Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday during a press conference that there are “many signs” indicating the possible collapse of the Iranian regime. Israel is working to create conditions that could lead to the regime’s collapse, but ultimately the success of a regime change depends on whether the Iranian people can seize the conditions created by Israel. Netanyahu emphasized that the Iranian regime is now like a hollow and rotten piece of wood, strong on the outside but decaying within.
During the press conference on Thursday, Netanyahu focused on the situation in Iran. Some views suggest that removing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would strengthen the hardliners in Iran, a view that Netanyahu refuted during the press conference.
“It’s important to make them understand that if they think they can target the world and the US president, then they themselves become targets. This will create great uncertainty. We see that this will have an impact,” he said, adding, “There are many signs indicating the collapse of the Iranian regime. Many.”
Netanyahu emphasized, “We see cracks in the (Iranian) regime,” not only at the top leadership level but also within the grassroots forces.
“You know, it’s like a hollow rotten wood, it appears strong on the outside but inside it is rotten to the core. We see people defecting,” he said, and added that there are signs of “fear and insecurity” within the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units operating ballistic missiles.
“Do you know why? Because they fear death. They are not all suicide bombers. In fact, most of them are not,” he said.
“Yes, the (Iranian) regime may change.” Netanyahu said, “But is that guaranteed? No. And ultimately, it depends on the Iranian people themselves to use the conditions we are creating.”
“By the way, they are very brave,” Netanyahu said when talking about the Iranian people. “I will never criticize them in any way… They have suffered greatly. The question is, can we find a point of convergence between weakening the regime and the rise of the people in many aspects? Can this be possible? We will wait and see.”
Netanyahu said that even if the Iranian regime ultimately survives, “its power will be greatly diminished.” He added that the regime would lose the industries built over decades and many other capabilities.
Netanyahu also stated that it is currently unclear who is actually leading Iran. He pointed out that there is uncertainty over the power of the new Supreme Leader of Iran, and instability within the Iranian leadership is escalating.
US Treasury Secretary Benson also touched on the phenomenon of internal collapse within the Iranian regime on Thursday.
“We see people at all levels of Iran defection because they are beginning to realize the state of the Iranian regime,” he said, adding, “The Iranian regime may also collapse on its own.”
“The Treasury has found that they have been transferring money abroad. We will recover this money. We want to return this money to the Iranian people,” Benson said.