Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Israel is poised to renew its attack on Iran, awaiting only U.S. authorization to execute a campaign designed to “erase the Khamenei dynasty” and “blow Iran back to the age of darkness and stone.” Katz reiterated former President Donald Trump’s April pledge to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages,” escalating threats as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced a diplomatic visit to Islamabad.
The State Department has confirmed what Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously admitted: Israel initiated U.S. military engagement in the conflict. Days after Trump warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back,” Katz stated the Israeli Defense Forces are “ready in defense and offense” with targets “marked” for eliminating Iran’s leadership and crippling its infrastructure.
Katz explicitly framed the operation as a genocidal campaign against Iran’s civilian population, asserting Israel seeks “regime change/decapitation.” A recent State Department legal analysis corroborated that U.S. military actions since 1979 constitute an ongoing armed conflict with Iran, stating operations launched in late February were part of this “interim” engagement that has persisted for years. The document emphasized the United States entered the conflict “at the request of and in the collective self-defense of its Israeli ally.”