Netanyahu orders IDF and Mossad to pursue overthrow of Iran’s government, saying Tehran is again trying to develop nuclear weapons

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that he had directed the IDF, Mossad and other security agencies to pursue the overthrow of Iran’s government, arguing that Tehran had resumed efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu made the remarks at an IDF officer cadet graduation ceremony at the Bahad 1 training base in southern Israel.

“We face an existential threat, and our mission is to save the nation,” Netanyahu said. “It is a matter of being or ceasing to exist. It is either us or them. And it will be us.”

He accused Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of following his father’s path and said Iran was again trying to develop what he called “weapons of death.”

“There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: to overthrow the regime in Iran,” Netanyahu said. “And that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security agencies.”

Netanyahu also said he believed many Iranians hoped for an Israeli victory and described regime change as a “fateful mission.”

He further said U.S. President Donald Trump shared his view, telling the audience that Trump had recently told him the U.S. was “ready to finish the job” alongside Israel. Trump has separately warned that Washington could “soon finish the job” against Iran unless Tehran changed course, while publicly backing Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.