IRAN INTERNATIONAL -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview that Israel had rolled back Iran's nuclear program but implied the Jewish state had not yet finished its confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
"They want to develop the means of mass death, atomic bombs and the means to deliver them to every theater near you. That's what they're trying to do. And we stopped it. We rolled back this grave means to our survival," Netanyahu told Newsmax on Thursday.
"We haven't finished the job, but I can tell you that America started something. We'll finish it," Netanyahu said, alleging Tehran ultimately sought intercontinental ballistic missiles enabling it to strike the United States and even President Donald Trump's Florida manse Mar-a-Lago.
Israel worsted Iran in a shock military campaign lasting 12 days which was capped off with an American attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. A fragile ceasefire now persists.
Trump said the attack "obliterated" Tehran's nuclear program, in a conclusion Netanyahu's remarks may have been addressing. The US President has suggested Tehran was vanquished and has not appeared eager for hostilities to resume.
The Israeli premier said once again that Israeli blows had paved the way for regime change within Iran, adding that it could be achieved with minimal military commitment from outside.
"We hit them right on the nose, in the groin ... it creates a possibility inside Iran, because the people who belong tyrannized now say they have hope," he said.
"If there'll be a regime change, it won't come from 1000s and 1000s of Israeli soldiers and Americans with boots on the ground ... No, it will come from the people inside Iran themselves, and I see the cracks."