Avner Vilan: Netanyahu responsible for 'absurd risk' in his Iran strategy to assassinate Khamenei

Former senior defense official and Iran nuclear expert Avner Vilan has sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strategy regarding Iran, labeling it an "absurd risk" primarily focused on the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In an interview with 103FM, Vilan acknowledged the Mossad's reported capability to reach former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but questioned the strategic value of such an operation.

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Operationally, that is impressive. But we need to stop being dazzled by it and ask ourselves: What was it for?

"Operationally, that is impressive," Vilan stated regarding the Mossad's reported contact with Ahmadinejad. "But we need to stop being dazzled by it and ask ourselves: What was it for?" He described Israel's broader plan as "absurd," arguing that its objectives were disconnected from the realities on the ground. Vilan placed "full responsibility for this lies with Benjamin Netanyahu, who decided to go to war with Khamenei’s assassination as an objective," deeming it an "absurd risk" that "failed miserably."

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Full responsibility for this lies with Benjamin Netanyahu, who decided to go to war with Khamenei’s assassination as an objective. He took a risk, and in my view, it was an absurd risk.

Vilan noted that Ahmadinejad's position as an outsider within the Iranian establishment might have made him a more accessible target than other senior figures. "He was always something of an outsider, a kind of troll. Even when he was president, he was not the most powerful man in Iran," Vilan explained, suggesting this could be why the Mossad made contact with him rather than other prominent officials.

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He was always something of an outsider, a kind of troll. Even when he was president, he was not the most powerful man in Iran.

However, Vilan cautioned against overestimating the significance of such contact, emphasizing that intelligence recruitment is complex and does not guarantee full allegiance. "In these situations, it is not as though you wake up one morning and suddenly become a committed Zionist," he said. "There is ego, and there are other considerations. I do not know what Ahmadinejad wanted, but the fact is that he did not go all the way with it."

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In these situations, it is not as though you wake up one morning and suddenly become a committed Zionist. There is ego, and there are other considerations. I do not know what Ahmadinejad wanted, but the fact is that he did not go all the way with it.