Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu combined two damning assessments of Iran’s condition on Friday, declaring that the country’s weapons had been eliminated and its new leaders were nowhere to be found. He announced the destruction of Iran’s uranium enrichment and ballistic missile capabilities after twenty days of conflict and rejected claims about Israeli manipulation of US foreign policy. Netanyahu expressed confidence throughout the press conference that the war was approaching its conclusion faster than most expected.
The prime minister addressed the Trump-Israel relationship with admiration and candor. He called their coordination historically unmatched and framed Trump as the alliance’s dominant force. Netanyahu revealed that Trump had brought an independently formed and analytically deep understanding of Iran’s nuclear threat to their discussions, reflecting a genuine partnership of strategic equals.
Netanyahu confirmed Israel struck the South Pars gas compound alone and disclosed Trump’s personal request to hold off on further strikes on Iranian gas facilities. He presented both facts transparently, treating them as natural features of a close and functioning alliance. Netanyahu maintained throughout that Israel’s military autonomy remained fully intact.
Iran’s Hormuz threats drew a firm dismissal from Netanyahu. He called them blackmail and proposed overland pipeline routes from the Arabian Peninsula to Israeli and Mediterranean ports as a permanent structural alternative. Netanyahu argued this would create lasting energy resilience and permanently eliminate the Hormuz chokepoint as an Iranian weapon.
Netanyahu ended with observations about Iran’s visible leadership vacuum. He noted Mojtaba had not been seen publicly and admitted he was genuinely unsure who was governing the country. Netanyahu pointed to the intense competition for power in Tehran and concluded that this instability, combined with military losses, was pushing the war toward an accelerated conclusion.