‘Iranians love Israelis and have fallen in love with Netanyahu’

Resident of Iran’s capital claims Israel’s prime minister is increasingly popular in the Islamic Republic as protest movement continues to gain momentum.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become the most popular public figure among Iranians, a resident of Tehran claimed Wednesday, telling Israel’s national broadcaster that the premier has been embraced as a symbol of the widespread unrest and escalating anti-regime protest movement.

Speaking with Kan Reshet Bet radio under a pseudonym, the man said that Iranians are “mainly afraid” of possible US military intervention in their country, comparing it to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Everywhere they went, they brought only destruction,” he continued.

Iranians, he added, have not been won over by President Donald Trump, but are “in love with” Netanyahu, and were “impressed” by how Israel conducted its air campaign against the Iranian regime in June of last year.

“People have fallen in love with him,” the Tehran resident said of Israel’s prime minister, adding that the affection extended to the Israeli people as a whole.

“People do not trust America or Trump, but they very much believe in and love Israelis.”

Israel’s war with Iran last year “focused only on regime infrastructure and did not harm civilians,” the man emphasized.

The man told Kan Reshet Bet that he had attended multiple anti-regime demonstrations over the past 11 days, as the protest movement continues to gain momentum.

Lamenting the abuses by Iranian security forces, the man claimed that dissidents arrested during the protests are frequently sexually assaulted while in custody.

“They arrest many, who testify that they were sexually assaulted in prison. The [government] forces use a lot of tear gas against demonstrators.”

“I was affected by tear gas. I could not see or breathe properly for hours. Using tear gas has caused many people to stay away from the protests.”

One of the slogans adopted by protesters during the ongoing unrest, “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, only Lebanon,” has highlighted frustrations with the regime’s support for terrorist proxies abroad, including Hezbollah and Hamas, while failing to address the country’s deepening economic crisis.

“The Iranian people ask the regime leadership why they divide the wealth among themselves and help Hamas, Hezbollah, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, the Houthis, and Afghanistan, but when it comes to their own people, they say ‘no, you can wait, you need to pay taxes,” the Tehran dissident said.

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