Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Tuesday the war would continue until Israel and the United States decide the moment is right to bring it to a halt, offering no timetable for when that might happen.
“The war with Iran will continue until the minute that we, and our partners, think that it is appropriate to stop,” Saar told reporters in Jerusalem, speaking alongside Germany’s foreign minister, according to Reuters.
The comments come as the conflict between Israel and Iran, now entering its second week, continues to spread across the Middle East after U.S. and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran. Tehran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the region.
NO TIMELINE FOR THE WAR’S END
While US President Donald Trump has suggested the war could end soon, Saar signaled that Israel is not working with a fixed timeline.
“We are not seeking an endless war,” Saar said, but added that the fighting would continue until Israel believes it has removed long-term threats posed by Iran.
Israel says its objective is to cripple Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which it views as existential threats.
“We want to remove, for the long term, existential threats from Iran to Israel,” Saar said in response to a Reuters question about how the government sees the conflict ending.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out another wave of strikes in Tehran, targeting what it described as “terror regime targets,” while Iranian forces launched fresh missile attacks toward Israel.
The war has also expanded to Lebanon, where Israel is now battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. Saar said Israel believes it has already achieved significant success in weakening Iran’s military capabilities. However, he stressed that the opportunity to inflict lasting damage on Iran’s nuclear ambitions must not be wasted.
“We must not miss this opportunity with partial results,” Saar said.
CALLS FOR GLOBAL PRESSURE ON IRAN
Saar also urged countries around the world to increase diplomatic pressure on Tehran by cutting ties with the Iranian government.
The Israeli minister described Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, as an extremist and said Iran’s leadership posed a continuing threat to regional stability.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, visiting Israel during the conflict, said he believed Israel and the United States remain open to a diplomatic solution.
But any deal would require Iran to accept limits on its nuclear and missile programs and end support for regional militias — conditions Wadephul said Tehran is currently unwilling to accept, according to Reuters.
For now, Saar suggested the war’s duration will depend on whether Israel and its allies believe they have achieved their strategic objectives.
“We will continue,” he said, “until the minute that we think it is appropriate to stop.”
With inputs from Reuters
