United States President Donald Trump has said he must be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader following the death of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Trump made the remark in an interview with Axios on Thursday, where he dismissed the possibility 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,” Trump said.
The US president also stated that Washington would not support any successor who continues the policies of the late Iranian leader.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” he added.
Trump warned that installing a leader who follows the same political path as the late Supreme Leader could push the United States back into conflict with Iran within the next five years.
Mojtaba Khamenei, a cleric believed to have close ties with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards, is widely viewed as one of the possible successors, although Iranian authorities have yet to officially announce a new leader.
The leadership crisis follows the death of Ali Khamenei, who was killed in late February during a wave of joint United States and Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian military and government facilities in Tehran and other locations.
The strikes were part of a broader military campaign launched amid escalating tensions over Iran’s regional activities and nuclear programme. The attacks triggered a wider conflict across the Middle East, with Iran responding through missile and drone strikes on Israeli and US-linked targets in the region.
Khamenei, who ruled Iran since 1989, had not publicly named a successor before his death, leaving a major power vacuum in Tehran as the country prepares to choose a new Supreme Leader.
Iran’s Supreme Leader is the nation’s highest political and religious authority, exercising significant control over the armed forces, judiciary and key state policies.
