Donald Trump says he wants to be involved in choosing the next supreme leader of Iran, reiterating his goal of giving rise to a new leadership that is friendly to the United States within the Iranian ruling system.
The US president voiced opposition on Thursday to appointing the son of the assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba, to replace his slain father
“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment,” Trump told Axios.
He added that he would prefer to have a leader similar to Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who succeeded Nicolas Maduro after he was abducted by US forces in January.
Despite previously serving as Maduro’s vice president, Rodriguez has allowed Washington to sell Venezuela’s oil and cut off petroleum supplies to Cuba under the threat of further US strikes.
Trump has repeatedly said he would like to find an Iranian Rodriguez.
“Venezuela was so incredible because we did the attack, and we kept government totally intact. And we have Delcy, who’s been very good,” he told reporters earlier this week.
However, there are major differences between Iran and Venezuela. While the abduction of Maduro was a swift and limited military operation, the Iranian government is currently engaged in an expanding war with the US and Israel.
The Iranian supreme leader must also be a qualified religious scholar.
Iranian officials have denied any negotiations with the US, and Trump’s aides have said that Washington is raining “death and destruction” on Iran.
It is not clear how Trump could be involved in the selection process amid the hostilities.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute, said Trump is seeking Iranian surrender.
“He is fine with a symbolic figure taking over Iran as long as this person pursues Trump’s policy preferences, just as Delcy has done,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.
He added that Trump does not want anyone succeeding Khamenei “who isn’t willing to submit to Trump’s policy demands”.
“It does not appear that he will find that person from within the existing Iranian system,” Parsi said.
Trump’s emphasis on the Venezuelan model in recent days appears to contradict his initial call for “freedom” in Iran, including urging the people to rise up against their government.
The US president has not ruled out deploying US troops on the ground inside Iran.
Trump had said previously that he had people in mind to take over Khamenei, but they were killed in the opening US-Israeli strikes.
However, the leading figures seen as possible successors to Khamenei, who was 86, including his son Mojtaba, Hassan Khomeini – the grandson of the leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution Ruhollah Khomeini – and prominent cleric Alireza Arafi, are still alive.
Khamenei’s successor will be selected by an elected council of 88 members known as the Assembly of Experts.
Earlier this week, Israel targeted the Assembly of Experts building in the holy city of Qom.
Some Israeli and US media reports claimed that the council was meeting for the supreme leader selection during the attack, but Iran denied the claims, saying that the building was empty, and that the date for selecting the new leader had not been set
