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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed support for US President Donald Trump’s strategy towards Iran, asserting that Tehran must cease its nuclear programme.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu argued that Iran’s current leadership poses a threat to the Middle East even without nuclear weapons, warning that a nuclear-armed Iran would be significantly more dangerous.
“I think it will—what will it take? It will take for Iran to understand, either for this regime to fall, or for Iran to realise that the cost of wreaking economic chaos to the world, murdering thousands of its own citizens, and shooting at everyone,” Netanyahu said.
He accused Tehran of destabilising countries across the region, saying the Iranian government was already targeting multiple US allies.
“I mean, literally at everyone—at Saudi Arabia, at Bahrain, at Qatar, at Kuwait, at the UAE, at Israel, at Jordan, every single one. I mean, this is what this regime is doing when they don’t have nuclear weapons. So imagine what they would do if they had nuclear weapons,” he said.
Netanyahu said lasting stability would require either a fundamental shift in the Iranian government’s behaviour or a change in the country’s leadership.
“I think when this regime is either toppled or it’s sufficiently weakened that it knows it has to end its nuclear programme and has to change its course,” he said.
The Israeli leader framed Trump’s approach as an effort to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions while avoiding another major military confrontation if possible.
“That’s really what President Trump is trying to achieve. And I back fully his efforts to do so,” Netanyahu said.
He added that diplomacy would be acceptable if it achieved the objective of permanently ending Iran’s nuclear programme.
“If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?” Netanyahu said.
“But one way or the other, they have to end their nuclear programme. And with a deal or without a deal, that has to come to an end.”
Netanyahu’s remarks follow efforts by the Trump administration to curb Iran’s nuclear activities following months of heightened regional tensions.
Israel has long maintained that it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, arguing that Tehran’s nuclear programme poses an existential threat.
Iran, for its part, insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful civilian purposes and has repeatedly denied seeking to develop nuclear weapons, although Western governments and the International Atomic Energy Agency have expressed concerns over the scale and pace of its uranium enrichment activities.
