US President Donald Trump has publicly reflected on the leadership he wants from Iran following the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei.
During an appearance in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, a reporter asked Trump what plans he had for a “worst-case scenario” in Iran as the United States and Israel continue their war against Iran.
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President Trump said he had little to worry about from a military perspective, but expressed concern about the possibility of replacing Khamenei with another leader unfriendly to U.S. priorities.
“The worst case scenario would be that we do this and someone replaces us who is just as bad as his predecessor. That could happen. We don’t want that to happen,” Trump said.
“That’s probably the worst thing you can do. You’ll go through something like this and realize in five years that you didn’t hire someone better than you.”
Change in rationale
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on February 28, and Iran retaliated with a barrage of attacks, primarily targeting Israel and U.S. military bases across the Middle East.
The death toll in Iran has reached at least 787. Injuries and deaths were also reported across the region. At least six U.S. military personnel were killed in the battle.
Experts have condemned the attack as a violation of international law, but the Trump administration has offered a variety of justifications for the attack.
One of the grounds that Mr. Trump himself presented was the removal of Ayatollah Khamenei’s government.
In a prerecorded statement released over the weekend, President Trump said the U.S. military action was aimed at “eliminating the imminent threat from the Iranian regime.”
He added that he aimed to “stop this very evil, radical dictatorship from threatening America” and called on Iranian opposition politicians to “take over the government.”
But other administration officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, sought to downplay regime change as a motive for the ongoing attacks.
“This is not a so-called regime change war,” Hegseth told reporters on Monday. “But the regime has certainly changed and the world has become better.”
Is Venezuela a model for Iran?
Still, in his remarks Tuesday, President Trump signaled a vision for Iran’s future that reflects the results of its recent military intervention in Venezuela.
On January 3, President Trump authorized a military attack on the South American country that culminated in the abduction of then-President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple are currently in New York awaiting trial on charges related to drug trafficking.
After Maduro’s ouster, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez became Venezuela’s interim leader with support from the Trump administration.
Since then, the Rodriguez government has largely complied with U.S. demands, including handing over millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil.
Meanwhile, President Trump warned that if Rodriguez “does not do the right thing” he “could pay a very high price, perhaps even more than President Maduro.”
But on Tuesday, President Trump reiterated that the Rodriguez administration was cooperative and said he was satisfied with the outcome of January’s attack on Venezuela. He suggested that this could also be a model for Iran’s future.
“Venezuela was really great because we attacked and kept the government completely intact. And we have a very good Delcy. We have the whole chain of command,” Trump said.
He also stressed that he wants to extract economic benefits from the United States’ continued control of Venezuelan oil. He called the process “seamless.”
“The relationship is great. We’ve already taken out 100 million barrels of oil. Most of it goes to them and most of it goes to us,” Trump said.
“It’s great. We’ve paid for many wars and we’re going to continue to run oil. And Venezuela is going to make more money than it has ever made before.”
Barriers to President Trump’s vision
However, President Trump has suggested that there are hurdles to achieving Venezuela-style regime change in Iran.
President Trump suggested that the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran killed many of the alternative leaders he hoped would rise to power.
“Most of the people we had in mind are gone,” Trump said. “We had in mind some of the people in the group who died, and now we have another group. Reports suggest they may have died as well.”
He added that there are fewer options to replace Khamenei. “Soon, none of us will know.”
Still, Trump has repeatedly expressed ambiguity about the leadership prospects of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah who defected during the 1979 revolution.
Pahlavi, 65, has put himself forward as a candidate to lead Iran on an interim basis, aiming to restore democracy.
But critics say Mr. Pahlavi is a divisive figure. His father oversaw human rights abuses during his reign as a monarch, and Pahlavi himself has been accused of attacking fellow dissidents and failing to build a coalition government.
Asked whether Pahlavi could be a possible alternative leadership candidate, Trump demurred.
“I think so. Some people like him,” Trump said, before adding, “We don’t really think about that. I think someone from within would probably be a better fit.”
President Trump explained that he prefers a moderate, “if there is such a person, someone who is popular right now.” Still, he lightly praised Mr. Pahlavi, repeating comments he had made earlier about the shah’s son.
“He seems like a very nice person,” President Trump said of Pahlavi.
