Israel has ‘won’ war with Iran, Sa’ar says, but goals remain unmet

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar says Israel has effectively won its war with Iran, but does not indicate when the conflict might end, saying only that the campaign would continue until its objectives are achieved.

Speaking at a news conference, Sa’ar says Israel is seeking to remove “existential threats,” but does not say how the government will determine when those goals have been met.

“One must be patient,” he says, speaking on the 18th day of a war that has killed more than 2,000 people, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, but also in Israel, Iraq and across the Gulf.

Sa’ar and other Israeli officials have said the aim is to significantly weaken Iran’s ability to carry out attacks against Israel over the long term, while creating conditions inside Iran that could ultimately enable Iranians to overthrow their rulers.

But Sa’ar also acknowledges that “the regime” in Iran could only be toppled by the Iranian people – an apparent acknowledgement that an uprising does not look imminent.

“We have already won,” Sa’ar says, describing Iran as “dramatically weakened” and no longer the country it was before the war began on February 28.

“This is clear for us and for our neighbors, but we will continue until the point that the mission is complete,” he says.