Netanyahu threatens Iran’s new supreme leader, defends joint assault with US
‘I will not detail the actions we are taking. We are creating the optimal conditions for toppling the regime,’ the Israeli PM said
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a veiled threat to kill Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei even as he acknowledged that Israel’s joint air war with the US may not lead to a collapse of Tehran’s clerical government.
Holding his first press conference since the start of the war, the Israeli leader said that Iran was “no longer the same” after nearly two weeks of bombardment and that Tehran had suffered blows to its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps and Basij paramilitary force.
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,” the Israeli leader said.
Netanyahu has described Mojtaba Khamenei as a “puppet of the Revolutionary Guards”, referring to the elite force at the forefront of Tehran’s attacks.
He said on Thursday that the cleric “cannot show his face in public”.