Israel urges Iranians to revolt but assesses they’d 'get slaughtered'

(File photo/AP)

Senior Israeli officials have told US diplomats that Iranian protesters will “get slaughtered” if they take to the streets against their government even as Israel publicly called for a popular uprising, according to a State Department cable reviewed by The Washington Post.

The cable contained an Israeli assessment that Iran’s regime is “not cracking" and is willing to “fight to the end" despite the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and two weeks of relentless airstrikes by the US and Israel.

Iran’s principal military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), still have the “upper hand", the cable said, according to WSJ report.

Israeli officials said “the people will get slaughtered" if they take to the streets against the regime, after thousands of people were killed in nationwide protests in January.

The document’s authenticity was verified by two State Department officials.

Despite the grim forecast, Israeli officials said they hoped for a popular revolt and urged the United States to prepare to support protesters if that happens, according to the cable.

The cable summarized recent meetings between U.S. officials and senior members of Israel’s National Security Council, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday and Thursday.

It comes as Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, calls for Iranians to take to the streets this week to mark the ancient Persian “Festival of Fire” known as Chaharshanbe Suri.

Narges Bajoghli, an Iran expert at Johns Hopkins University, said that Iranians have long been skeptical of Israeli intentions and that the dual messages on display in the cable will be viewed by many as callous and exploitative of Iranian lives.

“I think a lot of people will feel very betrayed by this assessment,” Bajoghli said, according to a report by the Daily Herald.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington said Israel is “focused on eliminating the regime’s military capabilities — to everyone’s benefit.”

The US-Israeli strikes have hit thousands of targets inside Iran, including nuclear infrastructure, ballistic missile stockpiles, police stations and checkpoints set up by plainclothes internal security forces known as the Basij.

Overnight Israeli strikes also killed national security chief Ali Larijani and the head of the Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani, marking the latest setback for the regime. Despite this, analysts and intelligence assessments claim that Iran’s hardline regime is "not cracking".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will strike hard at the terror regime and create conditions that will allow the brave Iranian people to cast off the yoke of this murderous regime."