'Have to be involved in appointment of next Iranian leader': Trump calls Khamenei's son Mojtaba 'unacceptable', 'lightweight'

President Donald Trump said he must be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader following the killing of Ali Khamenei, telling Axios that the likely successor, Khamenei’s son, would be “unacceptable.”

President Trump revealed this exclusively in an eight-minute phone call, his second conversation with Axios to explain his war planning.


Trump said Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was the most likely successor, but he said he found that outcome unacceptable.

For several days, the Iranian regime postponed the announcement of the new supreme leader, but statements by Iranian politicians on Thursday suggested an announcement could be imminent.

"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 refused to accept a new Iranian leader who would continue Khamenei's policies, which he said would force the US 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.

Trump's comments came as the US carried out a large military campaign he launched on Saturday, and as US officials denied that the goal of the operation was "regime change", saying instead that it focused on degrading Iran's missile capabilities, nuclear programme and Navy.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other US officials denied that the goal of the operation was "regime change," focusing instead on degrading Iran's missile capabilities, nuclear program and Navy.

Asked Tuesday who could replace Khamenei, Trump told reporters at the White House: "Most of the people we had in mind are dead."

Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the assassinated supreme leader, emerged as the frontrunner to succeed his father, though no formal announcement was made. A hardline cleric with deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Khamenei never held public office.

Israel bombed the Iranian building in Qom housing the clerical body responsible for selecting Iran's next supreme leader on Tuesday, seeking to disrupt the vote-counting.

Trump compared the Iran succession to his intervention in Venezuela, where vice president Delcy Rodriguez took over after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January.

In his State of the Union address, Trump called Venezuela "our new friend and partner" and said the US received more than 80 million barrels of oil since the Maduro operation.

Trump praised Rodriguez on Wednesday, saying "the oil is beginning to flow", after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited Caracas and Rodriguez announced plans to reform the country's mining laws.
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