Israeli envoy says no victory until Islamic Republic falls
Marzia Hussaini
Iran International
Israel will settle for nothing short of the collapse of the Islamic Republic, its ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told Iran International.
Iran International
Israel will settle for nothing short of the collapse of the Islamic Republic, its ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter told Iran International.
“The regime has to fall,” Leiter said. “I think they are on the road to collapse … It may take a little longer than we thought.”
Leiter’s remarks offer an explicit description of Israel’s desired endgame in Iran, going beyond the destruction of Tehran’s nuclear and missile capabilities or the weakening of its regional allies.
When asked whether victory required the government’s collapse, Leiter was unequivocal.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Because if this regime does not fall, if it does not collapse, it will find a way to rebuild itself.”
‘Who outlasts whom?’
Leiter portrayed the next stage of the confrontation primarily as a contest of economic pressure and endurance, crediting US President Donald Trump’s sanctions strategy with putting growing pressure on Iran’s leadership.
“The big question now is: Who outlasts whom? The West or the ayatollahs?” he said, adding that the key was “patience, will, perseverance, resilience and the ability to keep going.”
“We will defeat them. They will fall.”
Leiter’s assessment that the Islamic Republic is heading toward collapse is a prediction rather than an established outcome.
Despite months of war and economic pressure, the Islamic Republic remains in power and capable of inflicting significant military damage.
Iran has continued launching large missile salvos and attacking shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, while strikes this week damaged several US military aircraft at a base in Jordan. The Iran-backed Houthis have meanwhile made new territorial gains around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
He acknowledged that the timing of any collapse was inherently uncertain, comparing Iran’s situation to the final years of the Soviet Union, whose demise few specialists accurately predicted.
Helping US with intelligence
Leiter also disclosed that Israel is providing Washington with intelligence and other information to support the US economic campaign against Tehran.
“We’re helping right now,” he said. “We’re helping with intelligence and all kinds of supporting information that the United States needs.”
That includes information for “sanctioning the regime, sanctioning countries associated with the regime and companies that do business with the regime,” he said.
He said Israel had taken the leading military role during the 12-day war but that the balance had since shifted, with Washington assuming leadership and the two allies operating “shoulder to shoulder.”
Trump has consistently framed his central demand as preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while continuing to leave open the possibility of a negotiated settlement with Tehran.
Leiter described Washington as the dominant power in the partnership and Israel as its “junior partner.”
“The United States is a superpower,” he said. “We’re a small regional power. We’re powerful, very powerful, but we’re a small regional power.”
Ready for a ‘final blow’
Leiter also raised the possibility that Trump could eventually conclude that economic pressure had brought the Islamic Republic close enough to collapse for another military operation to tip the balance.
“There may come a point where the president decides and says, ‘This is the tipping point. We’ve brought them to the verge of collapse. Now we need another operation to completely throw them off balance,’” he said.
Leiter described a hypothetical request from Trump for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to participate in what he called a “final blow” against the Iranian government.
“And we’ll be there,” he said. “We want to see this regime fall. We want to see it collapse. We want to see the Iranian people free.”
Leiter did not say such an operation had been ordered or was imminent, presenting it instead as a possible future scenario.
He acknowledged that Israel and the United States could not determine Iran’s political future alone, saying a “third pillar” would ultimately have to come from the Iranian population itself.
Any such uprising would confront a state that has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to use overwhelming force to survive.
Iranian security forces killed thousands during the January protests and arrested thousands more, while the authorities have continued using executions against people accused of involvement in the unrest.
Asked how largely unarmed civilians could overthrow a government that had survived military pressure from both countries, Leiter said he did not have an “exact formula,” while describing the fragmentation of Iran’s opposition as a major obstacle.
