‘One Crucial Element’ Needed For Regime Change in Iran: Founder of Israel’s Defense & Security Forum

Israel says Iranian security chief Ali Larijani and one other top official were killed in overnight airstrikes. Israel says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered, quote, the elimination of senior officials of the Iranian regime. Joining us now to discuss is Amir Avivi. Amir is a reserve brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces and the founder and chairman of Israel's Defense and Security Forum. So Amir, thank you so much for joining us today. I just want to get some of your thoughts here. How significant is this loss of two of the top Iranian officials for the remaining leadership in Iran? It's very, very significant. He was the actual leader at the moment. He headed, by the way, the massacre of the Iranian people. He led the policies. We also targeted the head of Basij that has been really, you know, also participating in the massacres. The regime is falling apart. All the leadership is not existent anymore. There is no there is no real connection between the government and military forces. Things are being dismantled systematically by Israel and the U.S. In the coming week or two, we'll see this moving very fast towards a reality that this country cannot function anymore. So for better understanding, can you just tell us a little bit more about Iran's security chief, Ali Larijani? Like, what was his role before and after the death of the supreme leader? So basically, even before the death of the supreme leader, he was really the guy managing things and managing the revolutionary guards, executing the policies. And he was, you know, was a future leader after Khamenei. Although they supposedly appointed his son, he was really the managing things. So once he's gone, basically all the leadership of Iran has been targeted. They have no leadership anymore. And this is one crucial element among others to really create the terms for a change of regime. Israel and the U.S. are destroying the ballistic missile capabilities, the blue capability, the Navy has been sunk. I think that one big challenge as we see in the coming weeks is opening the Strait of Hormuz. It's a complicated mission, because at the end of the day, we're talking about six nautical miles that can be hit by a drone or by an explosive boat or by a mini-submarine or from the coast with a coastal missile. So you need them, and that's it. So to secure the Strait requires a lot of effort. And Israel and the U.S. with allies are working relentlessly to really create this control over the Strait. Okay. Can you also tell us what's going to happen with the Basij militia now without the leader? Israel is targeting systematically every single base of the Basij, and also Basij forces that are deployed in the cities being hit by drones. They understand that they will not be safe anywhere. And by the way, units, and not only the Basij, that have massive defection. Some units, even 90 percent of the people fled away. They see that this is hopeless. I mean, Israel is really controlling with the U.S. Iranian sky and attacking wherever they want, when they want. We're talking about 20,000 targets. Each target was hit by two, three, four bombs. Every single target was accurate, and the attack was devastating. So obviously, it's really breaking down the whole infrastructure of the Iranian regime, including the military industries. Iran is not able to produce things that will sustain the fight. These industries are being targeted and destroyed. Iran hasn't been able to produce even one missile throughout the war. And the same goes with the drones and other capabilities. Would you be able to tell us as well, Amir, are there likely more Iranian leaders on the list of those targeted by Israel? Yes, it's a long list. And there are definitely other leaders, including the son of Khamenei, Muttaba Khamenei. And every time we have one layer of leaders targeted, the IDF goes to the next layer. And until this whole regime, I believe that we'll see in a week or two really the capability of the regime decimated and destroyed. And once the U.S. takes over Hormuz Strait, it's game over. It means this regime has no viability, no economy, no ability to trade, and no ability to threaten countries. And we'll see probably in a week or two Iran not being able to shoot any more missiles or drones. We're really dismantling these capabilities fast. And as President Trump said, this is going to be a real and conditional surrender of this regime. Okay, just one last final question, Amir. Would you be able to give us your analysis on what you think the Iranian regime is feeling right now? Talk to us about morale. Are they feeling hopeless at this moment? Talk to us about that. Yeah, definitely. And not only the leadership, also the operatives on the ground. You have all units that are not functioning, units that are fleeing away, that are not acting anymore. You know, they see whole capabilities disappearing, like air defense, navy, air force. And they see every base destroyed, according to the plan. The U.S. and Israel have thousands of targets to destroy. And they know that they cannot do anything to stop it. And it's going to continue until they give up and say, okay, that's it. We want to stop, we'll agree to any term. And what is needed at the end of the day is a change of regime. All this attack is not only just about dismantling all the capabilities, it's about setting the conditions for a change of regime. And there will be a moment when Israel and the U.S. will call the Iranian people to go out of their homes and take over the country. But this moment will come after we have degraded dramatically all Iranian capabilities in a way that won't be endangered by this regime. Okay, Amir, good to hear your analysis today. Thank you for speaking with us. My pleasure.