Regime change is up to Iranian people, Netanyahu says

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have held multiple phone conversations since the Iran-Israel conflict erupted last week, aiming to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Citing three unnamed diplomats, the report said Araghchi told Witkoff that Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel halted its attacks on the Islamic Republic.

The talks also touched on a US proposal from late May to create a regional uranium enrichment consortium outside Iran, which Tehran has rejected.

Israel's military campaign against Iran targets more than nuclear and missile infrastructure and aims to weaken Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule to the point of collapse, a Reuters analysis said.

The article cited Israeli, Western and regional officials as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking lasting concessions from Iran on enrichment, missiles, and regional militancy.

Israeli strikes have expanded to state institutions and top security officials, while US President Donald Trump weighs military involvement but remains open to talks.

Still, the collapse of the Islamic Republic establishment remains unlikely without a ground invasion or uprising, according to the officials.

Persian Gulf and Western powers fear that forced regime change could unleash chaos across the region, the report added.

"Iran isn't just facing Israel," said Alex Vatanka, director of the Washington-based Iran Program at the Middle East Institute. "It’s facing off the United States and European powers."

Iran, long seen as a rising regional power, is contending with a new Middle East reality marked by evolving alliances, according to a Time magazine analysis published on Thursday.

The analysis said that while Iran's "Axis of Resistance" and its opposition to Israel have been central to its post-1979 revolutionary ideology, the recent conflict with Israel has shown a different dynamic.

Time suggests Iran's leadership prioritized "the preservation of the system," leading to continued investment in its nuclear program for survival.

The analysis pointed to wealthy Persian Gulf states increasingly aligning with Israel due to a shared animosity towards Tehran, a development exemplified by the Abraham Accords and Saudi Arabia's signals towards normalization.

This shift, Time concludes, outlines a new regional landscape where Arab nations are actively participating in intercepting Iranian missiles targeting Israel.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, currently outside Tehran, has called for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Iran and Israel, according to an exclusive message to Time magazine published on Thursday.

Mohammadi urged fellow Nobel laureates and human rights organizations to unite in advocating for peace, saying the conflict has already caused "devastating" destruction and forced millions of Iranians from their homes.

"The scale of destruction already resembles that of a months-long conflict," Mohammadi wrote.

"Let us rise together to form a united, global front for the right to peace. The scope of war expands by the day. Its fire will not remain confined to the lands directly involved—it will cross borders and engulf the entire world."

The speaker of Israel's Knesset, Amir Ohana, on Thursday expressed a desire to renew friendship with the Iranian people, stating that Israel's target is "the vicious Ayatollah regime."

Speaking at the site of an Iranian attack, he said, "We had friendship with the Iranian people for many years, and we look forward to renew that friendship. Our target is the vicious Ayatollah regime."

100%