Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was “prepared to resume the war against Iran” and was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to “the Stone Age” by destroying key energy and electricity facilities.
“The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively,” Katz said in a video statement, shifting the decision to reignite the conflict publicly to Washington.
“We are awaiting a green light from the United States – first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty… and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure,” the minister said.
The statement is the most explicit Israeli framing yet of a US-authorised, coordinated resumption of military action. Unlike earlier Israeli threats made independently, Katz’s remarks cast Israel as operationally ready but deliberately waiting for American sign-off — placing the escalation decision squarely with the Trump administration.
The comments come as the Trump-brokered US-Iran ceasefire remains indefinite but fragile. Iran’s state broadcaster this week disputed the existence of the truce, while Tehran has resumed vessel seizures and gunboat operations in the Strait of Hormuz. US forces have intercepted three Iran-linked oil tankers in the Indian Ocean in recent days.
The “Khamenei dynasty” language also marks an escalation from earlier Israeli statements, which had focused on military and nuclear targets rather than the regime’s leadership succession. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, assumed the Supreme Leader role after his father was killed in the US–Israeli strikes earlier this year.
Oil markets have been watching every public Israeli and Iranian statement closely. Brent crude held at around $105 a barrel this week, with Sri Lanka’s fuel import bill and airline rerouting costs continuing to reflect the unresolved Gulf security situation.
Source: AFP via Ada Derana
