Only Iranians can bring down Islamic Republic, Israel FM says

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Wednesday that Israel cannot bring down Iran’s ruling system and that only the Iranian people can topple the Islamic Republic.

Speaking to The Times of Israel, Sa’ar said Iranians would need outside assistance if they were to succeed in regime change.

“Ultimately, we cannot topple the regime, only the Iranian people can,” he said. “At the same time, we must say that without external assistance they have no chance to topple the regime.”

Sa’ar added that there were “visible cracks” within Iran’s leadership, though he said hardline figures still controlled the government.

“Usually such things [as the fall of a regime] happen after the military campaign, less so when there’s a war,” he said.

The Israeli foreign minister said regime change was not an explicit goal of Israel’s, but that Israel sought to create conditions that could enable such an outcome.