Israel warns Khamenei of same fate as Saddam Hussein: Throwback to when US forces dragged Iraqi dictator out of 'spider hole'

The toppled statue of Saddam Hussein is seen in Firdos Square downtown Baghdad in this April 9, 2003 file photo. The statue was taken down by a US marines and Iraqis as American troops entered the capital. (AP)

Saddam Hussein, the brutal Sunni dictator of Shia-dominated Iraq, has suddenly become a talking point in the current tensions between Iran and Israel. As the crisis worsens, a top Israeli minister on Tuesday warned of a Saddam-like fate for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly told an American news broadcaster that ‘removing’ Khamenei would not lead to an escalation. Rather, Netanyahu said that this will lead to a permanent solution. These stark warnings for Iranian leadership show that Tel Aviv is in no mood to de-escalate.

So, what was the Saddam-like fate Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wanted to talk about? It can be about how Saddam Hussein was captured from a ‘spider hole’ in his hometown Tikrit back in 2003. In the freezing December of 2003, US forces got a tip about Hussein hiding in a nondescript location — a mudbrick hut near a hole.

Camouflaged with dirt and bricks, the Iraqi dictator was captured hiding in a six-to-eight-foot-deep 'spider hole'. When the American forces dragged him out, he was armed with a pistol. However, there was no communication device with Saddam.

Katz’s stark reminder of the bloody legacy from Iraq comes amid reports of the top leadership of Iran hiding in a bunker. Does it mean that Israel has warned Iran that its forces will also drag out Ayatollah just like Saddam? The unsaid meaning has not been lost.

More importantly, Israel has been talking about regime change in Iran. With precise strikes, Tel Aviv has already eliminated senior members of Iranian leadership. On Tuesday, Ali Shadmani, Iran’s senior-most military official and Khamenei’s closest military advisor, was killed in an IAF strike in central Tehran.

So, will Israel try to replicate what US forces did in Iraq? With air superiority, Israel may want to copy the American blueprint.

But that’s easier said than done. Despite being haggard and a shadow of the dictator he was, Saddam Hussein remained defiant till the very end. It took the US three years to put Hussein on trial for torture and premeditated murder. On November 5, 2006, Hussein was sentenced to death in the Dujail massacre. Days later, on November 26 that year, the Iraqi High Tribunal's appellate chamber upheld the death penalty. On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged a little after 6 am.

A CNN report citing the first witness account of Iraqi Judge Munir Haddad said that as a noose was tightened around the Iraqi dictator’s neck, one of the executioners yelled "long live Muqtada al-Sadr". The chant was for the powerful anti-American Shia leader. To this, Saddam Hussein, who was a Sunni, uttered one last phrase before he was hanged, saying "Muqtada al-Sadr" in a mocking tone. The then Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie had said that Saddam Hussein had refused to wear the black hood just before his execution.