Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “modern Hitler” on Tuesday and vowed to create the conditions for regime change, as Iran’s exiled crown prince urged his countrymen to stage a national uprising.
“Cyrus freed the Jews, and today the Jewish state might free the Persians,” Netanyahu said during an interview on Israeli television, according to the Times of Israel.
“In the end, they have to rise up themselves, but we are creating the conditions,” the prime minister continued. “And that’s why it could be consequential.”
While a regime change in Iran is not necessarily a goal of “Operation Rising Lion,” Netanyahu suggested that Israel’s military operation could mark a turning point in the region.
“We’re going to see a different Middle East, a reality we haven’t seen until now,” he said, envisioning the Arab world further opening up to Israel through the expansion of the Abraham Accords after the military campaign is over.
“The Arab world has opened up to us,” Netanyahu said. “And the threat we face now is Iran. It’s either us or them.”
The prime minister claimed that “80%” of Iranians “hate” Iran’s Khamenei-led regime, referring to the Supreme Leader as a “modern Hitler.”
Netanyahu, 75, noted that Israel plans to target and destroy “additional regime facilities” as part of the operation against Iran, which was launched last week.
He had a call with President Trump Tuesday afternoon, the White House confirmed, without detailing their discussion.
Meanwhile, exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — the eldest son of the former Shah of Iran, the last leader before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, who was swept from power — argued that Israel’s actions mean the ruling regime’s collapse is now “inevitable.”
“[The] Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,” the 64-year-old would-be leader of Iran said in a call to action posted on X Tuesday.
“Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation,” Pahlavi continued. “What has begun is irreversible.”
The exiled crown prince, who fled Iran in his teens and has been living outside of Washington, DC, since 2001, insisted that the “future is bright” for Iran despite the current turmoil – noting that his “heart is with all the defenseless citizens who have been harmed and have fallen victim to Khamenei’s warmongering and delusions.”
“The end of the Islamic Republic is the end of its 46-year war against the Iranian nation,” Pahlavi declared. “The regime’s apparatus of repression is falling apart.”
“All it takes now is a nationwide uprising to put an end to this nightmare once and for all.”
“Now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran,” he cried out. “Let us all come forward … and bring about the end of this regime.”
Pahlavi pleaded with Iranians not to fear “the day after the fall” of Khamenei’s rule, insisting that the nation will “not descend into civil war or instability.”
“We have a plan for Iran’s future and its flourishing,” the crown prince said. “We are prepared for the first hundred days after the fall, for the transitional period, and for the reestablishment of a national and democratic government – by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people.”
He urged Iranian security forces and state employees not to “stand against the Iranian people” if they decide to revolt, arguing that the regime’s “fall has begun and is inevitable.”
“Do not sacrifice yourselves for a decaying regime,” Pahlavi said. “By standing with the people, you can save your lives.”
“A free and flourishing Iran lies ahead of us,” he promised. “May we be together soon.”
Pahlavi has long called for regime change in Iran, arguing that the current theocratic government has been holding his nation back.
He’s also previously called on President Trump to impose “maximum pressure” on the regime and has ripped former President Joe Biden for undermining the progress opposing the Iranian government made during Trump’s first term.
Pahlavi’s remarks come after Trump called for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” in a Truth Social post.
The president further claimed to know “exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” but said the US was “not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
“Our patience is wearing thin,” Trump warned.
