Ayatollah regime is ‘in trouble’ as Gaza is Iran’s last stronghold in the region, PM Netanyahu tells Fox

The Iranian regime is in “deep trouble,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News’ Mark Levin in an interview filmed during his visit to Washington last week.

After the Israeli air campaign and the U.S. strikes significantly weakened the regime, Iran is now about to lose its “last stronghold… in our neighborhood,” Netanyahu said, expressing confidence that a ceasefire deal in Gaza would soon be reached.

The “only reason” the war was continuing was because of the hostage situation, he stressed.

The prime minister also reiterated the threat Iran poses to the U.S. multiple times during the interview. Amid recent reports that Iran still wants to pursue a deal with the U.S., Netanyahu said he would only support an “exceptional deal.”

“No enrichment, as President Trump and I say, no ballistic missiles, which could reach your shores, no ballistic missiles beyond what is allowed under international treaties – that is, 300 miles. And no terror axis.”

“Give me these three – it’s a different regime if it agrees to it,” Netanyahu said. “If it doesn’t, just keep them at bay and let things roll where they may inside Iran.”

The prime minister's comment drew a heated response from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who wrote on 𝕏: “Having miserably failed to achieve any of his war aims in Iran and compelled to run to ‘Daddy’ when our powerful missiles flattened secret Israeli regime sites-which Netanyahu is still censoring-he is openly dictating what the US should or shouldn't say or do in talks with Iran.”

“Apart from farce that Iran will accept anything a wanted war criminal has to say, the inevitable question arises: what exactly is Netanyahu smoking? And if nothing, what exactly does the Mossad have on the White House?”

Trying to remember when I last read something so sweaty and tense.
Try to stay cool, Minister! https://t.co/BS2SH5jA13

— Gideon Sa'ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) July 13, 2025

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar quipped, “Trying to remember when I last read something so sweaty and tense. Try to stay cool, Minister!”

Netanyahu also told Fox News that Israel estimated the Iranian regime was less than a year away from developing a fully-fledged nuclear weapon.

The regime “rushed to weaponize enriched uranium after the fall of Hezbollah and the collapse of the axis,” Netanyahu explained.

“We saw it. We said, within a year they will have a nuclear bomb, and they will use it,” he continued. “Unlike other nuclear powers, they will actually use it, and they will wipe us out.”

On Saturday, Mehdi Mohammadi, a strategic advisor to the Speaker of Iran's Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, published an image depicting two mushroom clouds and nuclear fallout across Israel to his Instagram account.

Recounting 3,000 years of Jewish history, “great odyssey of our time”, Netanyahu added: “This is going to end because of these mad Ayatollahs, who chant ‘death to Israel, death to America’? They wanna destroy us because then they conquer the Middle East, and then they go after you. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Praising U.S. President Donald Trump for his assistance during the war against Iran, Netanyahu said that it is a “different America” under Trump’s leadership.

“It’s the America that the entire free world has actually longed to see,” he said, adding that “if anyone deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, it’s President Trump.”

In support, he listed agreements between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and India and Pakistan, adding that there are three other places, “including with me,” where Trump is working on more peace deals.

During last week’s visit to Washington, Netanyahu presented the U.S. president with a copy of the letter he wrote to the Nobel Prize committee, nominating him for the prestigious award.

“President Trump has demonstrated steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security, and stability around the world,” Netanyahu wrote. “In the Middle East, his efforts have brought about dramatic change and created new opportunities to expand the circle of peace and normalization.”