Felice Friedson reports that Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi believes Israel and the United States are moving toward a decisive phase in the war with Iran, one aimed not at symbolic blows but at breaking the regime’s ability to function. In his interview with The Media Line, Avivi argues that after heavy damage to Iran’s military industries and petrochemical sector, the next step should be attacks on the country’s electrical infrastructure and other economic choke points to force either surrender or collapse.
Avivi paints a picture of a war being fought with precision, endurance, and a cold eye toward logistics. He describes a joint US-Israeli effort that has already crippled much of Iran’s war-making machinery while avoiding the need for large numbers of American troops on the ground. He points to a rescue operation for a downed US airman in Iran, says the coalition has devastated key military and petrochemical assets, and argues that Tehran must be pushed to the point where it can no longer fund its armed forces or sustain the regime.
His most dramatic proposal is what he calls a “plague of darkness in Iran,” a biblical phrase he uses to describe knocking out the country’s power grid. Avivi argues that without electricity, banks, command centers, and state systems would quickly grind to a halt. He insists the aim is not permanent punishment of the Iranian people, but the collapse of a regime he says can then be replaced and rebuilt by Iranians themselves.
The interview ranges well beyond Iran. Avivi argues that control of the Strait of Hormuz should be taken out of Tehran’s hands, sketches an energy corridor through Saudi Arabia and Israel, and says the broader campaign against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and Iranian-backed groups still runs through Tehran. He also praises Israel’s logistical strength, warns that NATO’s refusal to join the fight could have lasting consequences, and calls for wider military service inside Israel.
Near the end of the interview, Friedson captures Avivi in full-stride strategic mode: impatient, confident, and convinced that the war’s center of gravity is not only military but economic. Read the article and watch the video interview for the full scope of his argument.
