U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 1 that the U.S.–Israeli military operation against the Iranian regime could last up to five weeks and shared his views about how the country’s future leadership might be after the deaths of Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran retaliated with a series of attacks on Israel and its neighboring Gulf nations, targeting U.S. and Israeli military bases in the region.
Trump offered some possible outcomes on the leadership in Iran but stopped short of giving a direct answer on whether he expects regime change.
“I don’t make a commitment one way or the other; it’s too early,” the president said. “We have work to do and we’ve done it very well. I’d say we’re quite ahead of schedule.”
He said it is be up to the Iranian people to overthrow the current regime, which he has previously encouraged.
“That’s going to be up to them about whether or not they do,” he said. “They’ve been talking about it for years so now they’ll obviously have an opportunity.”
Another possibility, he said, could be similar to what happened in Venezuela after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a Jan. 3 operation to face criminal charges in the United States.
Following Maduro’s ouster, the Venezuelan Supreme Court appointed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim leader. Rodríguez signaled a willingness to cooperate with the U.S. government.
“What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect scenario,” Trump told the news outlet.
When asked about who he would like to see lead Iran, Trump suggested he has some candidates in mind but declined to name them.
“I have three very good choices,” the president said. “I won’t be revealing them now. Let’s get the job done first.”
Trump also said the United States could consider lifting sanctions on Iran if its new leadership shows a practical willingness to work pragmatically with the U.S. government.
“They trust me as a transitional leader; not as the future king or future president or future whatever. I’m totally focused on my mission in life, which is, let me bring the country to a point that they can make that free choice. That would be enough for me having said mission accomplished,” he said.
Pahlavi is the son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the monarchist leader of Iran who was ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tom Ozimek and Jacob Burg contributed to this report.
