President Trump Says He Should Help Pick Iran's Next Leader

President Trump said he wants the United States to play a direct role in selecting Iran's next leader, telling Reuters, "We're going to have to choose that person along with Iran. We're going to have to choose that person."

“Trump wants to help pick Iran's next leader as the war stretches into Day 6 The war with Iran continued to widen Thursday, as Azerbaijan said it was struck by Iranian drones while U”

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He framed the effort as similar to the U.S. role in Venezuela, saying he must be "involved in the appointment, like with Delcy in Venezuela,"

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and said he wants "somebody that's going to be great for the people, great for the country."

Trump explicitly rejected Mojtaba Khamenei, named in the reporting as a potential successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying "Khamenei's son is a lightweight" and that the choice would be a "waste" of time.

He also told Axios and Reuters that many of the candidates he and his team had favored to succeed the late supreme leader had already been killed in the conflict,

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and he urged Iranian regime figures to surrender in exchange for immunity, saying, "You're going to have a chance after all these years, take back your country, accept immunity" and "We'll give you immunity."

The remarks come amid a rapidly widening war that the article says has seen Azerbaijani officials report strikes by Iranian drones and U.S. and Israeli forces strike more targets inside Iran.

“Trump wants to help pick Iran's next leader as the war stretches into Day 6 The war with Iran continued to widen Thursday, as Azerbaijan said it was struck by Iranian drones while U”

NPR

NPR reported heavy Iranian casualties, citing the Iranian Health Ministry: "more than 920 people in Iran have been killed, according to the Iranian Health Ministry, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than 160 people in a strike on a girls' school."

Officials in Washington also took precautionary steps as the conflict spread: the State Department said it was stopping operations at its embassy in Kuwait City and issued a Level 3 travel advisory for the country,

noting "the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State" even as it said there were no reported injuries to U.S. personnel.

NPR

Trump made his comments across interviews with Reuters and Axios and delivered parts of them publicly at a White House event, using the platform to press Iran's leaders to surrender under his terms.