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Israel's military campaign against Iran is giving its people a chance to topple the Islamic Republic, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Iran International, adding that the ruling system's days were numbered.
"A light has been lit—carry it to freedom,” Netanyahu told Iran International's anchor Pouria Zeraati on Monday.
“This is the time,” he said. “Your hour of freedom is near—it’s happening now.”
Netanyahu cast the Islamic Republic as an enduring threat to Israel through its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
“The tyrants of Tehran basically planned two weapons of mass death to exterminate Israel,” he said. “One is to rush forward with their nuclear program to develop atomic bombs to destroy Israel."
"Second, they've programmed to build a vast missile, ballistic missile arsenal … Each missile carrying a one-ton payload, just slamming into our cities, killing our women, our children. They were going to build 20,000 of these,” he added.
Netanyahu framed Israel’s ongoing campaign as both a defensive war and an opportunity for the leadership in Tehran to be overthrown.
“This is evil against good, and it's time for good people to stand up with the good, the good people of Iran, and good people everywhere against this madness foisted on all of us by this radical tyranny. It's about to end,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli attacks since Friday have killed 322 people and wounded 684, according to human rights group HRANA.
'They fear us, they fear you'
The Israeli premier suggested that the Islamic Republic’s military vulnerability could also hasten its political collapse.
“These dictators in Iran, sure they fear us—but they fear you, the people of Iran, even more,” he said. “They understand that 80 percent of Iranians despise them."
Netanyahu said Israel’s precision targeting had already knocked out key parts of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and missile production capabilities.
“(We) knocked out their chief nuclear team, their nuclear sites… we're knocking out their ballistic missile production,” he said. “We still have a way to go, but we’ll finish it.”
Drawing a contrast between Israel’s military conduct and Iran’s, Netanyahu said, “You can see that by the warnings that we are sending. The forewarnings that we're sending to the people of Tehran and elsewhere.
"It is necessary in order to have the people leave the zone of conflict. That's the whole difference between a terrorist regime that deliberately targets civilians in a democracy like Israel.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier on the day that while Israel does not aim to harm civilians, residents of Tehran must evacuate areas near government and military sites that could be targeted.
An illustrated depiction of the Tehran evacuation zone published by the Israeli military encompassed an area around 30 square kilometers, an area home to several hundred thousand people.
Netanyahu said the people of Iran had suffered under the Islamic Republic and mentioned a young woman whose death in morality police custody sparked nationwide protests in 2022.
“They've impoverished you. They've given you misery. They've given you death. They've given you terror. They shoot down your women, leaving this brave, unbelievable woman, Mahsa Amini, to bleed on the sidewalk for not covering her hair. I mean, this is an outrageous radical fanatic regime, and the time has come to defang them.”
Netanyahu said Iran could be made "great again" and that Iran's people were its future.
“I believe in you. I respect you. I admire you. I know your achievements. I know your potential. I know that Iran can be great again. It was a great civilization, and these theological thuggery that has kidnapped your country, will not stand for long, and you are the future, not them.”
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan in northeastern Tehran hours after Israel began its attacks on Tehran early Friday, two informed sources inside Iran told Iran International.
All members of Khamenei's family including his son Mojtaba are with him, the sources said.
According to the sources, during the previous operations against Israel, True Promise 1 and True Promise 2, the Supreme Leader’s family was also taken to the bunker.
At that time, Mojtaba was by his side, but his other two sons, Masoud and Mostafa, were not with him.
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan in northeastern Tehran hours after Israel began its attacks on Tehran early Friday, two informed sources inside Iran told Iran International.
All members of Khamenei's family including his son Mojtaba are with him, the sources said.
According to the sources, during the previous operations against Israel, True Promise 1 and True Promise 2, the Supreme Leader’s family was also taken to the bunker.
At that time, Mojtaba was by his side, but two of his sons, Masoud and Mostafa, were not with him.
Iran’s first direct attack on Israel, Operation True Promise 1, took place on April 13, 2024, and involved over 300 missiles and drones targeting military installations. The strike was in retaliation for the killing of two Iranian generals in Damascus.
Operation True Promise 2 followed on October 1, 2024, with approximately 200 missiles aimed at Israeli military facilities in response to the assassination of Iran-aligned militant leaders, including former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Warning to Khamenei
On Sunday, Israel targeted the city of Mashhad, located 2,300 kilometers from the Jewish State, for the first time.
A diplomatic source in the Middle East told Iran International that the Israeli airstrike on Mashhad was a warning to Iran’s Supreme Leader that he is not safe anywhere in the country.
The diplomatic source added that Israel could have eliminated Khamenei on the first night of the operation, but the Israeli government chose to keep him alive to give him a final chance to decide on completely dismantling the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program.
Trump had given Khamenei a two-month deadline to agree to dismantle Iran’s enrichment program. However, the Supreme Leader ignored both his and Israel’s warnings.
With the start of Israel’s airstrikes, that opportunity has been offered once again — this time for him to realistically assess Israel’s military capability and order the dismantling of the enrichment program, the sources said.
Mohammad Kazemi, the head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and his deputy, Hassan Mohaqqeq, were trapped under the rubble following the Israeli strike on the Organization's building in Tehran, and their condition is currently unknown, Iran International has learned.
The strike caused extensive damage to the building, and search and rescue operations are still underway.
Iran International has obtained information indicating that Ali Asghar Hejazi, deputy chief of staff to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is in negotiations with Russian officials to secure a potential exit from Iran for himself and his family if the situation deteriorates.
According to the information, a senior Russian official has assured Hejazi that in case of escalation, Moscow would facilitate his evacuation via a secure corridor.
Other senior Iranian officials have reportedly received similar contacts, with some already finalizing their own exit routes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement Saturday that senior Iranian leaders were “packing their bags.”
