Miri Regev Says Iran Still Threatens Israel, But Says War Achieved Major Gains

Cabinet minister and Transportation Minister Miri Regev said the recent war with Iran, despite unclear results, still delivered major achievements for Israel, including reducing the nuclear and ballistic missile threats. In an interview scheduled to air Thursday on ynet’s political podcast "120 and One," she insisted that the Tehran regime is weaker than ever.

Her comments came after talks held this week in Switzerland between the United States, Iran and the mediating states, with no clarity yet on what any deal would look like, if one is signed, or what will happen to Iran’s enriched uranium. Regev rejected the argument that Israel had emerged from the operation with Iran still holding ballistic missiles, its regime intact, and its proxies still active.

"These statements are weakening and factually wrong," she said. "Iran will not have nuclear weapons. Period. President Trump says that clearly too." She added that Israel had removed the existential threat from Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile arsenal, and that the whole world now recognizes the danger, including Gulf states.

Regev said Israel never said it wanted to topple the Iranian regime. According to her, the cabinet authorized the removal of the nuclear threat, the removal of the ballistic missile threat, and giving the Iranian people tools to bring down the regime themselves. When challenged that Iran still has ballistic missiles, she replied that Israel struck most of the factories that produce them. She said the regime’s ability would remain in the future if it survives, and argued that regime change is ultimately the best outcome for both the Iranian people and the wider world. Asked how a regime falls, she said, "Whoever topples a regime is the people," adding that Iranians have not yet overcome their fear because the regime "kills them."