Israeli security forces believe Iran government 'not close to collapse'
The Israeli security forces believe that Iran’s ruling establishment, despite suffering heavy losses from US-Israeli bombardment, is not close to collapsing, Walla reports.
A source within the security forces told the Israeli news site that "the Iranians have learnt" from the last war between Israel and Iran in June 2025.
"They are still functioning militarily at a level that is between moderate and weak, but they are functioning. There is confusion there, there are major difficulties, but there are no signs of collapse," the military source said, adding that Iran is ready to replace anyone that Israel and the US eliminate.
The report said that Iran faces difficulties in aiming missile attacks towards Israel, so instead many attacks are targeting Arab Gulf countries.
Walla’s report comes against the backdrop of contradicting statements from Israeli and US officials about the purpose of the war they initiated.
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On Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that "it has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon", in reference to the Iranian government.
Later that day, Trump called on the Iranian people to topple their government. "Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take," he said.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced similar rhetoric in an interview with the American news network Fox.
"This is going to be a quick and decisive action, and we’re going to create the conditions first for the Iranian people to get control of their destiny to form their own democratically elected government," he said.
However, in the last four days, the US administration has made shifting statements on the objective of the war, as US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said it is "not a so-called regime change war".
Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said on Tuesday that the US military carried out attacks on 2,000 targets across Iran. In addition, according to reports, the Israeli army attacked more than 1,500 targets.
However, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), an Israeli think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University, said that Iran has managed to fire a large number of missiles and drones in response.
According to the INSS report from Wednesday, Iran has launched some 200 ballistic missiles and around 100 drones toward Israel in 123 different waves of attacks since hostilities broke out on Saturday.
In addition, the Iranian military fired some 500 ballistic missiles and about 2,000 drones toward the Gulf Arab states.
The report said that despite the fact that Iran "views Israel as its primary enemy, Tehran concentrates most of its firepower on its closer neighbours".
According to the INSS, Iran fired 812 drones and 186 ballistic missiles at Israel's close ally the UAE, with lower numbers directed at Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
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