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President Donald Trump will likely be involved in handpicking the next leader of Iran, leaning toward a repeat of his influence in the aftermath of U.S. Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela.
The president told Axios this week during a phone interview that the son of now-terminated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was not the man for the job. “They are wasting their time,” he told the outlet. “Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”
Rodriguez has been cooperative thus far with the United States following the U.S. military’s arrest of Nicolas Maduro. The country has remained stable so far and avoided falling into the typical chaos that often follows a leader’s removal or death.
In Iran, as Operation Epic Fury continues against the state sponsor of terrorism, the president seems to be looking toward a similar model.
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me,” President Trump told Axios. “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Earlier this week, during a press conference in the Oval Office, the president noted that as far as potential Iranian leaders, “most of the people we had in mind are dead.”
He continued, “We had some in mind from that group that is dead, and now we have another group – they may be dead also, based on reports. So I guess you have a third wave coming in; pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”
Operation Epic Fury has so far destroyed the majority of the Iranian navy, sending 11 of its ships to the bottom of the sea. At least 49 top leaders in Iran have been terminated, the president also confirmed this week.
The operation was launched quickly based on assessments that Iran may have posed an imminent threat to the United States. “You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first,” the president explained on Tuesday. “If we didn’t do, and we have great negotiators, great people, who do this very successfully…based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen.”
