Christiane Amanpour Unpacks the Fighting Between Iran and Israel

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Yoav Gallant and Bibi Netanyahu, given what they said to you, clearly want to draw the United States in, and the question is, will Trump be drawn in? The other question is, given what you just reported and what we’ve seen, hitting state media, talking about civilians evacuating, you know, and seeing that they do have control of the skies and they have practically for the beginning of this, what is the actual subtext of this? Is it just to damage and set back and if they can destroy the nuclear situation there and the military targets, or is it regime change? Now, they’re vigorously saying it’s not regime change, but the evidence suggests otherwise. There are many targets since Friday that have not been leadership — well, that have not been nuclear related or military, but very much leadership related. You also have that reporting, I don’t know whether it’s confirmed yet, that Trump apparently personally vetoed the supreme leaders, he’s known there, Ali Khamenei being on one of the original hit lists. He may still be. But certainly, there is a feeling, including what Netanyahu himself told Fox News this weekend that this may help Iranians, you know, rise up against their regime. And you also heard the Israeli president tell CNN that after — you know, before backing off and saying, no, no regime change is not our goal. But it clearly appears to be, at least, in the back of their mind. So, we don’t know where the off ramp is. Everybody’s calling, certainly at the G7, for a de-escalation, but there doesn’t seem to be any off ramp because the U.S., Trump is not pressuring Israel. Bibi Netanyahu appears to be in charge of this mission, and he has made a direct hit on the diplomatic path by killing Shamkhani, Ali Shamkhani, who yes, used to be in the military, now is a political aid to the supreme leader, but most importantly was the director of the current nuclear negotiations. By killing him, they hope to kill off any diplomatic resolution, because Netanyahu has never wanted a diplomatic solution. He doesn’t believe in it, and he was fundamental and instrumental in causing President Trump in 1.0 to withdraw from the JCPOA, otherwise known as the nuclear agreement between the U.S., Iran, and the rest of the world. Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Also, Christiane, in my interview with Yoav Gallant, to that point that you just raised, that it had been reported, that the president of vetoed an assassination of the supreme leader. When I asked him his thoughts on that and whether that was a mistake he said, quote, “All options are on the table.” And to the point of potential regime change in the country, whether that was indeed one of Israel’s targets, he said, quote, “I’m not resisting. I’m supporting a change of regime in Iran, but a lot of it has to be done by the Iranian people and not by us, and not by America.” And that seems to be the line that we’re hearing from this government. I interviewed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar yesterday, and he was saying something similar about that this — they would not be disappointed in regime change, but this is something that would have to be done by the Iranian people. What are you hearing?

AMANPOUR: Well, that means that they hope their campaign facilitates, enables the Iranian people to rise up. So, look. There is no doubt that a huge majority of the Iranian people want to see a different government. They want freedom. They want to be able to afford their daily, you know, groceries and schools and energy costs, all the same things that everybody else wants. And the sanctions and the Iranian mismanagement of the economy over decades, but the massive sanctions have made that very, very difficult. Iranian people are under huge pressure, but when your country is attacked, is what I’m hearing from a lot of people inside, by a foreign power, it makes you less able and less willing to go out in the streets and rally around, in this case, let’s say the Israeli flag. Instead, according to my sources, who I’ve been talking to over the last few days, there is, in their words, a surprising consolidation and rallying around Iranian flag. So, it’s about patriotism to the nation, even if they don’t necessarily believe in the current government. So, that’s one issue. And we don’t know how that’s going to pan out. But what we do know is up until now, every time the Iranian people have demonstrated their desire for change, whether it was in the Mahsa Amini uprising known as Women, Life, Freedom, which by the way, Benjamin Netanyahu said in person to the Iranian people. I mean, make of that what you will, but he urged them to take that slogan again to heart. But then and in the 2009 so-called Green Revolution, when people came into the streets, the regime showed no mercy in cracking down. They still have that ability. So, that is what’s — you know, the reality of what’s happening on the ground right now. If, you know, any nation or people or faction can turn the military or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, well then maybe that’s a different thing. But at the moment — and we don’t know what’s going to happen next. At the moment, it appears that they’re mostly scared. They’re staying in their houses — and because, including the regime targets who they’ve got, and I know this because I’ve talked to somebody who’s lost a relative, buildings have come down as we, and in those buildings are also civilians. And so, there’ve been a lot of injuries and death, and Iranians just hasn’t had this situation since the Iraq war, since Sadam Hussein invaded Iran and last an eight-year war. So, that’s the complicated situation on the ground.