Displaying a picture of a bombed-out building in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told assembled media that “Iran’s goal is to kill as many civilians as possible.”
“They are not hiding it. They are boasting about it,” he said. “That is a moral line between us.”
Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, Danon said that before Israel launched strikes on Iran in the early morning hours of June 13, “we uncovered clear evidence that the Iranian regime was preparing a war of extermination.”
“They wanted to wipe Israel off the map. They wanted even worse than Oct. 7,” he said. “But we stopped them. We will ensure that it will never happen.”
The ambassador also urged the international community to pull the trigger on sanctioning the Islamic Republic.
Asked about the Iranian death toll, Danon stated that Israel aims at targets “connected to the regime, and if there are civilian casualties, we regret that. Iran, on the other side, is exactly the opposite. They sent those ballistic missiles into the cities.”
Danon compared Iran’s behavior over the weekend with its tactics last year amid two attacks on Israel.
“Back then, they were targeting military bases, Air Force bases. This time, it’s a different case. This time, they are targeting the cities,” Danon said, adding that Israel is attempting to warn civilians of imminent strikes in their areas.
“We pray for the Iranian people. We care about the Iranian people,” the Israeli envoy said. “We know that they are oppressed by this regime, and we hope that the day will come that we can walk with them like we did with them 46 years ago, before the revolution.”
Questioned about Israel’s strike on an Iranian state television facility on Monday, Danon replied that “anyone who is cooperating” with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and “supporting the efforts of this terror regime should know that we have very good intelligence and we use it, and also we have very good control over the skies of Tehran, so we can watch what’s happening, and we can take actions.”
