Netanyahu declares goal is to topple Iranian leadership

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said overthrowing the Iranian leadership is an explicit objective for the Israeli security forces, in a speech on Wednesday.

"There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: overthrow the regime in Iran," he said at a graduation ceremony for officers. "And that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security branches."

"The regime in Iran has still not learned its lesson. Mojtaba Khamenei, the tyrant du jour, has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps," Netanyahu said, referring to Iran's supreme leader.

"He has pulled the safety pin, and Iran is attempting once again to develop the bombs of death."

Netanyahu said as long as Iran seeks to destroy Israel, an existential threat remains.

Tehran consistently denies that it seeks to build nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu: Trump on his side on Iran policy

US President Donald Trump, whom Netanyahu called his "close friend," shares his view, the Israeli leader said.

Trump recently said on Iran that he is prepared to "see this through to the end," but only seeks to do this together with Israel, Netanyahu said. "And that is exactly what we will do."

He said they would cut off the "head of the octopus" as well as its arms, referring to the Islamist extremist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.

With their attacks in late February, Israel and the US launched a major war on Iran. The former Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed right at the outset in an Israeli airstrike on his official residence.

Iran responded with massive missile and drone attacks on Israel and US regional bases. The parties agreed on a ceasefire in April, though the war, which rages on, is having a significant impact on the global economy.