President of the United States, Donald Trump, has warned that whoever emerges as the next supreme leader of Iran may struggle to remain in power without the approval of Washington.
Trump made the comment during a Sunday interview with ABC News as the Islamic Republic moves closer to announcing a successor to its late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was reportedly killed last Saturday in strikes carried out by the United States in collaboration with Israel.
Addressing the issue of Iran’s leadership succession, Trump suggested that the next supreme leader would need acceptance from the US to remain in office.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump said.
“If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. 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.
“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon.”
Reports indicate that the council responsible for selecting Iran’s supreme leader has already conducted a vote and may soon announce the chosen candidate.
When asked whether he would consider approving a successor linked to the previous political structure, Trump indicated that such an option remained possible if the individual met the criteria.
“I would, in order to choose a good leader, I would, yeah, I would. There are numerous people that could qualify,” he said.
The US president has on several occasions expressed interest in having a role in the process of determining Iran’s next leader.
However, officials in Tehran have rejected the suggestion.
Last week, the Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mahdavi Raja, dismissed Trump’s ambition as a “joke.”
