Israel's US ambassador says beeper operation will 'seem simple' compared to what is planned for Iran
Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter said there will be some surprises amid the Jewish State's conflict with Iran that will make Israel's explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria last year look "simple."
"We've pulled off a number of surprises," Leiter said during a Tuesday appearance on the TV network Merit Street.
"When the dust settles, you're going to see some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple," he continued.
Leiter was referring to near-simultaneous detonations of pagers used by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group that killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded nearly 3,000 on Sept. 17 in Lebanon and Syria. The following day, at least 25 people were killed and more than 600 were wounded when walkie-talkies were detonated in the region.
Israel was subsequently found to be behind the attacks, in which small amounts of explosives hidden in the devices were detonated. A U.S. official told The Associated Press at the time that Israel briefed the U.S. government after the attacks.
But then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. "did not know about, nor was it involved in, these incidents."
Leiter on Tuesday also posted a video message on X that was recorded outside the Situation Room in the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he explained that Israel was "not in the business of regime change."
"Today we continue to peel back the surface-to-surface missile systems that are spread throughout Iran. We've reached the point where between a third and a half have been demolished," he said. "We hit today the broadcast center in the middle of Tehran after we informed the people living in the vicinity to leave. Hundreds of thousands of Tehranis have escaped Tehran to be out of the line of danger. And we took out the broadcast system. This is very important because this serves the mullahs and their information campaign, the propaganda campaign throughout."
"Iran, to incite the public and to warn the public against any kind of demonstrations against the government," the ambassador continued. "A lot of questions have been asked today about regime change. In many of the interviews that I gave, that was the key question. We're not in the business of regime change. We're interested in neutralizing the threat to our existence through a nuclear weaponization program in Iran and a ballistic missile program."
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful, and U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon.
"If the Iranian people rise up and change their regime, that's their choice," Leiter said. "And if we play a role in facilitating that eventuality, then history will judge us favorably, I believe. It's important also to emphasize that our economy remains strong and resilient despite the war, and the stock market in Israel once again, for the second day in a row, continued to rise."
"We are working very hard to assist those stranded both in Israel wanting to leave and those wanting to get back to Israel, to their families, to their positions in society and the army," he added. "And we're hoping to find solutions through our neighbors in the next couple of days. We continue to press on. We continue to press forward. And we thank you for your support and prayers."
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