Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Newsmax on Tuesday that Iran's ruling regime is facing growing internal unrest as economic collapse and public protests expose what he called decades of oppression, warning that Tehran remains a global threat even as its power weakens.
This week at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, global conflict and diplomacy took center stage as President Donald Trump hosted Netanyahu for high-level talks on Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Turkey, and Iran.
The meetings came amid renewed concerns about Tehran's military ambitions and internal instability.
Trump said Iran may be behaving badly, as reports suggest the regime is rebuilding its ballistic weapons program, including missiles capable of striking Israel. Trump has warned that if Iran rearms, the United States would respond forcefully, saying he would "knock the hell out of them."
Netanyahu discussed those developments in an interview on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren." He argued that sustained pressure has dramatically weakened Tehran's regional reach.
"We changed the Middle East. We've had an unbelievable success. And by degrading Iran, which was a first-rate power," Netanyahu said.
"Now it's a second-rate or third-rate power. They were throwing their weight all over the place, exporting terrorism not only to every part of the Middle East, but to Venezuela. They're in cahoots with the [Nicolás] Maduro regime. You know, they're exporting terrorism to America, to the American hemisphere."
Netanyahu said Iran and its proxy groups remain a direct danger to Israel, the U.S., and American allies, citing Hezbollah and Hamas as ongoing threats.
"So Hamas and Iran and its proxies are a threat not only to us, but to all of Israel, all America's allies in the Middle East, and to America itself," he said. "I think we've dealt them devastating blows, but there's still some work to be done with the proxies, and we're doing it."
The Israeli leader also pointed to Venezuela as a key outpost for Hezbollah, linking terror networks to narcotics trafficking that targets the U.S.
"They may use guns against Israelis, but they use drugs against the United States," he said.
Asked about recent protests inside Iran sparked by a currency collapse, Netanyahu said the unrest reflects deep failures by the ruling clerics, not opposition to Israel.
"This tyrannical regime has oppressed the people of Iran. There are great people, enormously gifted with a great past, and they could have a great future," Netanyahu said. "But this future has been taken over, really by these theological thugs, the mullahs and the Ayatollah who's on top of them."
He said regime leaders squandered national wealth on nuclear ambitions and proxy wars instead of basic needs.
"So the people don't have food, they don't have electricity, they don't have water."
Netanyahu said Israel will continue confronting the regime's ambitions while separating the Iranian people from the rulers he blamed for the country's collapse.
"Those who want the obliteration of Israel will fail," he said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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