The US president, Donald Trump, has said he must be involved in the selection of Iran’s next leader following the death of the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Trump made the comments during an interview with Axios on Thursday, rejecting the likelihood of Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeding his father.
“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela,” he said.
The US president was alluding to Delcy Rodríguez, who took authority in Venezuela after US forces detained former President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
Trump also stated that he will reject any successor who continues the late Iranian leader’s policies.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” he stated.
He cautioned that establishing a leader who follows in the footsteps of the former supreme commander might bring the US back into conflict with Iran “in five years.”
Mojtaba Khamenei, a cleric with close ties to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, is widely regarded as a possible successor to his father, but Tehran has yet to publicly declare a new leader.
Trump’s remarks come a day after the White House indicated that regime change in Iran was not the primary goal of the administration’s current military operation in the area.
Iran’s Supreme Leader is the country’s highest political and religious authority, with extensive control over the military, judiciary, and major governmental policies.
Iran’s leadership is uncertain following the death of the country’s long-time Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in late February during a series of coordinated airstrikes by the US and Israel against Iranian military and government facilities.
The attacks were part of a larger military campaign started amid rising concerns over Iran’s regional activities and nuclear program.
The strikes, which allegedly targeted multiple critical sites in Tehran and other areas, sparked a wider crisis in the Middle East.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Israeli and US-linked targets across the area, heightening the prospect of a larger regional conflict and impeding petroleum exports via the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Khamenei, who had controlled Iran since 1989, has not openly announced a successor before his death.
His assassination created a political vacuum in Tehran, sparking conjecture about who would rule the country next as the crisis continued.
