By John Gizzi, chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax
Newsmax, 7 March 2025
Both a former member of the European Parliament and a leading Israeli politician voiced agreement last week that the overthrow of the Islamic regime in Iran was coming soon and may well be triggered by another missile strike from Israel.
In separate interviews with Newsmax, Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a Spanish physicist, ex-Member of the European Parliament, and head of the anti-Khamenei International Committee in Search of Justice, and Amit Halevi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee of the Israeli Knesset, voiced confidence in the demise of the Iranian theocracy coming soon.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime “will go very soon,” said Vidal-Quadras, who survived an assassin’s bullet to the face last November in Madrid, for which he blames the Iranian government.
He specifically cited the National Security Memo of Feb. 4 in which President Donald Trump spelled out a hard-line policy that directs the secretary of state to modify waivers from the Biden administration that “provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief” and the secretary of the Treasury to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero, including exports of Iranian crude to the People’s Republic of China.”
Vidal-Quadras said Trump’s election was good for Iraq and especially praised his withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the “Iran nuclear deal,” in 2018, under which “the Islamic Republic had recovered more than $150 billion, most of which was used to fund Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others who attack the West.”
Asked if he felt Israel should help overthrow Khamenei through a missile strike, Vidal-Quadras replied flatly, “Yes, and I would then go back to Iran with pleasure to help build a new regime.”
Halevi said, “Israel will strike Iranian missiles.” He also said Trump needs to restart “paralyzing sanctions” against Iran and “to invest in the next generation of Iranian leaders.”
Halevi also pointed out that Iran’s close relationship with Russia notwithstanding, an all-out commitment to overthrow Khamenei would not hurt the U.S. because, in his view, Russian President Vladimir Putin “needs Trump.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.
