FM: Iran operation aims to eliminate long-term threats against Israel

Israel’s operation against Iran is designed to eliminate all long-term threats to the country’s security, but that objective cannot be achieved while the current leadership remains in power in Tehran, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.

Speaking at a briefing for diplomats, Saar said the war’s purpose was the “final removal of existential threats to the State of Israel in the long term,” Caliber.Az reports via Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“However, as long as the present regime remains in Iran, achieving this goal is impossible,” he said, according to a statement released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Saar argued that Tehran remained committed to the destruction of Israel and had not altered its strategy. He cited what he described as Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, large-scale production of long-range ballistic missiles and its support for militant groups along Israel’s borders.

He also said Iran had sought to bury its nuclear facilities and missile production lines deep underground to create what he called a “zone of immunity” that would prevent air strikes by Israel or the United States.

“All this has led us to a clear conclusion: we must act, and the time to act has come,” Saar said.