NEW YORK (VINnews) — Mosab Hassan Yousef, the Palestinian-born author and former Israeli intelligence informant known for his staunch opposition to Islamist militant groups, intensified his criticism of U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran’s leadership, warning that the killing of the country’s supreme leader could trigger civil war rather than freedom.

In a series of posts on X Sunday, Yousef argued that assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would risk turning him into a martyr and strengthening hard-line factions. “He will become the ultimate mystic shahid,” Yousef wrote. “Jihadists don’t surrender when the Imam is killed, they multiply.”

Oh, bravo, Your Highness.

You sold them the ultimate fairy tale: ‘One airstrike, one dead Ayatollah, the bloodthirsty tyrant who murdered thousands, and poof, Tehran rolls out the red carpet for the Shah 2.0.’ Like it’s a Netflix reboot.

But look, hundreds of thousands in… pic.twitter.com/8lT1gJM8RB

— Mosab Hassan Yousef (@MosabHasanYOSEF) March 1, 2026

Yousef, the son of a Hamas co-founder who later worked covertly for Israel’s Shin Bet security service and authored the memoir Son of Hamas, said he once supported targeting Iran’s top leader but changed his position after reflecting on the potential fallout. He warned that abruptly toppling the Islamic Republic could create a power vacuum in a country of roughly 90 million people marked by deep political, ethnic and sectarian divisions.

“Topple the regime? You create a vacuum,” he wrote. “And when that beast’s out of the bottle, it’s civil war — most certainly.”

He will become the ultimate mystic Shahid. Every disciple he has ever taught, and they are millions, will become a potential martyr. Killing him as part of a war against the Islamic Republic rather than a war against the nuclear program is pouring gasoline on jihad, handing the… pic.twitter.com/zOEQEQfAeG

— Mosab Hassan Yousef (@MosabHasanYOSEF) March 1, 2026

He also directly criticized supporters of exiled Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, who has declared that the Islamic Republic has effectively reached its end and urged security forces to abandon the government. In one post, Yousef dismissed claims that most Iranians want a restoration of the monarchy, calling it a “fairy tale” promoted to Western audiences.

Pahlavists keep peddling this fairy tale to the West: “Most Iranians want the Shah back!” Total lie.

Reality? You’ve got the IRGC, Basij—one million armed fanatics—regime loyalists, families of protesters craving revenge, Khamenei diehards ready to settle scores. Add Kurds,… https://t.co/XucMjVMghR

— Mosab Hassan Yousef (@MosabHasanYOSEF) March 1, 2026

He pointed to the presence of armed regime loyalists, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij militia, as well as ethnic and regional tensions involving Kurds, Baloch, Azeris and Arabs, arguing that the country is too fragmented for a swift, unified uprising.

Instead of advocating regime change, Yousef called for dismantling Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities while avoiding broader efforts to reshape its political system by force. “History’s clear: no one wins when you bomb a country into ‘freedom,’” he wrote, citing past conflicts in Iraq and Libya as cautionary examples.

Yousef’s remarks have drawn widespread reaction online, particularly from followers accustomed to his strong pro-Israel positions. His latest statements underscore divisions among critics of Tehran’s leadership over how far military action should go and what the long-term consequences for Iran and the region could be.

Khamenei was a tyrant, sure. But let’s not pretend your dad was a saint. Mohammad Reza Shah? He jailed, tortured, exiled, and killed thousands too—SAVAK wasn’t exactly a charity.

You never once condemned him firmly. Never owned up to the family’s stolen billions while Iranians… https://t.co/6RYr8YNQ6M

— Mosab Hassan Yousef (@MosabHasanYOSEF) March 1, 2026