Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Tuesday the war will continue until Israel and the United States decide the right moment to stop it, giving no timetable for when it might happen.
“The war against Iran will continue until the moment we and our partners deem it appropriate to stop,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem alongside Germany’s foreign minister, according to Reuters.
This statement comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran, now in its second week, continues to spread throughout the Middle East after the U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran. Tehran retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the region.
There is no timetable for the end of the war
While US President Donald Trump has suggested the war could end soon, Prime Minister Saar has signaled that Israel is not working to a set schedule.
“We do not seek endless war,” Saar said, adding, “The fight will continue until Israel believes it has eliminated the long-term threat from Iran.”
Israel says its goal is to neutralize Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which it views as an existential threat.
In response to a Reuters question about how the government sees the conflict ending, Saar said: "In the long term, we want to eliminate the existential threat from Iran to Israel.”
The Israeli military said Tuesday it had launched another attack in Tehran targeting what it described as "targets of the terrorist regime,” while Iranian forces launched a new missile strike against Israel.
The war has also expanded into Lebanon, where Israel is fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. Saar said Israel believes it has already achieved significant success in weakening Iran’s military capabilities. But he stressed that the opportunity to inflict lasting damage on Iran’s nuclear ambitions should not be squandered.
“We must not miss this opportunity with partial results,” Saar said.
Call for global pressure on Iran
Prime Minister Saar also called on countries around the world to cut ties with the Iranian government and increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran.
An Israeli minister described Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as an extremist and said Iran’s leadership poses an ongoing threat to regional stability.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johan Waddeful, who visited Israel during the conflict, said he believed Israel and the United States were still open to a diplomatic solution.
But for a deal to be concluded, Iran would have to accept limits on its nuclear and missile programs and end support for local militias. Tehran is currently unwilling to accept it, Wadeful said, according to Reuters.
Prime Minister Saar said the length of the current war would depend on whether Israel and its allies believe they have achieved their strategic objectives.
“We will continue until the moment we deem it appropriate to stop,” he said.
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Based on Reuters comments
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