Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged Iranian citizens to turn their backs on their leaders, in a video message with a clear undertone of psychological warfare.
«Every day, the (Iranian) regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and war. Every day, his puppets are eliminated. Ask Mohamed Deif. Ask Nasrallah,” the president said, referring to the military leader of Hamas in Gaza and the leader of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, both killed in Israeli attacks.
Netanyahu hoped for “a future of prosperity and peace” for Israelis and Iranians, and went so far as to assure that “Israel is with you” in his message, addressed directly to the Iranian people.
«When Iran is finally free, and that time will come much sooner than people think, everything will be different. Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace. Our two countries, Israel and Iran, will be at peace,” he said.
The warning comes amid an ongoing escalation of Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and against the backdrop of uncertainty over what Iran’s response will be to last Friday’s assassination of Nasrallah, a key ally of the Islamic republic in the region .
“We will give a response that will be deplorable to those who violate our national interests and we will cut off the hands and feet of the aggressor,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Naser Kanaani said in a press conference today, in an apparent reference to Israel.