge Israel’s killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei – Mojtaba Khamenei’s father – at the start of the war.
Standing between two Israeli flags and taking questions over video link, Netanyahu was asked what actions Israel might take against Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem:”I wouldn’t issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organisation … I don’t intend to provide an exact report here about what we are planning or what we are going to do.”
As Netanyahu spoke, sirens warning of incoming missile fire from Iran blared across much of central Israel.Israel has said the aim of its assault on Iran is to eliminate what it views as the existential threat posed by Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. It also says it wants to cause a collapse of the government by encouraging Iranians to rise.
While many Iranians want change and some openly celebrated the death of Ali Khamenei, whose security forces killed thousands of anti-government protesters just weeks ago, there has been no sign of protest since the war began.
Asked whether Israel was arming opponents of Iran’s rulers and whether it might fail to achieve a collapse of government, Netanyahu said even if the government did not fall, it would remain weak.
“I will not detail the actions we are taking. We are creating the optimal conditions for toppling the regime, but I won’t deny that I can’t tell you with all certainty that the people of Iran will topple the regime – a regime is toppled from the inside,” Netanyahu said.
“But we can definitely help, and we are helping.”
