U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu waves following a meeting in the White House, in Washington,
U.S., April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt//File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Netanyahu says regime change in Iran could be result of Israel's attacks
June 15, 2025
WASHINGTON,
June 15 (Reuters) - Regime change in Iran could be a result of Israel's
military attacks on the country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday, saying Israel would do whatever is
necessary to remove the "existential threat" posed by Tehran.
Israel
launched "Operation Rising Lion" with a surprise attack on Friday
morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military command and
damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will continue to
escalate in coming days. Iran has vowed to "open the gates of hell" in retaliation.
Israel's
military has said the current goal of the campaign is not a change in
regime, but the dismantling of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile
programs.
Asked
by Fox's Bret Baier on his "Special Report" program if regime change
was part of Israel's military effort, Netanyahu said: "Could certainly
be the result because the Iran regime is very weak."
"We're
geared to do whatever is necessary to achieve our dual aim, to remove
... two existential threats - the nuclear threat and the ballistic
missile threat," Netanyahu said in one of his first interviews since
Israel's attacks began.
"We
did act - to save ourselves, but also, I think, to not only protect
ourselves, but protect the world from this incendiary regime. We can't
have the world's most dangerous regime have the world's most dangerous
weapons," he said.
Israel
has said its operation could last weeks, and Netanyahu has openly urged
the Iranian people to rise up against their Islamic clerical rulers.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks
on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores and raising fears
of a wider conflict, as U.S. President Donald Trump said it could be
ended easily while warning Tehran not to strike any U.S. targets.
Asked
about a Reuters report that Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Netanyahu said: "I'm not going
to get into that."
But
he said he had informed Trump ahead of Friday's military action.
American pilots are shooting down Iranian drones headed toward Israel,
he said.
With
worries growing of a regional conflagration, Trump has lauded Israel's
offensive while denying Iranian allegations that the U.S. has taken part
in it. He warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include U.S.
targets or else face the "full strength and might" of the U.S. armed
forces.
Trump
has repeatedly said Iran could end the war by agreeing to tough
restrictions on its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful
purposes but Western countries say could be used to make a bomb.
The
latest round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United
States, due to be held on Sunday, was scrapped after Tehran said it
would not negotiate while under Israeli attack.
Reporting by Michael Martina and Katharine Jackson Editing by Peter Graff and Giles Elgood