Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a circuit of interviews aired Thursday evening that Israel sought to eliminate Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during its 12-day conflict with Iran, but the opportunity never presented itself.

“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Channel 13, adding that Israel “searched a lot” for Khamenei but that the operational opportunity did not arise.

The minister made similar comments in interviews with Kan and Channel 12, in which he also said that Israel had an “enforcement policy” that involved maintaining aerial superiority over Iran and ensuring, via airstrikes if necessary, that the country does not restart its nuclear or long-range missile programs.

He also conveyed that Israel didn’t know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, and that it did not go into the war knowing the US would join the attack.

Katz said in the interviews that the Iranian leader had been marked for death, but that Israel was unable to locate him once he hid in a bunker: “Khamenei understood this, went very deep underground, broke off contact with the commanders… so in the end it wasn’t realistic,” Katz told Kan.

Asked whether Israel had sought American approval for such an action, Katz told Channel 13: “We don’t need permission for these things.”

US President Donald Trump also threatened Khamenei’s life during the war, posting on social media on June 17: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

But Trump reversed course just days later, saying that regime change was not advisable.

During the war, Katz had been particularly vocal about killing Khamenei, calling the supreme leader a “modern Hitler” who “cannot continue to exist.” He told Kan that Israel’s goal was not regime change but “upsetting the regime in the middle of the operation and pressuring the Iranians.”

But he told Channel 13 on Thursday that Israel will not continue to seek Khamenei’s life following the ceasefire that took hold two days earlier.

“There’s a difference — before the ceasefire, after the ceasefire,” he said. But speaking to Kan, he also issued a threat to Khamenei, comparing him to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah terror group whom Israel killed last year, and advised him to remain in a bunker.

“I wouldn’t recommend that he stay tranquil,” Katz said. “He should learn from the late Nasrallah, who sat for a long time deep in the bunker. I recommend that he do the same thing.”

Katz told the news outlets that Israel maintained aerial superiority over Iran and was poised to strike again.

“We won’t let Iran develop nuclear weapons and threatening long-range missiles,” he told Channel 12. To Channel 13, the defense minister said: “The main point is that the policy of the State of Israel and government of Israel is to implement enforcement actions against Iran.”

He said the policy would be “like in Lebanon” — where Israel has targeted Hezbollah’s attempts to rearm — “just times 100.”

Speaking to Channel 12, Katz said Israel launched the war on June 13 without knowing whether Trump would participate in the offensive. However, he noted that Israel was confident the US would assist in defending the country.

“In defense, we knew they [the US] were with us — and they did an amazing job,” Katz said.

He acknowledged that Trump took a political risk in launching the attack, which some of his prominent supporters had opposed, but that the decision was influenced by Israel’s success in the campaign’s opening days.

“This was a dramatic decision by the president — to act against half of his base,” Katz said. “When he saw the results of the Israeli attack, it was easier for him to make the decision.”

Katz also admitted that Israel does not know the location of all of Iran’s enriched uranium but claimed its military strikes destroyed Tehran’s enrichment capabilities.

“The material itself was not something that was supposed to be taken out,” he told Channel 12 in reference to the uranium.

A public debate has played out in recent days over how much the strikes set back the Iranian nuclear program. While some assessments have said that Iran was delayed only by a matter of months, Katz, as well as other Israeli and US officials, framed the damage in terms of years.

“It will take them long years, but we won’t let that happen,” he told Channel 12.

Katz was also asked, across the interviews, about the ongoing war in Gaza, in which seven soldiers were recently killed in an attack. He said he would not let it become a “war of attrition,” but that it must end with the dismantling of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities as well as the return of the 50 remaining hostages.