Hot on the heels of the US “food for nukes” deal with North Korea, officials in the Israeli government are calling for mass starvation to be imposed on Iran as a way of forcing regime change and abandonment of the nation’s civilian nuclear program.

“Suffocating sanctions could lead to a grave economic situation in Iran and to a shortage of food,” one of the officials claimed. Though thanks to inflation the price of food is rising and causing hardships for average Iranians, it isn’t clear how officials propose to force a famine on the nation.

Unlike North Korea, with its backwards, state-run agricultural industry, Iran is actually a net food exporter, and while more sanctions could make the industry less efficient and perhaps curb exports, it would not make the food Iran does grow disappear into thin air.

The comments suggest that Israel is growing impatient with the ongoing sanctions against Iran, and is looking for something that will be a “game changer” that finally forces regime change or at least spawns an international objection that can be used as an excuse for a unilateral attack. The idea that a suddenly starving populace is going to overthrow its government on behalf of those that are starving them, however, seems to fly in the face of the history of sanctions.