Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (March 19) held a wide-ranging press conference on the Iran war, highlighting Israel’s military successes, crippling of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, potential ground operations, cracks in Iranian leadership, and his close coordination with US President Donald Trump, while dismissing claims that Israel dragged the US into the conflict.
Here are 15 major points from Netanyahu’s press conference on the Iran war:
1. Iran stripped of nuclear and missile capacity
“We are taking action to destroy the industries that make it possible to build missiles. Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles.”
2. Factories destroyed
“What we're destroying now are the factories that produce the components to make these missiles and to make the nuclear weapons that they're trying to produce.”
3. Israel acted alone on South Pars gas field
“Israel acted alone against the Asaluyeh gas compound… President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks and we're holding out.”
4. Israel did not pressure US into war
“Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? …President Trump always makes his decisions on what he thinks is good for America. And may I add, I think what is also good for future generations.”
5. Ground operations necessary
“While the war so far has been conducted via air attacks, there has to be a ground component as well… there are many possibilities for this ground component.”
6. Close coordination with Trump
“I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He's the leader. I'm, you know, his ally.”
7. Iran’s leadership shows cracks
“I'm not sure who's running Iran right now. Mojtaba the replacement ayatollah has not shown his face. What we see is that there is a lot of tensions inside the people who are edging for the top… We're seeing cracks in the top command and in the field.”
8. War could end sooner than expected
“I also see this war ending a lot faster than people think.”
9. Strait of Hormuz threats will fail
“The death cult in Iran is trying to blackmail the world by closing a key international maritime route, the Strait of Hormuz. It won't work.”
10. Transforming the Middle East
“The past will not return… We have indeed changed [the Middle East] beyond recognition. And might we have turned Israel into a regional power, and some might say that in certain areas, a global power.”
11. Praise for Trump’s leadership
“The world owes a debt of deep indebtedness, deep indebtedness to President Trump for leading this effort to safeguard our future… I didn’t have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program. He understood that.”
12. Trump understood the nuclear threat
“I misled no one. And I didn’t have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program, putting it underground and being able to launch nuclear-tipped missiles at the United States. He understood that.”
13. Israel did not drag US into war
“This canard that we dragged the United States into this is not just a canard, it’s ridiculous.”
14. Trump’s early eupport against Iran
“Bibi, we’ve got to make sure that Iran doesn’t have nuclear weapons.”
15. Iranian people’s role