'In less than an hour, Israel will become uninhabitable': Iran's stern warning in reply to Netanyahu's call for regime fall
Ibrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, has issued a stern military warning that, in response to any reckless move against Tehran, the whole of Israel would be made uninhabitable in less than an hour. International media reports carried the information.
In a message posted on the social media platform X, Azizi delivered the sharp warning in three languages — Hebrew, English and Persian. He wrote: 'One miscalculation is enough — in less than an hour, the occupied territory will become uninhabitable.'
The choice of three languages is notable. Through it, the Iranian lawmaker sought to deliver the warning directly to the Israeli public in Hebrew, to an international audience in English, and to his own people in Persian.
To his Hebrew-language post, Azizi attached a video of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That video forms the backdrop to this counter-warning.
In the video, Netanyahu, speaking at a graduation ceremony of the Israeli military, said: 'There is only one way to remove this threat forever — bringing about the fall of Iran's regime. That is my instruction to the army, the Mossad and the security forces.'
It was in reaction to Netanyahu's remark calling for the destruction of Tehran's current ruling structure that Azizi responded so sharply. Azizi's message makes clear that Tehran views the call for the fall of its top leadership as a direct existential threat.
However, he published no specific details of weaponry or a military plan to back the claim of causing such destruction within an hour. The question therefore remains whether the warning is a real military declaration or diplomatic pressure delivered as a message of deterrence.
Against the backdrop of the extreme hostility prevailing between the two countries, his statement is being seen as a clear signal of Tehran's aggressive counter-strategy. Such language from the head of Iran's national security committee suggests Tehran wants to present the threat of retaliation as part of its official policy.
Such open exchanges of words and threats of military aggression between top leaders of the two countries are making the Middle East's existing instability even more dangerous.
In particular, Israel's direct threat of regime change and, against it, Iran's destructive counter-warning are taking the regional conflict to a new level. The more public and extreme the war of words becomes, the more the risk of a miscalculation grows — and that very 'miscalculation' is what Azizi's own words invoke.
What the next step of this war of words will be depends on the next moves of both sides. For now, the language coming from both capitals — Tehran and Tel Aviv — is one of threats, and the whole region is watching whether that language turns into conflict on the ground.
