'You can’t do revolutions from the air': Netanyahu hints at possible 'ground component' to US-Israel war on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister says Iran's ​missile and drone arsenal is being massively degraded and will be destroyed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at a possible “ground component” to the US-Israel war on Iran even as he said that the Islamic Republic was "being decimated".

This came even as there are reports that the Donald Trump administration in the United States is considering deploying thousands of US troops to reinforce its operation in West Asia.

“You don’t want to replace one ayatollah with another. You don't want to replace Hitler with Himmler,” Netanyahu said on Thursday, adding that the Iranian regime was unlikely to be overthrown ​using air strikes alone.

"It is often said that you can’t do revolutions from the air," Netanyahu told a press conference. “There has to be a ground component as well. There are many possibilities for this ground component and I take the liberty of not sharing [those] with you,” he said.

'We are winning'

Netanyahu said Iran no ​longer had the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles after 20 days of US-Israeli air attacks.

"We are winning, ⁠and Iran is being decimated," Netanyahu said, ‌noting that Iran's ​missile and drone arsenal was being massively degraded and would be destroyed.

"What we're destroying now are the factories that produce the components to make these missiles and ​to make the ⁠nuclear weapons that they're trying to produce," Netanyahu said.

He, however, did not provide evidence for his claim that Iran no longer had the capacity to enrich ⁠uranium.

Netanyahu denied that that the United States was “dragged” into the war by Israel, as he tried to pour cold water on suggestions that Israel influenced the US’ decision to attack Iran and amid growing signs that the US and Israel are not aligned on their war aims.

“Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do,” the Israeli Prime Minister said, adding, “I misled no one.”

Netanyahu also said that Israel “acted alone” in striking Iran’s South Pars gasfield, though he did not speak on whether he had told Trump about the attack beforehand.

“President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out,” he added. Trump has distanced himself from Israel’s attack on the world’s largest gasfield.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is considering deploying thousands of US troops to reinforce its operation in West Asia, as the US military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, a Reuters report said quoting a US official and three people familiar with the matter.

The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options ⁠as he weighs expanding US operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.

(With agency inputs)