Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said Wednesday that the current Iranian regime cannot be trusted to honor any agreement it signs and predicted the regime's eventual collapse, telling Galei Israel radio, "It's just a matter of time."
Addressing the stalled negotiations between the United States and Iran, Cohen said Israel and the United States had anticipated Tehran's bad faith from the outset. "We said from the start that the current regime in Iran places no value on any agreement you sign with it," Cohen said. "I think even in the United States, they were surprised by how quickly the Iranians violated the agreement. There wasn't a single written word they upheld."
Cohen described Iran as increasingly isolated and under mounting pressure from its neighbors. "We see Iran isolated, acting under pressure from the countries surrounding it," he said. "The same Iran that wanted to build a chokehold ring around Israel now finds itself facing a regional fault line. At the end of the day, even if it takes time, the regime in Iran will fall."
The remarks are consistent with a position Cohen has voiced repeatedly in recent months. In an earlier interview with Israel National News, he said the regime was "standing on shaking ground," argued that Iran's leadership was "hiding for fear of being assassinated," and stated plainly, "I expect the regime in Iran to collapse. The only question is when it will happen." He has credited American economic pressure, including the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, as a central driver of that expected collapse, saying continued economic strain would help "spark the seeds of revolution" against the regime. In an earlier interview with the Jerusalem Post, Cohen went further still, saying Israel had a rare window to help bring down Iran's government and citing his estimate that more than seventy percent of the Iranian public opposes the regime, even as a armed minority continues to violently suppress dissent.
Cohen's comments come as the Trump administration's negotiations with Tehran remain stalled, with tensions continuing to escalate around the Strait of Hormuz and repeated exchanges of fire testing the ceasefire reached earlier this year.
