On the night of June 24, when reports surfaced that Israel had struck the Basij militia headquarters, Tehran’s Evin Prison and several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) command centers, I felt a profound sense of historic justice. For years I have followed the suffering of the Iranian people and maintained personal ties with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and many Iranian exiles. I knew that this was the moment for which we had all been waiting.
Those sites were not chosen at random. The Basij – the regime-run militia that brutally crushed the 2009 Green Movement, the 2019 fuel-price protests and the 2022 women-led hijab demonstrations – has become synonymous with fear inside Iran. Evin Prison is where thousands who dared dream of freedom were jailed, tortured and executed. As a woman, I feel a special bond with Iranian women who have had to rise up against a regime that denies their very humanity.
'Iranian people are separated from the Islamic regime'
When I hosted Crown Prince Pahlavi on his historic visit to Israel in April 2023, he told me a sentence that is etched on my heart: “The Iranian people are separated from the Islamic regime, and they have never harbored animosity toward the blessed Jewish people.” Today, after Israel’s strike on those potent symbols of oppression, his words take on new meaning.
Iranian history warns us to be cautious. The Green Movement and the subsequent protest waves were all crushed by the very institutions Israel has now hit. Yet there is a crucial difference this time: physical damage to the regime’s power centers has sent an entirely new message – that the supposedly untouchable enforcers of repression are vulnerable, and that Iran’s long-suffering people have a regional ally: Israel.
Opposition figures abroad say the success of the operation relied on “thousands of courageous Iranians who cooperated and provided intelligence.” That is a powerful indicator of growing internal resistance. Earlier this week Crown Prince Pahlavi declared: “The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in a state of collapse… Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone underground and lost control.”
Still, we must remain clear-eyed. The regime has endured for more than 45 years, and its instruments of coercion are not yet dismantled. History teaches that only when fear is broken, a unifying indigenous leadership emerges, and the tools of oppression lose their effectiveness can true change occur.
For Israel, these events position us not merely as a military actor but as a defender of human rights in the region – a moral struggle of light versus darkness, progress versus backwardness. During Prince Pahlavi’s visit, I said: “Together, we have begun to rebuild bridges between our peoples in order to restore past glory.”
Throughout my public career I have advanced a unique diplomatic doctrine: genuine regional transformation stems from bonds between peoples, not regimes. That conviction has led me to cultivate deep ties with Iranian exiles from across the political spectrum – human-rights activists, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and ethnic-minority representatives. My meetings last year with exiled Queen Farah Diba and her son Reza Pahlavi only strengthened our shared hope for a brighter future for the Iranian nation.
Ancient Persia was a cradle of wisdom
My vision of future “Cyrus Accords,” which I have promoted in Israeli public discourse, rests on the immense potential of Israel-Iran relations. Just as the Abraham Accords reshaped the Middle East, so could the Cyrus Accords usher in unprecedented cooperation in science, technology, agriculture, medicine and water. Ancient Persia was a cradle of culture and wisdom; the Persian people are natural partners for Israel in the fight against extremism.
This moment therefore obliges us to deepen our engagement with the Iranian opposition, support exiles and present Israel as a beacon of freedom, gender equality and human rights. The recent strikes were not only a military action; they were a first step toward liberating the Iranian people from tyranny. They deserve freedom. Our task is to ensure that when the hour arrives, we are ready to extend a hand and help build a better Middle East – one in which the Cyrus Accords become a key to peace and prosperity for the entire region.
The writer is Israel’s Innovation, Science and Technology Minister and a member of the Security Cabinet.