A humanitarian crisis has been brewing in Iran for 47 years and its is time the Ayatollah Khamenei regime should go, Shosh Bedrosian, spokesperson for the Israel Prime Minister's office, said today. Her comments came shortly after US President Donald Trump declared that he wants nothing less than the "unconditional surrender" of Iran and there will be no deal before that.
Mirroring the comment, Bedrosian, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, indicated that the war could be a long drawn one.
To dismantle the regime, they would need to do away with "nuclear capabilities, ballistic missile capabilities, in addition to the terrorism that surrounds the state of Israel".
What has to be kept in mind, she underscored, is that Iran is not a small country, but a land of 90 million people.
Read: 'No Deal With Iran Except Unconditional Surrender': Trump
"Right now, we are also battling Hezbollah. Who is Hezbollah? It is a terror proxy of the Iranian regime, funded and trained by the Islamic Republic itself, and they have chosen to also enter this war," she said.
Regarding the possibility of an extended campaign sparking a humanitarian crisis, Bedrosian said, "There is already a humanitarian crisis inside of Iran, and it's been going on for 47 years".
"People without rights, people without basic necessities, people trying to speak up, but unfortunately, they're getting hanged in public squares. They are getting murdered just for speaking out and doing certain things, not wearing their headscarves or their head coverings. This has been absolute despair," she added.
The situation, she added, can only be addressed if the Ayatollah regime can be removed.
Read: Israeli Airstrikes Pound Beirut Suburb, Hezbollah Warns Israelis
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that if we accomplish this mission, which we are doing right now, and this operation, we could usher in an era of peace we have never seen before in the Middle East," she said.
Sidestepping the question of a timeline for the war, she said, "The Prime Minister has also made clear he wants to have the Iranian people finally be able to choose their destiny and finally able to choose the future that they want, hold democratic elections, and to be able to take their lands that they love so much and flourish inside of it".
Earlier today, as the war entered its seventh day, US President Donald Trump said only Iran's "unconditional surrender" can end the hostilities.
"There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
After that, US and its allies would work to bring Iran "back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before," Trump wrote, ending with a new slogan - "MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!)".
The post came as Israel bombarded regime targets in Tehran and Hezbollah positions in Beirut. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the US strikes against Iran are "about to surge dramatically".
