Israel’s defence minister has declared that any successor to Iran’s slain supreme leader who pursues aggressive policies could face assassination, amid ongoing US-Israeli military operations against Tehran.
The statement from Israel Katz came on Wednesday via the social media platform X, following airstrikes that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials last Saturday.
“Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue advancing the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people — will be an unequivocal target for elimination,” Katz wrote.
He added: “It does not matter what his name is or where he hides.”
Katz revealed that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had directed the Israel Defence Forces to prepare for intensified actions under Operation ‘Roaring Lion’.
“We will continue to act with full force, together with our American partners, to dismantle the regime’s capabilities and create the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow and replace it,” he stated.
The warning follows Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on Israeli targets and US bases in the Gulf, heightening fears of a wider regional conflict.
