By Ginika Igboke
U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran’s next leader will not remain in power for long if the individual is not approved by the United States.
“If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News on March 8.
“We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” he added.
Trump’s remarks came after members of Iran’s leadership council indicated that they had reached a majority consensus on the country’s next leader. According to Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohammad Mahdi Mirbagheri, the panel met on March 7 to select a successor to Ali Khamenei, who was killed when the United States and Israel launched strikes in Iran on Feb. 28.
The clerical body responsible for choosing the new leader, the Assembly of Experts, had planned to take one day to make the decision, though reports said some obstacles remained before the name could be announced.
Iranian state media reported that the panel disagreed over whether members should meet in person to finalize the decision before revealing the new leader. Last week, the Assembly of Experts building in Qom, Iran, was struck during an Israeli airstrike.
Media outlets in Iran reported that the new leader may not be formally announced until after Khamenei’s funeral.
One member of the panel, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, warned that an in-person meeting could expose the group to further attacks and would benefit Iran’s enemies.
“This is an extraordinary situation; the assembly cannot meet in a plenary,” Alekasir said.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, confirmed on March 8 that an interim leadership council is currently overseeing the government until the new supreme leader is chosen.
“A new supreme leader is going to be elected soon by the Assembly of Experts,” Araghchi said during an appearance on Meet the Press.
Araghchi declined to confirm whether Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, would be selected as the next leader, despite speculation that he could take the position.
“Nobody knows,” Araghchi said. “There are lots of rumors around, but we have to wait for the Assembly of Experts to convene and vote for the supreme leader and the one who is elected by them.”
Israeli security sources said Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the bunker of his father during the early stages of the conflict.
If chosen, analysts say the younger Khamenei would likely continue his father’s policies. He is also believed to have strong ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and influence among Iranian clerics.
Araghchi declined to say whether he supports Mojtaba Khamenei as the next leader but stressed that foreign governments should not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs.
“We allow nobody to interfere with our domestic affairs,” Araghchi said.
Trump, however, has insisted that the United States should have a role in determining Iran’s next leadership and previously dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei as a possible successor.
“They are wasting their time,” Trump told Axios last week. “[Ali] Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy Rodríguez in Venezuela.”
Trump has also said that several potential leaders his administration might have preferred are already dead, as dozens of commanders have been killed since the conflict began more than a week ago.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces launched a major overnight attack on Iran, striking fuel depots near Tehran. On March 8, the Israeli military said it had hit more than 400 military infrastructure targets, including ballistic missile launchers and weapons production facilities.
Original article
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