Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday morning instructed the IDF to intensify its attacks on the Iranian regime with the aim to “destabilize” it.
“We must strike at all symbols of the regime and its mechanisms of population repression, such as the Basij, and at the regime’s power base, such as the Revolutionary Guards,” Katz said during a situation assessment with leaders of the Israeli defense establishment.
The Basij is a paramilitary force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), responsible for enforcing domestic order and largely considered the oppressive branch of the regime, tasked with cracking down on Iranian citizens.
Katz said, “This should lead to a widespread evacuation of the population from Tehran, in order to destabilize the regime and enhance deterrence in response to the missile fire on Israel’s home front. This is in addition to continued targeting of facilities and scientists to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, until all the objectives of the operation are fully achieved.”
According to correspondent Doron Kadosh of IDF Radio, the military eliminated overnight Thursday another Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran. Possibly two of his assistants were killed with him, he added.
The results of a second major airstrike reported from Iran were still being investigated, the radio station reported.
On Thursday, Katz said that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is a “modern Hitler” who “cannot continue exist.
“A dictator like Khamenei, who leads Iran and has made the destruction of Israel his banner—cannot be allowed to continue to exist,” said Katz.
The military “has been instructed and knows that—to achieve all goals—this man should no longer continue to exist, without question,” said the defense minister, speaking at the site where an Iranian ballistic missile hit an apartment building in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, wounding 10.
