‘We will target you’ – Netanyahu directs deadly warning to Iran’s new leader

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a veiled but stark warning to Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, signaling that Israel may target him directly even as he acknowledged that Tehran’s government might survive the ongoing air campaign.

Speaking at his first press conference since the start of the war, Netanyahu said Iran “is no longer the same” after nearly two weeks of Israeli and U.S. bombardments, which have reportedly inflicted significant damage on the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Basij paramilitary force.

He also vowed to continue striking Lebanon-based, Iran-backed Hezbollah after the group opened fire on March 2 in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei,  father of Mojtaba Khamenei, at the onset of the conflict.

When pressed about potential action against Khamenei and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, Netanyahu said:

“I wouldn’t issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organization … I don’t intend to provide an exact report here about what we are planning or what we are going to do.”

The remarks came as sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile attacks blared across much of central Israel.

Israel maintains that its military campaign against Iran is designed to eliminate what it considers Tehran’s existential nuclear and ballistic missile threat and to create conditions that could destabilize the clerical government.

While some Iranians celebrated Ali Khamenei’s death prior to the war, no major protests have erupted since hostilities began. Asked whether Israel was supporting opposition forces inside Iran and whether a government collapse could fail, Netanyahu acknowledged the uncertainty but insisted the regime would be weakened regardless.

“I will not detail the actions we are taking. We are creating the optimal conditions for toppling the regime, but I won’t deny that I can’t tell you with all certainty that the people of Iran will topple the regime – a regime is toppled from the inside,” he said.

“But we can definitely help and we are helping.”

The confrontation marks one of the tensest phases in Israel-Iran relations, with Netanyahu striking a defiant and confrontational tone as the air campaign continues.