Donald Trump slams Iran’s ‘new Supreme Leader’ as ‘light-weight’ and calls for he chooses

Donald Trump has said he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader – and has ripped into the man expected to be chosen.

Trump made it clear that he found it unacceptable that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, would be the next supreme leader.

“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela,” Trump told Axios.

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Trump’s outburst comes after Iranian officials suggested they were “close” to announcing Khamenei’s successor. His son, Mojtaba, is widely thought to be among the frontrunners.

The president made clear that he would not accept a new Iranian leader who would continue Khamenei’s policies, which he said would force the US back to war “in five years,” in a call to American news website Axios.

“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said.

The statement indicates Trump wants the US to have an extraordinary amount of political power over Iran in future, as the objectives of the massive US-Israeli assault remain unclear. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other U.S. officials have denied that the goal of the operation is “regime change,” focusing instead on degrading Iran’s missile capabilities, nuclear program and Navy.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the late Ayatollah’s second-oldest son, is 56 years old. Iran’s leading figures are reportedly preparing to name him as the next Supreme Leader of the faltering nation.

The new Khamenei was chosen as the top candidate following meetings between the 88 senior clerics that steer the future of Iran. They made the decision under mounting pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Middle East Institute said in 2022 that: “The concept of a hereditary supreme leader would also go against Shia Islamic convention, with blood lineage for the mantle being exclusively reserved for the 12 divinely ordained Shia imams.”

Donald Trump previously said the regime had slim pickings for a new leader as many of the top candidates had been killed. He added: “I guess the worst case would be we do this and somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person. We don’t want that to happen.”

The US President continued, stating he wanted “someone from within” Iran’s government to take power once the bombing campaign began.

Asked on Tuesday who could replace Khamenei, Trump told reporters at the White House: “Most of the people we had in mind are dead.”