Netanyahu Orders Security Services to Target Iran’s Regime as Reports Detail Blocked Israeli Strike
Benjamin Netanyahu has told Israel’s military and intelligence services to work toward toppling Iran’s regime and accused new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of seeking nuclear weapons, as reports say Donald Trump blocked a planned large‑scale Israeli attack on Iran scheduled for 10 October.
Israel’s confrontation with Iran is entering a more explicit phase, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the overthrow of Tehran’s leadership and reports emerging of a blocked Israeli strike plan.
Netanyahu has ordered the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad intelligence service and other security agencies to work toward toppling Iran’s regime, according to reporting on his public statements. He has accused Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, of ordering the development of nuclear weapons and said Khamenei is following the path of his father. Netanyahu has also stated that Iran is again seeking to develop nuclear bombs and that he has instructed Israel’s security establishment in line with that assessment.
Further details about recent military planning point to how close Israel may have come to a direct clash. Reporting citing the Financial Times says Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare a massive attack on Iran for 10 October. According to that account, Donald Trump blocked the operation because he did not want to restart open conflict before US elections scheduled for 3 November. Independent confirmation of operational specifics remains limited.
Israeli air activity has added to tensions. Dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew toward Iran’s border on Monday in what Israel described as a deterrence exercise. Some US officials, according to these reports, suspected Israel was trying to draw Iranian fire at the aircraft, which could then be used as justification for renewed strikes against Iran.
Iranian officials have responded with their own mix of warnings and conditional openness to talks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Iran is prepared to give diplomacy another chance if it sees strong evidence of a sincere US desire to reach a just and honorable solution that would permanently end the conflict. He argued that Trump made mistaken assumptions about Iran when entering the war and warned that repeating those assumptions would lead to a far more painful outcome.
Iran’s internal leadership has been meeting against this backdrop. Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to discuss the ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel, national unity, economic challenges, deterrence and strategic partnerships, according to the IRNA news agency. Ghalibaf briefed Khamenei on parliament’s wartime activities and its plans to address the country’s problems.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has added its own signal. The IRGC says it is preparing to unveil a new weapon it has dubbed the “father of all bombs,” although it has not released any technical details. The announcement comes as reports circulate that Trump is considering using the US “Mother of All Bombs” against Iran’s energy infrastructure if fighting resumes.
Any direct clash would fall hardest on civilians in Israel, Iran and neighboring states. A sustained campaign against Iranian energy infrastructure could cut export revenues that fund salaries, subsidies and imports. Israeli cities would face the risk of missile and drone strikes from Iran and allied groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, while shipping and insurance costs in the wider region would jump with each exchange of fire.
Netanyahu’s directive to target Iran’s regime moves a long‑running shadow conflict into a declared goal.
What happens next will depend on whether Israel takes concrete steps beyond rhetoric to expand operations against Iranian leadership targets, whether US officials publicly debate possible strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, and whether Araghchi’s conditional offer of renewed diplomacy draws any response from Washington. Noticeable changes in Israeli air or cyber activity against Iranian nuclear and missile sites would signal whether this escalation remains at the level of pressure or prepares the ground for wider conflict.
Sources
- OSINT