White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the United States is looking at potential candidates to lead Iran after President Donald Trump pushed Tehran to cease its resistance.
“I know there are a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at, but I won’t go any further than that,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House on March 6, as the conflict was about to enter its second week.
The comments came after Trump said the US wants to be involved in choosing Iran’s next leader following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28.
Trump ruled out Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei — a hardliner who has been considered a favorite to succeed his father — as a successor.
As Washington has been pushing Iranian leaders to renounce Tehran’s development of nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Trump suggested that the only acceptable outcome would be “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” and “the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE leader(s).”
“What the President means is that when he, as Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America, and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or not,” Leavitt said.
“Frankly, they don’t have a lot of people to say that for them,” she added, saying the Untied States and Israel killed at least 50 leaders of the Iranian regime since the beginning of its military campaign a week ago.
In a fact sheet published later on March 6, the US military said it has struck over 3,000 Iranian targets, including Tehran’s command-and-control centers, air defense systems, missile sites, ships, and submarines.
Now, Washington expects its achievable objectives in Iran to be completed in four to six weeks, Leavitt said, adding that the United States is well on its way toward controlling Iranian airspace.
