The war between Israel and Iran that is rolling into its fifth day could be ended if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei were assassinated, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned. His words came after it emerged that President Trump had ‘vetoed’ plans to take out the Iranian leader, with the US still hopeful of a ‘deal’ in its nuclear negotiations.
In an interview with ABC News, Netanyahu appeared to be keeping the assassination of Israel’s long-time regional foe on the table, amping up rhetoric against his opponent by calling him a “modern day Hitler”, after warning the world on Friday that Iran wanted a “nuclear holocaust” by wiping Israel off the map.
Israel’s Prime Minister defended his assassination plan, saying, “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” adding, “The ‘forever war’ is what Iran wants, and they’re bringing us to the brink of nuclear war.”
With the conflict showing no sign of de-escalation, the UK has separately been warned that Iran could strike its overseas military bases and embassies if it supports Israel in the conflict. Professor Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at RUSI, said RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, which is home Typhoon fighter jets, would be the number one target.
He told MailOnline: “In theory, Iran might interpret that as direct intervention, but I still think it’s unlikely there would be a direct response as that could provoke the Americans. But they still have an incentive to threaten attacks on Western forces to try and persuade those countries against getting involved.”
This comes after Tehran announced it had launched some 100 missiles and vowed further retaliation for Israel’s sweeping attacks on its military and nuclear infrastructure, which have killed at least 224 people in the country since last Friday.
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