"You know, this claim is ridiculous. Iran is 1,500 kilometers away from Israel. Millions of people took to the streets. The Iranian government was killing thousands of its own citizens. What does that have to do with Israel or the United States? They failed to meet the needs of their people," said Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar in an exclusive interview to APA, in response to the question of official Tehran's accusing Israel for the latest developments in the country.
"They are brutally suppressing the people’s aspirations for freedom and prosperity and blaming others for it. This is a very typical tactic of dictatorships. And this is a brutal dictatorship.
So, to speak openly, from our perspective, we had excellent relations with Iran before the Islamic Revolution and up until the late 1970s. We cooperated with them and had very good relations. We also have good relations with the Iranian people. We are not enemies or rivals of the Iranian people. We support the Iranian people’s desire for peace. Our problem is only with the regime.
Why? First, because they not only openly and officially say “we want to destroy Israel,” but they are also taking steps to achieve this.
They finance all the terrorist organizations around us, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Thus, they are parties that are waging a continuous long‑distance war against Israel.
Second, they want to acquire nuclear weapons, which would create a threat for the entire region. This would not endanger only Israel, because if this brutal regime were to obtain a nuclear umbrella, one can imagine what they could do to intimidate neighboring countries. Therefore, the most extremist regime must be prevented from possessing the most dangerous weapon — nuclear weapons.
Third, they have worked and continue to work on developing a large ballistic missile program.
How do we know this program is directed against Israel? Because they have already used it against Israel. During this war, in 2024 and 2025, they used it three times. They did this even before we targeted their nuclear facilities and missile program. In 2024 — in April and October — they carried it out.
And if we talk about Israel, a small country, their desire to acquire an incredible number of precise missiles threatens the Israeli state, and they do not hide this intent.
So, from our perspective, if they had not done these three things — if they had stopped supporting terrorism, refrained from advancing nuclear weapons, and not developed ballistic missiles — we would have no problem with them.
But the problem is that they have never agreed to do any of this. Even in June 2025, before the war broke out, when they were in contact with the United States, they were just playing games. They did not actually make any serious commitments.
Therefore, it is very important for us to keep this dangerous regime away from dangerous weapons and to take steps that will reduce its ability to support terrorist states and terrorist groups that are at war with Israel."
