President Donald Trump told Axios in an interview Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader. In response to reports that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, is the likely successor, Trump made it clear that he finds that outcome unacceptable. “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela,” Trump said. He added that he refuses to accept a new Iranian leader who would continue Khamenei’s policies, which he said would force the U.S. back to war “in five years.”
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said. Asked Tuesday who could replace Khamenei, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Most of the people we had in mind are dead.”
Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with NBC, dismissed Trump’s notion of picking the next Supreme Leader. “That is absolutely the business of Iranian people, and nobody can interfere,” he said.
