Iranian Opposition Figure Urges Israel To Strike Iran

Iranian activist Vahid Beheshti during a meeting with Israeli lawmakers on January 2, 2023
Iranian activist Vahid Beheshti during a meeting with Israeli lawmakers on January 2, 2023

In a message to Israel's parliament on Tuesday, Iranian opposition figure Vahid Beheshti urged Israel to target Iran directly amid the regime's proxy war raging in the region.

Beheshti, known for his recent hunger strike in London in a bid to pressure the UK government to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, said direct action is "the only language they understand”.

“Help us overthrow the government. Try to imagine what the Middle East would look like without the Iranian government,” he urged.

Speaking before the Israel Victory Caucus, which consists of Knesset members, security experts, and political leaders, Beheshti highlighted the pressing challenge to regional security posed by Iran, which last month was exposed for rapidly progressing its enrichment in the race towards nuclear weapons.

Since October 7 when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel, killing 1,200 mostly civilians and taking 240 or more hostage, attacks on both Israel and US facilities in the region have spiked. Iranian proxies in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria have been activated triggering the worst crisis in recent years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his calls this week to ensure Iran does not achieve nuclear capabilities while the country continues to fight Hamas in Gaza. Israeli strikes on Iranian linked facilities in the region also continue alongside the war against Hamas, including an alleged assassination of the regime's most senior military figure in Syria.

Beheshti said the Iranian government is at its weakest in 44 years in the wake of the 2022 uprising which has seen the strongest resistance to the government since the foundation of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

He urged Israel to recognize the potential support from approximately 80 million Iranians yearning for freedom and democracy.