US President Donald Trump has said he believes Washington should play a role in selecting Iran’s next supreme leader, as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran continues to widen across the Middle East.

Speaking to Axios on Thursday, Trump dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei—widely seen as a leading contender to replace his father, Ali Khamenei—as “a lightweight”.

“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said.

Khamenei, Iran’s long-time supreme leader, was killed during the opening wave of US-Israeli strikes earlier in the conflict. Trump suggested the US should help shape the leadership transition, comparing the situation to Washington’s intervention in Venezuela.

“I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela,” he said, referencing the rise of Delcy Rodríguez following a US operation that captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Trump’s comments are likely to fuel debate over whether the US and Israel are seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic entirely or simply force major changes in Tehran’s policies.

War widens across Middle East

The conflict has intensified steadily since the opening strikes, spreading instability across at least 14 countries in the region.

Iran has launched missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, US military bases and several American-allied Gulf states. The fighting has also disrupted oil shipments and global air travel.

According to officials in the region, the conflict has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel. Six US troops have also been reported killed.

Meanwhile, Israel has continued airstrikes targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure. Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said Israeli forces had destroyed about 80% of Iran’s air-defence systems and roughly 60% of its missile launchers.

Despite those losses, Zamir warned that the threat remains.

“The threat has not yet been removed,” he said.

Iranian response remains defiant

Iranian officials have rejected suggestions that Tehran is seeking negotiations with Washington.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran saw no reason to engage in talks with the US after what he described as repeated attacks during previous diplomatic efforts.

“When we negotiated with them twice, every time they attacked us in the middle of negotiations,” he told NBC News.

Araghchi also accused the US Navy of committing “an atrocity at sea” after the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was sunk in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka. Iranian officials say at least 87 crew members were killed when the vessel was torpedoed while returning from naval exercises.

Sri Lankan authorities said 32 sailors were rescued. Another Iranian warship was later escorted to a naval base near Colombo.

Iranian rhetoric has also intensified. Senior cleric Abdollah Javadi Amoli called on state television for the shedding of both Israeli and “Trump’s blood”, an unusually direct call for violence from a senior ayatollah.

Regional tensions escalate

The conflict is increasingly drawing in neighbouring countries and allied groups.

Israel issued evacuation warnings for residents in southern Beirut before launching strikes on areas believed to be controlled by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. Lebanese officials say more than 120 people have died since the latest escalation began.

UN peacekeepers reported seeing and hearing ground combat in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces crossed the border.

Elsewhere in the region, several Gulf countries reported missile or drone attacks. Kuwait activated air-defence systems near the US embassy, while a drone was shot down close to the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, where US forces are stationed.

Authorities in Bahrain said an Iranian missile struck a state-run oil refinery, causing a fire that was later extinguished without casualties.

In Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack near an airport in the Nakhchivan region, injuring four airport workers. Tehran denied responsibility.

Global impact grows

Shipping routes have also been affected, with attacks reported on vessels in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz—a critical energy corridor through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

The disruption has already pushed global oil prices higher and weighed on US stock markets.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities said major religious sites in Jerusalem’s Old City—including the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—would close temporarily after air-raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem amid continued missile threats.

With hostilities showing no sign of easing, officials across the region warn the conflict could expand further in the coming days.

Join the discussion?

Already a member?

  Adapted by ASEAN Now · Source · 05.03 2026

View full article

Seems fair enough, no point getting another terrorist leader who hates the non muslim west

The arrogance is staggering. A country of 91 million people with over 5,000 years of history being told by a foreign government that it should help choose their next leader is extraordinary even by Washington standards.

The last time the U.S. interfered so directly in Iran’s leadership was the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, when the CIA helped overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh and reinstall the Shah.

That intervention destabilised Iran for decades and ultimately helped pave the way for the Iranian Revolution.

Now Trump is talking about the U.S. having a role in choosing Iran’s next leader.

For a country that constantly lectures others about sovereignty and democracy, suggesting that Washington should decide who leads another nation is breathtakingly hypocritical.

Whatever one thinks of Iran’s government, choosing its leader is the business of Iranians, not some rogue administration in Washington.

Jared?

Barron?

Don, Jr.?

40 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Jared?

Barron?

Don, Jr.?

Or anyone donating him a jet, buying a ton of his coins, series of his watches, building him a tower or golf course, promising a trillion dollar investment, or just giving him 10 digits in cash directly...?

He can't even pick the right people in his own government.

2 minutes ago, FlorC said:

He can't even pick the right people in his own government.

He follows the dictator's playbook, he chooses loyalty over ability (a pretty face, male or female helps).

6 minutes ago, FlorC said:

He can't even pick the right people in his own government.

He always wants to be the smartest man in the room. This obviously limits his choices...

