Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, asked the Iranian people on Friday to “rally around their flag and their historical legacy” to defend “their freedom” against an “evil and oppressive regime” in the midst of the escalation in the region.
Netanyahu issued this video recorded in English after the Israeli armed forces conducted a bombing on Friday that hit at least 200 locations in Iran, including Tehran and the nuclear plants in Natanz and Isfahan.
Israel eliminated Iran’s top military officials
“In the last 24 hours, we have eliminated high-ranking military commanders and top nuclear scientists, the most important enrichment facility of the Islamic regime, and a large part of their ballistic missile arsenal. There is more to come,” said the prime minister in a speech posted on social media.
The Israeli attacks killed at least three senior generals, an influential politician, and two scientists linked to the Iranian nuclear program, according to The New York Times, citing Iranian state media and official sources. Among them were Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who served as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and was considered the second most powerful figure in the country after the Ayatollah, and General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s main military force.
In his message, Netanyahu insisted that “Israel’s struggle is not against the Iranian people”, but against “the murderous Islamic regime” that “oppresses and impoverishes” the population. “The nation of Iran and the nation of Israel have been friends since the time of Cyrus the Great”, the prime minister assured.
In this sense, the Israeli Prime Minister indicated that it is time to “raise our voice”. “Woman, life, freedom,” Netanyahu emphasized, referring to the emblem of the anti-government protests that erupted in the country following the death of young Mahsa Amini.