Samuel Omang
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and overthrowing his government could be a way to end the war that erupted when Israel launched airstrikes at the Islamic Republic last week.
“We are doing what we need to do,” Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday night when asked if he plans on targeting Khamenei. “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict.”
Earlier over the weekend, Netanyahu suggested that Israel’s operation “could certainly” result in a change in leadership inside Iran.
His latest comments came as President Donald Trump indicated that the five-day conflict between the two countries could be entering a new phase as he left the G7 meeting of rich nations in Alberta, Canada, early to head back to Washington for meetings with top military officials.
But in a post on Truth Social, Trump said his departure had “nothing to do with” a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, refuting earlier comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron that Trump had made a ceasefire offer and accusing the French president of “publicity seeking.”
He added that his return to Washington was “much bigger than that,” but did not include anymore details.
In later comments to reporters on Air Force One, Trump again rejected the prospect of peace talks with Iran, saying that rather than a ceasefire, he preferred a “real end” to the stalled negotiations over a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
He added that he would consider dispatching Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials.
There were heavy air strikes and explosions in the capital of Tehran overnight, with Israel saying it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s new wartime chief of staff and the country’s most senior military commander. Iranian officials did not confirm his death.
Israel’s offensive has wiped out much of Iran’s top brass, as well as senior scientists working on the country’s nuclear program, which Israel says poses an “existential threat.”
Iran says it is not seeking nuclear weapons, although the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, last week condemned the Islamic Republic of breaching its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
Iran in response launched two waves of missiles to the Israeli attacks, setting off air raid alerts in parts of central and northern Israel in the early hours.
Netanyahu also dismissed reports that he and Trump were in disagreement over Israel’s targeting of Khamenei, saying, “I wouldn’t rush to conclusions.”
The Israeli leader suggested that U.S. support for Israel’s attempts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program would prevent the two allies from being “on the brink of nuclear war” waged by Iran, whom he accused of “stringing the U.S. along” during negotiations over a nuclear deal.
At least 224 people have been killed since Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, Iranian state media reported, while Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least 24 people in Israel.
While calls for a regime change in Iran have grown louder from Israel and its allies in Washington, Mohammad Eslami, a research fellow at Tehran University, told NBC News Tuesday that Iranian sentiment toward the Supreme Leader was now focused on unity and holding the country together.
“This is a clear rally around the flag moment” for the Iranian people, he said, adding, “The most important thing Iranians are thinking about the motherland.”
