Netanyahu just threatened Iran. What do Iranians think about it?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a 3-minute video on Monday in which he addressed the people of Iran and blamed the Iranian government for plunging the Middle East “deeper into war” at the cost of its own people.

The statement came at a time when the Israeli military launched a ground incursion into Lebanon on September 23 after weeks of deadly bombings that killed hundreds, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country,” Netanyahu said.

He said that the Iranian government was bringing Iranians “closer to the abyss”.

Iran and Israel would be at peace when Iran is “finally free”, he said, adding it would “come a lot sooner than people think”.

Netanyahu’s address has stirred mixed reactions among Iranians living in the country and the diaspora.

Speaking to TRT World, Murtaza, an Iranian student living in London, said it is obvious that Netanyahu is the one who wants war, and there is no reason for him to label Iran or its allies as terrorists when they decide to retaliate.

“Iran is sanctioned for the alleged sale of drones and ballistic missiles but Israel is rewarded with 2000 pounds bombs that were dropped [in Lebanon] just to kill [Hasan] Nasrallah … Like seriously, Netanyahu and his cabinet need to be brought to justice. This war has been a bitter pill to swallow for the Muslims,” he says.

“Israel has crossed all limits. The West has shown their hypocrisy when it comes to olive or brown skin. If Israel has a right to defence so does everyone else.”

The assassination of Nasrallah dealt a significant setback to both Hezbollah and Iran. It followed the Israeli attack that killed Hamas politburo leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

In the aftermath of Nasrallah's death, Iran's leadership issued carefully crafted statements that did not clarify whether the country would engage directly in an open conflict with Israel.

Murtaza says a majority of the population would definitely support the current government but “a bit of the urban population and expats who are the supporters of Iran’s late monarch Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, would not,” he says.

For years, Israel has carried out a covert war on Iranian soil where Mossad assets have killed several Iranian nuclear scientists. Tehran invested billions of dollars arming armed groups, which are part of its ‘Axis of Resistance’ against Israel.

But the ease with which Israel was able to target top Hezbollah leadership in a series of bombings and walkie-talkie and pager explosions is being seen as a big blow to Iran.

A businessman from Iran’s Yazd province echoed Murtaza’s sentiments, saying some Iranians must have nodded their heads in approval as Netanhayu addressed them.

“There are many issues in Iran and the government must focus on those. Other countries are not a priority, and Iran shouldn’t be involved directly. With that being said, Iran should condemn Israel’s killing of innocent civilians,” he says.

Talking about the ongoing Israeli carnage in Gaza and air and ground attacks in Lebanon, he says it was just shameful that the entire world except for a few are silent.

“History will judge. We have not learnt anything from history,” he says.

“We can’t even call it the law of the jungle because unlike us, the jungle has more ethics and morals than what the Israelis are doing…”

An Iranian living in the capital, Tehran, who wishes to remain anonymous, says Netanyahu has no standing to talk about peace after brutally killing thousands of civilians in Gaza since October 7.

“He should stop spewing his venom,” she says.