Netanyahu: ‘End is near’ for Iran’s regime, Israel is determined to see it fall

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the “end is near” for the Iranian regime, and asserted Israel’s determination to “complete the mission” of toppling it, in a video message released by his office ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

If Iran were to “miscalculate” and attack Israel, “it will suffer a blow it cannot even imagine,” Netanyahu warned in the video, taken at the start of a cabinet meeting.

The premier surveyed military accomplishments of recent years, then said: “The achievements are great — but there is more to complete. I mean, first and foremost, the fall of the regime.”

The regime, he said, “is weak, it is fighting for its life, it is faltering,” and “its end is near.” In a summary of the video published by his office, the premier was quoted as calling to “complete the mission” of toppling the regime.

The comments came amid concerns that Iran could attack Israel during the Jewish holiday season, which begins with Rosh Hashanah on Friday night.

Netanyahu made similar remarks on Thursday, saying Israel’s “central mission” is to topple the Iranian regime, while crediting Israel’s military operations since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre with stemming the Iranian nuclear and missile threats.

Also on Sunday, Iran said it struck an unmanned US vessel trying to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a claim that the US military dismissed as a “total lie.”

The purported attack came a day after the US military said forces struck three Iranian oil tankers in response to Navy warships being targeted with ballistic missiles. Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours. We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” — Adm. Brad Cooper,… pic.twitter.com/UGGcSGsUtd

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) September 5, 2026

The United States and Iran resumed attacks last week, following a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz and areas along Iran’s southern coast again being targeted. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a US bombardment that returned attention to the area where a school was hit in the war’s opening strikes.

The Trump administration appears to have adopted a dual-prong approach to the conflict, responding militarily to attacks on the strait while going after foreign financial institutions that handle Iran’s money.

But Tehran’s hardline new senior leaders have signaled a willingness to dig in after weathering decades of sanctions. Iran has found ways over the years to circumvent sanctions, and now a US blockade of its ports, and get its oil to buyers to help ease growing economic pressures. That relies in part on a shadow fleet transporting its oil.

US says million barrels of oil pass through strait daily

Tehran’s new leverage focuses on the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial to global oil and natural gas shipments. It was seen as an international waterway before the war began.

On Sunday, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that on average, 9 million barrels of oil a day are getting through the strait, which should help to relieve pressure on energy prices. His estimate appeared to exceed average flows over the past 28 days through the strait, according to TankerTrackers.com and other sources.

Wright told ABC on Sunday that Iran was “doing everything they can to cling on to something.”

“They know their nuclear program’s coming to an end. Their navy has come to an end. Their air force has come to an end. They’re clinging on to power,” he said.

Speaking to CNN, he said that with oil also flowing through pipelines in the region, “we’re probably two-thirds or more of pre-conflict flows.”

But those flows depend on the presence of the US Navy to help escort tankers and provide some protection against possible Iranian attack. Wright said he expected that other countries would eventually support the Navy’s efforts.

Meanwhile, Iran’s nuclear program, the issue that contributed to the outbreak of the war, was meant to be addressed in negotiations that fell apart soon after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June.

Diplomats say the US, Britain, France and Germany now seek to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for failure to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.