Netanyahu deflects regime change as goal, emphasizes Iran nuclear threat

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on June 19 that while Israel’s military operations against Iran are not aimed at toppling the country’s leadership, such an outcome could occur as a consequence of the ongoing conflict.

“The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is, first and foremost, a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, Caliber.Az reports via Reuters.

“And that's why I didn't present it as a goal. It could be a result, but it's not a stated or formal goal that we have,” he added.

Netanyahu also emphasised that Israel is fully capable of targeting and dismantling Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, regardless of whether the United States decides to participate.

“We have the power to remove all our targets, all their nuclear facilities,” he said. “But the president’s decision whether he wants to join or not is again his decision. He will do what is good for the United States, and I will do what is good for the State of Israel, and I must say that up to this moment, everyone is doing their part.”

His comments came shortly before the White House announced that President Donald Trump is expected to decide within two weeks whether the U.S. will join Israel in military action against Iran.

Military experts have suggested that Israel may require U.S.-supplied bunker-busting munitions to destroy Iran’s heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, located deep beneath a mountain near the city of Qom and considered a key part of Iran’s nuclear program.

Speaking on the same topic a day earlier, President Trump said the United States alone had the capacity to destroy Fordow. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it — at all,” he added.

By Tamilla Hasanova