Former Israeli Air Force chief Eitan Ben Eliyahu says he believes the Iranian regime is approaching collapse, even as he cautions against assuming that war is imminent.

“The regime in Iran has finished its career,” he said in an interview. “It will happen soon — in two, three, or four years — it’s finished.”

According to Ben Eliyahu, signs of internal erosion are already visible, with protests likely to intensify rather than fade.

“The protests will escalate,” he warned. “In a large and divided nation, change takes time — but this unrest won’t end.”

Despite his bleak outlook for Iran’s leadership, Ben Eliyahu pushed back against claims that a military confrontation is imminent, as U.S.-Iran talks continue amid rising tensions.

“I never said that diplomacy would win,” he said. “I said that for now, what’s happening is negotiations.”

He acknowledged growing calls in Israel and abroad for immediate military action but stressed that current developments point more to diplomatic pressure than to an impending strike.

“The signs did not necessarily indicate that there would be an attack tomorrow morning,” Ben Eliyahu explained. “They were part of the negotiations. But by default, if it fails, everything is prepared and ready for an attack.”

Recent U.S. military movements in the region, he added, should be viewed as leverage in talks rather than proof that war is around the corner.

Addressing Iran’s expanding ballistic missile arsenal, Ben Eliyahu sought to calm public fears, arguing that the threat does not pose an existential danger to Israel.

“The missile threat cannot be considered an existential threat — it’s not an atomic bomb,” he said, citing Israel’s “exceptional defense system” and the preparedness of the Home Front Command.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)