Tel Aviv [Israel], March 8 (ANI): Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the United States and his administration have achieved nearly total dominance over Iranian airspace following a series of coordinated military strikes.
In a Hebrew video message shared on X, he declared, “We achieved almost complete control over the skies of Tehran.”
Netanyahu said the campaign was conducted in close coordination with Washington and with US President Donald Trump’s full understanding of the danger Iran posed to Israel and the wider international community.
Linking the offensive to the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, he said the operation was a primary goal of his administration. “We have turned Israel into a regional power. All of this requires courage, initiative and taking risks,” he said, adding that after October 7 he decided to lead a “polar shift” through powerful, proactive actions to change the balance of power.
He warned Israel was confronting a grave and immediate threat from Iran, accusing the regime of seeking to expand military capabilities to attack Israel and others. “We are facing an extremely evil regime that is plotting to destroy us with atomic bombs and tens of thousands of missiles,” Netanyahu stated.
Expressing gratitude to the US, he thanked President Trump for his leadership and said the joint effort, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” was essential to remove an immediate danger to Israel. “In Operation Rising Lion, we combined forces to remove immediate danger from Israel,” he said.
Netanyahu claimed that the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had tried to protect Iran’s military assets by moving them into fortified, underground locations. “Khamenei ordered the capabilities to be restored and buried underground so that they would be immune,” he said, asserting that had this succeeded, those capabilities would have been used to destroy Israel and threaten the world.
He said the intervention was timed to thwart those plans and prevent a pre-emptive Iranian strike on US and Israeli interests. “From this foresight, we, the United States and Israel, took action together to thwart these threats and allow the Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” he said, adding there was a danger Iran would attack American targets in the region and Israel first.
Highlighting early results, Netanyahu claimed, “In the first week, we eliminated the dictator Khamenei, we destroyed hundreds of ballistic missile launchers,” which he said significantly reduced the threat to Israel.
Turning to the northern front, he warned Lebanon to enforce a ceasefire agreement and disarm Hezbollah, cautioning that failure to do so would bring “disastrous consequences for Lebanon” and urging the country to “Take your fate into your own hands.”
Addressing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Netanyahu warned operatives they were “in our crosshairs” and said those who lay down their weapons would not be harmed, while those who did not would “pay the price.” He suggested Israel had a further “well-organized plan with many surprises to undermine the government and enable change” within Iran.
Directing remarks to the Iranian people, he framed the conflict as a mission of liberation but said the outcome depended on them. “To the Iranian people – we seek to liberate Iran,” he said. “But at the end of the day, liberation from the yoke of tyranny will depend on you, the Iranian people.” He added he believed that if Iranians stand up “the day will not be far off when Israel and Iran return to being brave friends.”
Netanyahu argued the Iranian regime posed a threat to many regional countries, claiming Iran had attacked 12 neighboring states and asserting that many countries were now turning to Israel for cooperation after seeing Israel’s military and technological capabilities.
He criticized the United Nations for what he described as hypocrisy, saying the UN condemned Israel while failing to act in the face of mass slaughter in Iran. He predicted a “dramatic expansion of the circle of peace” once the threat from the ayatollahs is neutralized.
“Together we will continue to stand firm,” Netanyahu said. “Together we will roar like a lion, and with God’s help, together we will ensure the eternity of Israel.” (ANI)
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