I hear Kristi Noem is available

2 hours ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said.

Or we will come back and bomb them into harmony and peace again.

Netanyahu would be his obvious choice.

This is so strange it’s almost funny you know when they invaded Venezuela and they kidnap the head of the government who is the dictator and who do they live in his place the vice president who she’s also a dictator Trump does not think about any of these plans look at all the air countries that have gotten bombed and injured the price of everything’s gonna go up but Trump doesn’t carry a billionaire TIT

1 hour ago, FlorC said:

He can't even pick the right people in his own government.

Bingo + a bit premature ehh?the trust fund baby thinks he’s ruling the cradle of civilization now!!so nope our Donnie certainly has supercharged the jihadist no doubt about that so naaa a bit premature in my view.

Of course he does not seem to remember last time they meddled?

Just another stunning bit of ignorance uttered by a man who could not even pick decent appointments for his own cabinet. He always picks from the bottom of the barrel so it's kind of a frightening thought that he would be involved in the choice of a leader for Iran.

Hopefully the Iranian people will be able to self-determine a new leader, if they're able to get rid of the Republican guards and the other extremist elements within the intelligence forces in the police.

Can’t believe the negativity on here. Just look at the intellectual giants this guy has brought into his administration.

Trump can play at role in choosing the next Ayatollah after he is circumcised to purify him.

The clown could not even run a casino ,so what show has the village idiot have of running a country.

3 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

He follows the dictator's playbook, he chooses loyalty over ability (a pretty face, male or female helps).

Although, it appears Noem is out.

Still sees himself as "the boss" on The Apprentice deciding hiring or firing. A legend ... in his own mind.

6 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

The arrogance is staggering. A country of 91 million people with over 5,000 years of history being told by a foreign government that it should help choose their next leader is extraordinary even by Washington standards.

The last time the U.S. interfered so directly in Iran’s leadership was the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, when the CIA helped overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh and reinstall the Shah.

That intervention destabilised Iran for decades and ultimately helped pave the way for the Iranian Revolution.

Now Trump is talking about the U.S. having a role in choosing Iran’s next leader.

For a country that constantly lectures others about sovereignty and democracy, suggesting that Washington should decide who leads another nation is breathtakingly hypocritical.

Whatever one thinks of Iran’s government, choosing its leader is the business of Iranians, not some rogue administration in Washington.

Excellent post, with a perceptive comparison to the events of 1953.

Surely this is another example of the old Karl Marx chestnut: "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce".

Trump selecting a leader of Iran would certainly qualify as a combination of the two - with an emphasis on farce.

The obvious way to do it is to make it a Game Show, produced by Mark Burnett and starring Donny Trump as the Inquisator General.

Who Wants to be the Ayatollah!

Imagine the ratings!

There could be a group of celebrity candidates, like Kid Rock, Laura Loomer, Megyn Kelly, John Voight, Nikki Minaj, Nick Fuentes, Kanye West, Mike Lindell, Jesse Watters, and maybe Sam Altman.

That could be Trumps next gig. Supreme Leader of Iran. He has my vote - anything to get rid of him.

33 minutes ago, Suetape said:

That could be Trumps next gig. Supreme Leader of Iran. He has my vote - anything to get rid of him.

Have the poor long suffering Iranians nor suffered enough without being subjected to an even worse fate in being threatened to be ruled by that deranged orange blob!

12 hours ago, giddyup said:

Netanyahu would be his obvious choice.

Seriously, the Likudniks would love to control, but behind the scenes.

9 hours ago, wwest5829 said:

Although, it appears Noem is out.

Apparently she was promoting herself in ads with taxpayers money. She had her own agenda, not Trump's agenda, so she was fired!!!

Of course America (with Israel) will put the new puppet in office in Iran.

Far to much oil reserves in Iran, to leave the issue unattended !! 🤑

14 hours ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said

Whatever happened to "We the People"?

14 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

The arrogance is staggering. A country of 91 million people with over 5,000 years of history being told by a foreign government that it should help choose their next leader is extraordinary even by Washington standards.

The last time the U.S. interfered so directly in Iran’s leadership was the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, when the CIA helped overthrow Mohammad Mosaddegh and reinstall the Shah.

Come on give some credit to to the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat

"On 19 August 1953, Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh was overthrown in a coup d'état that strengthened the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. It was instigated by the United Kingdom (MI6), under the name Operation Boot and the United States (CIA), under the name TP-AJAX Project^[9] or Operation Ajax. A key motive was to protect British oil interests in Iran after Mosaddegh nationalized the country's oil industry.

4 hours ago, Suetape said:

That could be Trumps next gig. Supreme Leader of Iran. He has my vote - anything to get rid of him.

Supreme leader of the USA, Venezuela, Iran, Canada, Panama and Greenland.