68 No. 76 JUSTICE b. Broader strategic and operational context i. The Iranian regime’s threats and actions to annihilate the State of Israel The Iranian regime openly seeks the physical annihilation of the State of Israel. This policy has been translated into a carefully crafted operative plan consisting of gradual phases, with concrete steps taken by the Iranian regime and at a tremendous expenditure of resources and funds over many years. It has also been consistently reflected in intelligence obtained by Israel and others. This policy is furthermore reflected in public acts, such as displaying slogans calling for Israel’s destruction during military parades, and in public statements by Iranian political and military senior leadership and decision-makers stretching back many years. For example: - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: n May 2025: ‘The Zionist regime that is a lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should certainly be eradicated, and it will be.’10 n May 20, 2020: ‘The Zionist regime is a deadly, cancerous growth and a detriment to this region. It will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.’11 n June 4, 2010: ‘Israel is a cancerous tumor. Well, what is done with a cancerous tumor? Besides cutting out the tumor, what remedy is there? … This statement is not just a slogan!’12 n January 15, 2001: ‘It is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the map of the region.’13 - An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) senior officer, General Ebrahim Jabbari, on June 23, 2025: ‘America’s main asset and main investment in its war against us is Israel itself, and we must annihilate it.’14 - Commander of the IRGC, Major General Hossein Salami, in 2019: ‘This sinister regime [Israel] must be wiped off the map … it is an achievable goal.’15 - An IRGC senior officer, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, in 2015: ‘The destruction of Israel is nonnegotiable … we will one day raise the flag of the Islamic Revolution over Jerusalem.’16 The Iranian regime’s vision and policy of annihilating Israel are also reflected in their activities and allocation of resources. These include involvement in the creation of terrorist armed groups in territories surrounding Israel, and the establishment of a ‘ring of fire’ composed of these and additional groups. The Iranian regime not only supports these groups in various ways, but is also substantially involved in attacks that these groups carry out as part of their armed conflicts against Israel. Iran’s ‘ring of fire’ and substantial involvement in armed attacks launched by these groups, its investment in ballistic missiles and armed drone capabilities, and its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons – all these are part of the Iranian regime’s overarching plan to destroy Israel. Israel also possesses intelligence alarmingly indicating that the Iranian regime has considered providing nuclear weapons to some of these armed groups.17 The IRGC – a significant military force in Iran operating in parallel to Iran’s regular military, with its own 10. Khamenei: Trump lies about bringing peace to region; Israel a ‘cancerous tumor’, Times of Israel (May 17, 2025), https://www.timesofisrael.com/khamenei-trump-lies-about-bringing-peace-to-region-israel-a-cancerous-tumor/ 11. Amir Vahdat & Jon Gambrell, Iran Leader Says Israel a ‘Cancerous Tumor’ to be Destroyed, Associated Press (May 22, 2020), https://apnews.com/article/a033042303545d9ef783a95222d51b83. 12. Joshua Teitelbaum & Michael Segall eds., The Iranian Leadership’s Continuing Declarations of Intent to Destroy Israel, 2009–2012, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (2012), https://jcpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ IransIntent2012b.pdf. 13. Id. 14. https://www.memri.org/tv/ebrahim-jabbari-threatens-trump-netanyahu-annihilate-israel 15. Top Iran General Says Destroying Israel ‘Achievable Goal’, Voice of America (Sept. 30, 2019), https://www.voanews. com/a/middle-east_top-iran-general-says-destroying-israel-achievable-goal/6176740.html. Bradford Betz, Iran’s Top General Says Wiping Israel Off Map Is an ‘Achievable Goal’, Fox News (Sept. 30, 2019), https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-top-general-says-wiping-israel-off-map-is-an-achievable-goal. 16. Lazar Berman, Iran Militia Chief: Destroying Israel Is ‘Nonnegotiable’, Times of Israel (Mar. 31, 2015), https://www. timesofisrael.com/iran-militia-chief-destroying-israel-nonnegotiable/. 17. Statement by PM Netanyahu, PMO (June 14, 2025), https://www.gov.il/en/pages/statement-by-pm-netanyahu-14jun-2025.
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