8.3.2026
As Iran prepare to name a new Ayatollah, US President Donald Trump warned that that will not happen if he does not approve who becomes the Iranian Supreme Leader
Trump said on Sunday that the new leader would be ousted.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” Trump told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long.”
He framed the remarks in strategic terms, saying he did not want the United States to be forced into another conflict with Iran in the future.
“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,” Trump said.
Iranian officials rejected the comments.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier that selecting the country’s next leader was “only the business of the Iranian people,” rejecting any foreign interference.
Senior cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda said the Assembly of Experts had already voted on a successor to Ali Khamenei but did not disclose a name.
US and Israel stepped up their military assault on Iran on Sunday hiting military targets and vital energy infrastructure.
There was no sign of an offramp for the fighting. Water desalination plants came under attack in Iran and on the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain over the weekend and increased attacks on facilities that serve civilians threatened to affect the lives of millions of people across the Middle East.
Tehran under continuous bombardment.