Iran Guards chief says Israel in ‘political collapse’ as government crumbles
Hossein Salami declares his nation’s enemies are ‘helpless, incapable and hopeless in pursuing their goal’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Hossein Salami said Monday that Israel is undergoing a political collapse as the government announced that it will dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
The US, meanwhile, is trying to extract itself from the region without losing face, Salami claimed.
“If you follow the news, you will see that the Zionist regime is in political collapse,” Salami said at a military ceremony in Tehran, the semi-official Fars news service reported. “And the United States seeks a dignified escape from the Islamic world.”
Iran’s enemies are “helpless, incapable and hopeless in pursuing their goals,” he said.
Salami added that Iran is becoming stronger and “in the near future, we will be among the world powers,” the Tasnim news service reported.
His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said they would bring a bill for the Knesset to dissolve itself as their coalition was no longer able to function. The coalition first lost its majority last month and then slid into the minority as government lawmakers deserted to the opposition.
Tensions between Israel and Iran has increased recently amid warnings by Jerusalem officials that its regional archfoe is attempting terror attacks in Turkey against Israeli targets. Israel has urged all its nationals to immediately leave Istanbul, and that even those in other locations should return home. It has also told Israelis to not make unnecessary visits to Turkey.
Unconfirmed media reports have said a number of attacks, including assassinations and kidnappings were recently foiled, in some cases with just minutes to spare. Turkish intelligence, working with its Israeli counterpart, is said to have uncovered a network of Iranian agents operating in the country.
Iran has blamed Israel for a series of deaths inside its borders of those connected to its nuclear and military programs, as well as attacks on facilities, and has vowed revenge.
The developments come as talks between Iran and world powers to revive a tattered 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.
The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action offered Iran relief from stiff sanctions in return for limits on its nuclear program. The Trump administration pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, saying it didn’t go far enough in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and restoring biting sanctions.
Iran responded by gradually dropping its own commitments, ramping up its program and enriching uranium to levels beyond those set in the deal, bringing it close to the threshold for being able to produce a weapon.
European-sponsored talks in Vienna between Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA began in April 2021 but stalled earlier this year. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.
