Nuclear threat wasn't the only reason Israel attacked Iran

Why did Israel attack Iran? Certainly, it was worried about the threat of a nuclear weapon being developed.

But it's also becoming clearer that there was a second reason - that this is about laying the ground for regime change in Tehran. Follow latest: Israel warns 'Tehran will burn' if it continues Because, hours after his country launched its first, surprise attack, the message from Benjamin Netanyahu couldn't be clearer - Iranians, he said, should overthrow their "evil and oppressive regime".

He said Israel's attack would "pave the way for you to achieve your freedom". On the one hand, he would say that, wouldn't he? The Iranian government does not recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli state and has called for its destruction, while funding proxy groups that have attacked Israel - including Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen.

But perhaps this time there is more than just wishful thinking. Although it's very hard to gauge the level of opposition in Iran, it seems likely the majority of the population of 90 million are at least disenchanted with the regime.

Living standards have fallen and supplies are running short. While tens of billions of dollars have been spent on a nuclear programme, electricity is being rationed and cooking gas is running low.

Priority is being given to those who are close to the regime, notably the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of the Iranian army that is fiercely loyal to the ruling regime. The IRGC are crucial in propping up Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's 86-year-old supreme leader.

Not only do they offer military power, but also domestic surveillance, intimidation and secret policing in order to stifle dissent. So for any opposition to emerge, let alone flourish, the IRGC would need to be degraded - and that is precisely what Israel has done, targeting its senior leaders as well as bases.

????Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim on your podcast app???? The regular army, so far, has been left alone. Israel's gamble is that a majority of the rest of the military harbour the same dislike of the IRGC as the wider population.

It was no coincidence that Netanyahu quoted the expression "woman, life, freedom.