'Objective Is Regime Change': Israeli Foreign Minister Says Iran War May Be Long | Exclusive

Last Updated:March 04, 2026, 19:03 IST

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Sa'ar laid out Israel's war aims as Operation Epic Fury entered its fifth day.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that the objective of the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against Iran is regime change- both political and military- while acknowledging that the conflict has no fixed timeline and could be prolonged.

Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Sa’ar laid out Israel’s war aims as Operation Epic Fury entered its fifth day.

“We have an objective but not a timeline. I think it may take long," Sa’ar told CNN-News18, in remarks that offered the clearest public articulation yet of what Israel hopes to achieve from one of the most consequential military campaigns in West Asia in decades.

Regime Change But Not Occupation

Sa’ar was explicit that regime change= encompassing both Iran’s political leadership and its military command- was the core Israeli objective but he was equally clear that Israel did not intend to impose a successor government, drawing a distinction between military action and political determination.

“For us the objective is regime change, in both the political and military powers," he said, adding, “Boots on the ground should be of the Iranian people to change the situation. We are giving them this opportunity. It is not for us to decide who will lead- it is for the people to elect through free and fair elections."

The remarks signal that Israel envisions a post-conflict Iran shaped by its own citizens rather than installed by outside powers.

Sa’ar also described the conflict as “a crucial battle against terrorism."

The remarks come as the conflict, which began on February 28 with the launch of Operation Epic Fury, shows no sign of a ceasefire. US and Israeli forces have struck more than 2,000 targets across Iran, including nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow, air defence systems and leadership compounds in Tehran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in the initial strikes.

The human cost has been severe. State media and human rights groups report more than 1,000 deaths in Iran, including a strike on an elementary school in Minab that killed approximately 180 children- an incident that has drawn widespread international condemnation. Nine people were also killed in an Iranian missile strike on the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh and six US service members have been killed in action.

Iran has retaliated with hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones aimed at Israel and US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Tehran has also declared the Strait of Hormuz closed to oil and gas tankers- a move that has sent global oil prices surging and triggered sharp falls in world stock markets.

News world 'Objective Is Regime Change': Israeli Foreign Minister Says Iran War May Be Long | Exclusive

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