Netanyahu says Israel not seeking to divide Iran but liberate it
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Saturday that the Israeli-US operation "will create the conditions enabling the Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands."
"We do not seek to divide Iran—we seek to liberate it, to free it from the yoke of tyranny and live with it in peace," he said.
"I believe that if you rise at the decisive moment, the day will not be far when Israel and Iran will once again be strong friends."
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards continued launching attacks on neighboring countries despite President Pezeshkian’s apology to regional states and his order for the armed forces to halt such strikes, highlighting tensions over who controls wartime decisions.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards started launching attacks against the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the Iraqi Kurdistan shortly after President Pezeshkian said in a televised speech he had instructed them to halt such attacks.
The IRGC strikes followed unusually sharp verbal attacks by hardliners which highlighted the limited influence Pezeshkian exercises within Iran’s power structure despite his membership in the temporary three-member leadership council that is currently exercising powers normally held by the country’s supreme leader in wartime.
Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Iran’s armed forces had sometimes acted “at their own discretion” during the recent conflict. He added that, following a decision by the “temporary leadership council,” military forces had now been instructed not to attack neighboring countries “unless they intend to attack us from that country.”
The first institutional response came from the spokesman of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the body that coordinates operational command of Iran’s armed forces, including both the regular army and the IRGC.
The spokesman declared that any location used to launch attacks against Iran would be considered a legitimate target. “Every point that serves as the origin of aggression against Iran is a legitimate target,” he said, adding that with the continuation of offensive operations, “all military bases and interests” of the US and Israel in the region would remain the “main targets” of IRGC attacks.
Within hours, the IRGC also announced missile strikes on Dubai Airport and Juffair Base in Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters.
However, judiciary chief Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni‑Ejei, who also serves on the three-member leadership council, responded quickly. He said evidence from Iranian armed forces showed that “the geography of some regional countries has openly and covertly been placed at the disposal of the enemy” and used for attacks on Iran.
He added that “intense attacks” on such targets would continue and stressed that “this strategy is currently being implemented and the government and other pillars of the system are united on this matter.”
Factors behind the apology
Saudi Arabia on Saturday warned Iran that continued attacks on the kingdom and its energy sector could push Riyadh to respond in kind, Reuters reported citing four sources familiar with the matter.
The message was conveyed before Pezeshkian's televised apology, according to Reuters.
Another factor behind Pezeshkian’s apology may have been reports of a drone attack Thursday in the Nakhchivan autonomous region of Azerbaijan, which maintains extensive military cooperation with Israel.
Iran has denied involvement. However, officials in Baku also said they had also foiled several alleged sabotage plots attributed to the IRGC, including a plot targeting the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline.
Following the incident, Azerbaijan ordered the immediate withdrawal of its diplomats from Tehran and Tabriz, closed its border with Iran, and demanded an apology.
In a separate incident earlier this week, Iran’s armed forces denied firing a ballistic missile toward Turkish airspace, which Turkish authorities said was intercepted by NATO air and missile defense systems over the eastern Mediterranean.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara had issued “warnings in the clearest terms” to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
According to analyst Abdolreza Davari, who defended Pezeshkian’s stance, escalating tensions with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be very costly to Iran’s external economy which depends heavily on financial and trade channels through the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE has warned it could move to seize Iranian state-linked assets within its jurisdiction if tensions escalate further, according to regional analysts and officials familiar with the dispute.
Hardline backlash and possible moves to limit Pezeshkian’s authority
Some political figures defended Pezeshkian. Davari said the president was simply conveying a decision by the temporary leadership council to halt attacks on neighboring states. He argued that until a new supreme leader is chosen, council decisions carry the authority of the supreme leader and must be implemented.
Hardline critics, however, reacted harshly to the president’s remarks. Former lawmaker Jalal Rashidi Kouchi wrote on X: “An apology is made when a mistake has occurred, whether intentionally or unintentionally. We made no mistake. Your message showed no sign of authority.”
The conservative website Raja News described Pezeshkian as “an irritant to a nation ready for the final confrontation with arrogance” and called for preventing him from sending what it called “signals of weakness.”
The article also warned that Pezeshkian’s description of military strikes as “at their own discretion” could provide justification for neighboring states or international institutions to challenge what it called Iran’s “legitimate and sovereign defense.”
Hardline member of parliament Hamid Rasaei wrote on X that Pezeshkian’s comments were unacceptable, arguing that countries hosting US bases should be the ones apologizing. “The armed forces know their duty well and, as before, will target with powerful missiles wherever the Iranian nation and homeland are attacked. The firm demand of the Iranian people is exactly this.”
Several lawmakers, including Hamed Yazdian and Mohammad Mannan Raisi, urged the Assembly of Experts to quickly appoint a new supreme leader, arguing that statements like Pezeshkian’s risk placing Iran in a position of weakness.
Tehran representative Kamran Ghazanfari also threatened to pursue a parliamentary motion declaring the president politically incompetent — a process that would require signatures from one-third of lawmakers and a two-thirds vote to remove him.
New satellite imagery indicates that at least 17 aircraft were damaged during Israeli strikes on Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on Friday night, BBC reported on Saturday. An image captured by Planet Labs PBC at 11:20 GMT (14:50 Tehran time) appears to show damage to the aircraft, with some seemingly completely destroyed, BBC reported.
At least seven of the affected planes are visible near the airport’s main apron and runway, while others are scattered across different areas of the facility, the report said.
It remains unclear how many of the aircraft were operational at the time they were struck.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had "destroyed 16 “Quds Force” aircraft that it said “were transporting weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah" at Mehrabad.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said responding to the US-Israeli strikes is Tehran’s inherent right of self-defense, urging regional countries not to allow their territory to be used for attacks against Iran.
In a statement, the ministry said Iranian defensive operations against US military bases and facilities in the region should “in no way be interpreted as hostility” toward neighboring countries.
It stressed that such actions are directed solely at forces involved in attacks on Iran and are carried out under the right of self-defense recognized in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued a thinly veiled warning to Iran, saying his country is “not easy prey” and referring to Tehran as “the enemy” — a notable departure from the language the UAE has traditionally used toward its northern neighbor.
The president said he “wanted to send a message to the enemy of the UAE.”
Speaking during a visit to a hospital treating civilians wounded in the strikes, he cautioned Iran: “The UAE is beautiful, the UAE is a model to be followed, but I tell you, do not be deceived by that.”
“The UAE’s hand can reach and is strong, its flesh is bitter, and we are not easy prey.”
The comments — his first since the war began — were broadcast shortly after Emirati air defenses responded to a missile threat, despite Iran’s president having suggested earlier in the day that attacks across the Persian Gulf would stop.
“We are carrying out our duty toward our country, our people, and those who live among us. May God protect the UAE, protect its people and everyone in it, and bless it with security and safety,” MBZ added.
“I promise you that what is coming will show us stronger.”
