Israel's defence minister Israel Katz today said the military has been ordered to "undermine the ayatollahs' regime" in Tehran — the first time Israel has openly declared regime destabilisation as a goal since the conflict with Iran began last week.
The shift in public messaging follows an Iranian missile strike early Thursday that appeared to hit a hospital in southern Israel. Social media footage showed damage to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, which serves around 1mn people. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) denied the hospital was targeted, saying missiles were aimed at nearby military command centres, according to Iranian state news agency Irna.
Until now, Israel had justified its military campaign as a pre-emptive effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Katz's remarks reflect a significant hardening of Israel's public stance, moving beyond claims of self-defence to a declared aim of weakening Iran's leadership.
"The Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] and I have instructed the [Israel Defense Forces] IDF to increase the intensity of attacks against strategic targets in Iran and against government targets in Tehran in order to remove threats to the State of Israel and undermine the ayatollahs' regime," Katz said in a post on social media platform X.
Ice Brent crude futures rose today, supported by the latest Iranian-Israeli escalation and a sharp drop in US crude stocks. At 09:30 GMT, the front-month August Brent contract was at $77.14/bl, up by 44¢/bl from its settlement on 18 June. Ice Brent has gained nearly 8pc since Israel launched its initial strike on Iran on 13 June.
Several Iranian missiles struck areas inside Israel early Thursday. Videos shared on social media showed damage in multiple locations, including civilian areas. The IRGC said it had "successfully carried out a 14th wave of combined missile attacks targeting strategic sites in Israel".
Iran's attack followed Israeli airstrikes overnight on what Israel said were key sites linked to Tehran's nuclear and missile programmes. The IDF said it struck an "inactive nuclear reactor in Arak", a facility used in plutonium production, and a "nuclear weapons development site near Natanz". Natanz is home to Iran's main uranium enrichment facility, which Israel also targeted during its 13 June strike.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirmed the Arak site had been hit. But "it was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects", the agency said. Iran had previously told the IAEA it planned to begin operating the reactor in 2026.
US president Donald Trump has not confirmed whether Washington will join Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," he said on 18 June. Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei earlier rejected Trump's call for Iran to surrender.
