Saar says Israel weakening Iran to enable regime change | Iran International
Saar says Israel weakening Iran to enable regime change
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that Israel was working to weaken Iran’s leadership to create conditions for change, saying Tehran had already been significantly weakened.
“We don't want to be in a new war every year,” Saar told a press conference in Jerusalem. “In order to do that, we need to do what we do today.”
He said Israel’s actions were aimed at enabling Iranians to shape their own future. “It is eventually in the hands of the Iranian people… but this brutal, repressive regime must be weakened to an extent it will be possible,” he said.
Saar also referred to Israel’s targeting of senior Iranian figures, saying: “Ali Larijani had a $10 million prize on his head. We did it for free.”
He also referred to Mojtaba Khamenei, saying: “We still haven't seen Mojtaba… He can continue to hide, but not showing his face is becoming embarrassing for this regime.”
Saar said Iran had been “dramatically weakened” by recent strikes and was “not the country it was three weeks ago in any way.”
“In order to see a change, also, the Iranian people must see that this regime is weakened,” he added, saying Israel would continue its campaign until its objectives were achieved.
Daniel Levinson, son of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson who vanished in Iran over 19 years ago, says the US‑Israeli strikes could bring long‑delayed justice to his family and strengthen the fight for freedom against Tehran's oppressive regime.
Few Americans have been more entangled with the secretive world of Iran’s intelligence operations than the Levinson family.
Robert Levinson, a 22‑year FBI veteran who spent his career dismantling criminal networks and pursuing corrupt regimes, vanished in March 2007 after traveling to Kish Island for what was later revealed to be an unsanctioned CIA mission.
He had gone to meet a source as part of an investigation into corruption and money laundering when Iranian intelligence detained him.
Washington later concluded that Levinson likely died in Iranian custody, though his remains were never recovered. In 2020, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Iranian officials Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai for their roles in his disappearance.
Baseri’s name resurfaced this week when Iranian state media confirmed he was killed in the joint US‑Israeli airstrikes on Tehran that also hit Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites and intelligence facilities.
Learning of Baseri’s death, Levinson said, felt like a long‑overdue turning point, matched in significance only by the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on first day of war.
“Khamenei had the power to free my dad at any point and chose not to. He knew what was happening and did nothing, so for our family, it’s been an emotional moment — but not one of grief.”
His father, he said, “was a patriotic American who always wanted to make sure justice was served — not just in the United States, but around the world.”
The recent strikes, he believes, “may finally hold some of those responsible accountable.”
Levinson has spent nearly twenty years seeking answers and helping other families do the same. He was instrumental in advancing the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage‑Taking Accountability Act, which strengthened US tools for responding to hostage situations abroad.
From those efforts, he’s come to see patterns in how authoritarian states operate — and how they collapse.
“There are people who know exactly what happened to my dad,” he said. As pressure mounts on the regime, “maybe some will defect or reveal the truth.
"There’s still a 25 multimillion‑dollar US reward for information about his case.” The strikes, he said, could finally create the conditions where long‑hidden information emerges.
Although the family continues to grieve, Levinson said they also feel a renewed sense of purpose.
“Justice is coming,” he said. “We’re not going to forget. Those involved still have the chance to do the right thing.”
Levinson drew a stark contrast between Iran’s leaders and its citizens, saying that ordinary Iranians “are living under unimaginable tyranny” yet continue to fight bravely for their rights. Many, he said, “want freedom — and they look to America with hope.”
The Levinson family’s fight has transformed from a personal search for truth into a symbol of broader resistance against impunity.
“We’ve worked to protect his legacy and make sure what happened to him never happens to another American family,” Daniel said.
“Now, with the regime shaken and the world watching, maybe it’s finally time for justice — and for freedom for the Iranian people.”
Prince Reza Pahlavi said on Tuesday that senior Iranian figures including Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani had “faced justice,” after Israel confirmed it had killed them in airstrikes.
“Ali Larijani, Gholamreza Soleimani and others responsible for the brutal killings… have faced the consequences of their actions,” Pahlavi said in a post on X.
He added that he hoped it would bring some relief to grieving families in Iran.
Pahlavi also called on members of Iran’s security forces to lay down their arms and defect, saying: “Put down your weapons… and join the army of light.”
Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned in protest over the US-Israeli war in Iran, becoming the first high-ranking official in President Donald Trump’s administration to step down over the conflict.
In a resignation letter addressed to Trump and dated effective immediately, Kent said he could not “in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” arguing that Tehran posed no imminent threat to the United States and that the conflict was driven by pressure from Israel and its allies in Washington.
Kent, a veteran deployed to combat 11 times, warned that the United States was being drawn into another costly and unnecessary war in the Middle East.
The outgoing counterterrorism chief said the narrative that Iran posed an immediate danger to the United States—and that a strike would lead to a swift victory—was misleading and echoed the justification for the Iraq war. “We cannot make this mistake again,” he wrote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel was working to weaken Iran’s leadership in the hope of giving its people the chance to remove it.
“We are weakening this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it,” Netanyahu said.
He said Israel had killed Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani and the commander of the Basij paramilitary force, describing them as figures who “create terror against the people in the streets of Tehran and other cities.”
Netanyahu also said Israel was coordinating with the United States and assisting American allies in the Persian Gulf through both indirect strikes and direct actions.
The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday its air defences intercepted 10 ballistic missiles and 45 drones launched from Iran.
The defence ministry said that since the start of Iranian attacks, its forces had engaged 314 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,672 drones.
The attacks have killed two members of the UAE armed forces and six civilians of various nationalities, the ministry said, adding that 157 people had been injured.
The ministry said it remained ready to respond to any threats and would act to protect the country’s security and stability.
