ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The defense minister of Israel said Tuesday that Tel Aviv does not seek to occupy Iran or overthrow the Tehran regime, but destroy its nuclear program, as the two countries entered the fifth day of trading fire.
Israel will continue “targeting Iranian military leaders, missile systems, and nuclear program,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said, adding they would not seek to “occupy Iran and overthrow the regime, but rather remove the threats.”
Katz added they would “respond to any threats to renew the nuclear program.”
Katz’s comments came hours after the Israeli military claimed they killed Iran’s top military commander Ali Shamdani, describing him as the closest figure to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following "a sudden opportunity overnight, the [Israeli air force] struck a staffed command centre in the heart of Tehran and eliminated Ali Shadmani, the wartime Chief of Staff, the most senior military commander, and the closest figure to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei," the Israeli military said in a statement.
The Israeli military added Shadmani had commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGS) and the Iranian armed forces.
Iran has not yet confirmed Shadmani’s death.
Tensions have escalated between Iran and Israel over the past five days, after Israel launched a large-scale offensive early Friday, targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities across the country and killing over 200 people, including dozens of high-profile military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Iran has responded to the strikes, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones toward Israeli territories, most of which have been intercepted by Israel’s air defenses. The Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people and wounded over 500 others.
The escalations came days before Tehran and Washington were set to enter a sixth round of nuclear talks, mediated by Oman. The meeting was cancelled in light of the attacks.
Efforts on a regional and international level have been intensified to bring the deadly and devastating conflict between Tel Aviv and Tehran to an end, but so far to no avail.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday accused Israel of seeking to “expand the war” by attacking Iran’s oil facilities in the Gulf waters, and lambasted G7 leaders for failing to condemn Tel Aviv’s “blatant aggression” and attacks on the country.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, top diplomats from 20 Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Turkey, the UAE, and Pakistan, condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran, while calling for a “Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction."
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