Did Israel get what it wanted from attacking Iran?

Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire after 12 days of fighting, which began when Israel attacked Iranian military targets on June 13.

The war has met Israel's core goals, which were strictly security-based and not aimed at regime change, according to the country's UN International Spokesperson Jonathan Harounoff.

In an interview with The Jewish Independent, Harounoff said Israel's attack was a carefully planned operation with specific military objectives.

“The timing was not an impulsive decision, it was the culmination of years and years of intelligence gathering, pointing towards a very concrete, concerning plan to completely annihilate the state of Israel through multiple means,” Harounoff said.

The first, most existential threat to Israel was nuclear. Harounoff says Israeli intelligence showed that the Islamic Republic of Iran “was closer than ever to reaching the point of no return” in its nuclear capabilities.

The second, which Harounoff says is focused on much less in the media, was the Islamic Republic’s accumulation of a significant arsenal of ballistic missiles, drones, and other weaponry that could reach Israel and well beyond.

“And third, there was a whole army of senior officials and military political scientists, who were all working together to create a sort of October 7, 2.0,” he added. “That would have been much more destructive and would have involved many of the Islamic Republic’s proxies attacking Israel at the same time.”

Given these combined threats, Harounoff says Israel had to take action when it did. “Every kind of attack against the Islamic Republic, when it comes to its nuclear program, has to be pre-emptive. You can't wait until a mushroom cloud appears over Jerusalem or Tel Aviv until we strike, that would be too late.”

Harounoff, a British born Jew of Persian descent who has served as Israel’s UN International Spokesperson since September 2024, has extensive knowledge about the conflict. His qualifications include a master’s degree in Arabic, Persian and Middle Eastern Studies from Cambridge, and a forthcoming book on the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

The combination of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Mossad’s coordinated attacks and the recent US attacks on several nuclear sites have dealt a massive blow to Iran’s military capacity.

US President Donald Trump claims Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated”.

Israeli attacks have also destroyed the last of the Islamic Republic’s air defence systems; taken out close to half of the regime’s missile launchers; and eliminated both senior IRGC military leaders and nuclear scientists and experts.

The cost for Israel in Iran's response was considerable, with at least 24 deaths, dozens of injuries, and massive mental health and economic costs for a population that has spent days regularly sheltering from missile attacks on civilian areas.

Beyond military targets, Israel also attacked the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) and its television station, reportedly cheered on by Iranian citizens, who oppose the regime.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly addressed the "proud people of Iran", telling them that Israel was "clearing the path" for them to achieve freedom.

But Harounoff does not believe a ceasefire without regime change means Israel did not achieve its goals.

“Israel’s goal was not regime change. Israel’s goal is to eliminate the existential threat that it was facing, in the form of the nuclear uranium enrichment, the ballistic missile accumulation, and the senior officials working towards Israel's destruction.

“However, Israel does stand with the people of Iran and any regime change that does take place inside Iran will come from the people of Iran. It would be their decision to make, but we do stand with them.”

Iran’s opposition in exile is clearly hoping the war will set off regime change – and the danger of that may be one reason Iran agreed to a ceasefire.

Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi released a video statement stating there are plans for a 100-day transition period if the Islamic Republic falls. “Iran will not descend into civil war or instability,” said Pahlavi. “We are prepared for the first 100 days of the transitional period after the fall, and for the establishment of a national and democratic government by the Iranian people and for the Iranian people.”

Pahlavi also directed part of his message to military, police, and state workers, many of whom he claims have contacted him, calling on them to stand with the people and not the regime.

Harounoff sees it as a hopeful sign: “It does suggest that the people of Iran want to have a separation of state and church, so to speak. They want to return to some kind of democratic future, but again, it would be up to the people, everyone, to decide.”

Prior to the outbreak of the war, Harounoff had been focused on the plight of Iranian citizens protesting against the oppressive Islamic Republic. His book, Unveiled: Inside Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom Revolt, is out in September. The book draws on interviews with survivors of the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests and key Iranian opposition leaders in the diaspora.

“In the Islamic Republic's 46-year history, since 1979, the Iranian people have shown how they feel with their feet by protesting, taking [to] the streets on many occasions,” Harounoff said. Those protests include the 2009 Green Revolution, following the contested re-election of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; economic protests in 2017 and 2018; and the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022.

Those women-led protests, which Harounoff’s book calls the most existential threat to the regime to date – prior to the war with Israel – broke out after 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Jina Amini was killed by the moral­i­ty police for alleged­ly wear­ing her hijab too loose­ly.

The Islamic Republic’s response to the protests were horrifically brutal, from killing at least 551 protestors, to shooting protestors’ eyes out, and using rape, torture, arrests and executions to suppress further demonstrations.

“If you view the goals of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolt as trying [to] overthrow the regime, while it came extremely close to doing that, it ultimately didn't succeed, because the Islamic Republic still exists today,” says Harounoff. “So, the book also looks at some of the reasons why the movement fell short in its ultimate goals as well.”

As a spokesperson to the UN, Harounoff says criticism must also be levelled at the organisation for its legitimisation of the regime.

“There have been many occasions when the UN could have done a lot more to condemn the actions of the Islamic Republic, not least during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

“Even in recent years, giving them a platform, allowing them to chair the Human Rights Council, while they were carrying out gross human rights violations in their own country, is just inconceivable, unthinkable, and inexplicable.”

Ultimately, should the regime fall, Harounoff hopes it will lead to a reunion between two nations. In an opinion piece published by Newsweek on Friday, he wrote: “As a British Jew of Persian descent living in New York, I yearn for the day when the people of Israel and Iran can rekindle the friendship they once had.”