One week since Israel launched strikes on Iran, there are still no signs of cracks or instability within the Iranian regime, three Israeli officials told
The Jerusalem Post on Friday.
“There are currently no indications that the central government in Tehran is losing control — quite the opposite. The Iranian regime appears to be tightening its grip,” the three officials said.
Dr. Raz Zimmt, director of the Iran Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), is not surprised. “It’s not surprising that no cracks are visible,” he told the
Post.
“Most Iranians are hostile to the regime and oppose it, but there is a sense of national solidarity at the moment. Right now, the people are focused on one thing: survival.
“When they see
Israeli strikes causing casualties and destruction — even if the regime is unpopular — the immediate threat is seen as Israel. That’s why people are rallying around the flag. I emphasize — not around the regime, but most of their anger is currently
directed at Israel.”
One of Israel’s goals is to destabilize Iran’s government
While toppling the ayatollahs' regime is not an official objective of Israel in this conflict, senior Israeli officials — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Defense Minister Israel Katz — have recently stated that one of Israel’s goals is to destabilize the government in Tehran.
In recent days, Israel has also struck targets described by officials as “serving the Iranian regime.” Among the targets were police headquarters, state television and radio stations, the Interior Ministry, and the Intelligence and Defense ministries.
On Friday, Katz announced that Israel would begin targeting facilities of the Basij militia — a paramilitary force under Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is used to suppress domestic protests. “I have instructed the military to intensify strikes on regime targets in Tehran in order to destabilize the regime and increase deterrence in response to the missile fire on Israeli cities,” Katz said after a meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior officials.
“We must hit all symbols of power and the regime’s mechanisms for suppressing the population, and we must also force the evacuation of large segments of Tehran’s civilian population — all to undermine the regime.”
‘Mass protest movements’ could emerge in Iran after the war
Despite the fact that the Iranian regime currently seems to be consolidating power, Dr. Zimmt says he remains optimistic that in the medium to long term — once the war ends — the Iranian public will begin to question how the country reached this point, and their frustration will turn against the regime.
“As long as the war continues, you can indeed weaken the regime — damage command and control centers, destroy headquarters, eliminate intelligence figures — and over time, that could undermine the regime’s centers of power,” Dr. Zimmt explained. “That’s important because once the balance of power shifts between regime critics and the regime itself, there will be a real chance for change. A mass protest movement confronting a vulnerable regime — one less willing or able to defend itself — could emerge after the war.”