Beni Sabti, an Iranian researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), implied that Israel is a US proxy, just as Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy, and criticized the American strategy amid the exchange of blows between the United States and Iran during an interview for 103FM.

Sabti addressed the attack on military infrastructure carried out by the Americans on the orders of US President Donald Trump, against the backdrop of the exchanges between the United States and Iran, and argued that Trump’s current strategy is fundamentally mistaken.

“President Trump is playing into their hands because he is creating South Lebanon or Vietnam,” Sabti said. “Continuing the war at this level plays into the hands of the Iranian regime. It gives them an excuse to remain in a state of emergency, not to take care of the public’s needs, to waste resources, and to transfer money to Hezbollah. We are entering some kind of Iranian quagmire.”

Sabti also said that the effect of heavy economic pressure and damage to infrastructure on Iranian civilians is low and doesn’t push the Iranian people to rise up against the regime. “We’ve seen this movie in Gaza. Did it matter to Yahya Sinwar or Mohammed Deif that we were bombing and destroying the buildings? Do we want to take a risk and wait a year until the public goes out into the streets?

Eliminate Iran’s leadership with one swift move

“The only solution for the Iranian regime is to eliminate the senior officials and produce a result in a short period of time,” he pointed out.

To illustrate his point, Sabti detailed the decision-making structure in Tehran: “Mojtaba Khamenei is one link, and he is the weak link. If you uproot and destroy the 15 people around him, you solve the problem. These are the operatives and the thinkers who make the decisions in Iran today.”

“Mojtaba sits in a tunnel and does not even know whether his orders are being carried out. When you neutralize the people who actually make the decisions, like Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmad Vahidi, you achieve a decision.”

Fighting in Lebanon restricted by the US

The discussion later turned to the fighting in Lebanon and the American restrictions on strikes in Beirut.

While the IDF has made gains against Hezbollah and inflicted severe damage to the organization, Sabti made clear that it must cut off the head of the snake.

“I kiss the hands and feet of the soldiers who are doing an amazing job,” Sabti said.

“But as long as you do not strike the head of the enemy, you are really giving it life. This effect of being in a war is good for them. Instead of going to the source, we are killing the mosquitoes one by one.”