A retired Iranian Air Force colonel recently called on Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to facilitate a coup by targeting the home of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 that aired yesterday. The man, who appeared under the pseudonym Arash, said, “Netanyahu needs to order an attack on Khamenei’s home.” He added, “And we, the military can take over sensitive political centers and officially announce Iran’s freedom and friendship with Israel.”
Arash also claimed that 95 percent of Iranians supported the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) airstrikes against military targets in Iran, describing the regime as one that has “taken us, the people, hostage.” He expressed that many Iranians were hoping that Israel would take even more significant action than its previous strikes in April and October. “They have this kind of wish that Israel will go further,” he said, “so that the nation will be emboldened and take to the streets.” Arash continued, “They themselves will cut [the regime’s] roots from the country,” while pointing to the diminishing capabilities of Iran’s air defenses and its regional militant groups.
Another man, identified as Javad, who was previously a cleric in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), urged Israel to take action against Iran in the same Channel 12 interview. “I don’t see Israel as criminal. We say ‘death to Israel,’ but Israel doesn’t say ‘death to Iran,’” he stated. “We’ve been friends days since the days of Cyrus [the Great],” he went on to say. “Cyrus saved the Jews of Babylon. Now we expect something in return — that you lend us a hand of friendship, that the power of the Israeli army come to help the Iranian nation.”
Both Arash and Javad spoke from within Iran, an unusual occurrence given the country’s strict censorship and its leaders’ openly hostile stance toward Israel. Iran has long supported a network of regional proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, as part of its “Axis of Resistance.” Arash explained that he had been forced to resign from the military after refusing to assist in training Hamas militants in guerrilla warfare. He did not specify when this event occurred. He also mentioned Israel’s recent successes against Iran-backed groups in Gaza and Lebanon following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in southern Israel, which left nearly 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken hostage. Hezbollah then launched attacks on Israel the following day, and Israel escalated its operations against the group in 2024.
“Israel has hurt the leaders of the resistance movements. In the pager attack and others, Nasrallah himself said they took a heavy blow,” said Arash, referencing Israeli operations targeting Hezbollah’s leadership. He expressed that the IRGC now believes that Hamas and Hezbollah will not recover, stating that they now focus on Yemen as their primary concern.
Regarding Israel’s late October airstrike on Iran’s air defenses — which came after Iran’s missile attack on Israel — Arash stated that Iran’s airspace was “wide open.” “The computer system that receives orders and launches missiles at planes — those systems have been taken completely offline,” he explained. Arash added that the Israeli attack primarily targeted “sites with S-300 anti-ballistic missile silos that Russia gave Iran, as well as drones,” and now Iran has “no advanced anti-plane systems.” He claimed that Iran’s air defenses are now reliant on outdated systems from the Iran-Iraq War era.
A former Israeli intelligence officer, speaking to Channel 12, explained that the Iran-Iraq War prevented the disbandment of Iran’s military following the 1979 revolution, which led to the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The officer explained that, although Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini had planned to replace the old military with the IRGC, the war’s demands necessitated keeping the military intact. The officer also noted that the IRGC now wields much more influence in decision-making, with the military playing a smaller role.
Arash claimed that “all the soldiers in the military feel estranged from the IRGC, from this regime,” adding, “I can even say that 60% of soldiers in the IRGC hate it.” Javad, the former IRGC cleric, noted that the military consists mostly of lower-class individuals, leading to a more negative view of the regime compared to the IRGC. He also revealed that the IRGC had been “shocked” by Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at a Tehran guesthouse in July, observing that the IRGC did not issue a statement following the event.
Javad further explained that the IRGC had lost a critical foothold in Syria following the fall of Iran-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. “That front has fallen to Israel’s hands. Now, the Syrian regime is attacking Lebanon on behalf of Israel’s interests,” he said, calling this a “fatal blow.” According to Channel 12, Javad’s disillusionment with the Islamic Republic grew after the regime harassed him over a personal matter, which led to the loss of his religious privileges and damaged his social standing. Javad recounted that prior to this incident, he had been an active participant in rallies but had since had his perspective changed. “I’m happy my mind has opened up. I consider them enemies, those who say Israel… is corrupt, when they themselves are corrupt,” he remarked. He added, “The corruption at the top has doubled. The corruption and prostitution in Iran have doubled.”
Javad went on to discuss how the Iranian government’s support for Palestinian terror groups has exacerbated domestic discontent amid the country’s economic struggles. “I was in Tehran on a mission,” he recalled. “One of the IRGC kids said, jokingly, ‘death to Palestine,’ and we all laughed.” He added, “Even so, he knew that if he really wanted to say something tomorrow… [the regime] will easily assassinate him.”
These interviews were aired amid ongoing US airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, with Washington urging Iran to halt its support for the rebels who have threatened to resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and on Israel. In response, Iran stated that the US had “no authority” to dictate its foreign policy. Meanwhile, Khamenei rejected an offer from US President Donald Trump to negotiate a deal that would lift sanctions in exchange for oversight of Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump, who previously abandoned a similar deal in his first term, has hinted at military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomatic negotiations fail. While Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, it has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, unsuitable for civilian use. Israeli officials have suggested that Israel might strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, given the country’s weakened air defense systems. In the Channel 12 interview, Javad expressed hope that “in the coming months I’ll see this happen. Israel against Iran — in the end it’s in the hands of the US. The Iranians understand that, too.”
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