- Netanyahu says killing Ayatollah Khamenei would end Israel-Iran conflict.
- Trump previously vetoed Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader.
- Netanyahu says Israel’s strikes aim to stop, not escalate, the war.
- He warns of global risk, citing Iran’s threats to both Israel and the U.S.
- Iran’s nuclear program compared to “Hitler’s nuclear team” by Netanyahu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with ABC News, said that assassinating Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would bring an end to the prolonged conflict between Israel and Iran.
Netanyahu defended Israel’s current military actions against Iran, stating that they are designed to stop Tehran’s escalating influence across the Middle East. He denied that such operations would provoke wider war, saying instead that their purpose is to “end the conflict.”
Netanyahu’s remarks come following reports that former U.S. President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli proposal to eliminate Iran’s top political and religious leader, concerned that such a move would dangerously escalate tensions. According to Reuters, a senior Trump administration official had said, “Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do, we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership.”
Pressed by ABC on that vetoed plan, Netanyahu did not deny it. Instead, he reiterated that Iran’s leadership had been spreading violence across the region for decades. “We’ve had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that terrorises everyone in the Middle East, and has bombed the Aramco oil fields in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“It is spreading terrorism and subversion and sabotage everywhere,” Netanyahu continued, calling Iran’s nuclear ambitions a threat not just to Israel but to the world.
Netanyahu warned that inaction could result in a nuclear catastrophe. “What Israel is doing is preventing this, bringing an end to this aggression, and we can only do so by standing up to the forces of evil,” he said.
He admitted that Israel had previously targeted Iranian nuclear scientists and infrastructure, comparing them to “Hitler’s nuclear team,” and stressed the global importance of neutralizing the threat.
(With inputs from ABC News)
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