Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday told the people of Iran to celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, saying that the IDF is striking "terror operatives on the ground, on the roads, in the squares" and "watching from above."
"I am here with Israel's Defense Minister, our Chief of Staff, the head of the Mossad, our chief of Air Force, and our senior commanders," Netanyahu said on a recorded message from the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
"In the past 24 hours, we have knocked out two of the terror chieftains, the top terrorist chieftains of this tyranny," he added, referring to the killing of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Basij paramilitary militia.
"Our aircraft are hitting the terror operatives on the ground, in the crossroads, in the city squares. This is meant to enable the brave people of Iran to celebrate the Festival of Fire," Netanyahu continued in the message.
"So celebrate, and happy Nowruz. We are watching from above," Netanyahu concluded.
Herzog, Netanyahu send message of happy Nowruz to Iranians
President Isaac Herzog also gave the Iranian people his best wishes for the holiday, telling them, "You deserve better. You deserve change. You deserve good."
"I hope that this Charshanbeh Suri will bring with it a real change - change in the region, change in Iran, change for the future of our children," he added.
In a previous message, Netanyahu also sent his greetings to the Iranian people in honor of Nowruz. "To the brave people of Iran," Netanyahu began. "I wish you, as I do every year, a happy holiday season, beginning with the festival of lights."
He added that this year the holiday has "special meaning" and wished the Iranians a "year of freedom" and "a new beginning of hope."
Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report.