Iran’s clerical leadership will fall from within not through any foreign military intervention, Israel’s prime minister said on Tuesday, as his defense minister warned of the possibility of a renewed campaign against the Islamic Republic.
“Everybody talks about regime change and they envision the American army and Israeli forces invading Iran — boots on the ground and all that stuff people spew. No,” Netanyahu said in an interview with the Full Send Podcast, hosted by the Nelk Boys.
“It has to come from within… from the people.”
Netanyahu described Iran’s nuclear and missile programs as a “cancer,” and said Israel had no choice but to act militarily to remove those threats.
He praised US President Donald Trump for authorizing strikes that he said helped roll back Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“If you don’t remove the cancer, you’re going to be dead,” he said. “We did act. And you know — just with incredibly brave soldiers.”
His comments came as Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled a potential return to military pressure.
“There is a possibility of the campaign against Iran renewing; we need to maintain the achievements and air superiority created following Operation ‘Rising Lion’ while formulating an effective enforcement plan going forward to ensure that Iran does not restore its nuclear and missile projects,” Katz said during a security assessment with top Israeli military officials on Tuesday.
Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13, was Israel’s largest coordinated military strike on Iran to date, initiating a series of surprise attacks that killed top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists and triggered a 12-day war that caused widespread destruction on both sides.
