As Iran moves closer to naming a new supreme leader, Donald Trump is making clear he expects a say in who takes power.
According to the New York Post, the president issued a blunt warning Sunday, saying the next leader of Iran will struggle to remain in power without approval from Washington.
“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.”
The remarks come as Iran’s clerical body responsible for choosing the country’s supreme leader, the Assembly of Experts, is believed to have selected a successor to Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was killed during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury, following an Israeli airstrike in Tehran.
Trump said his goal is to ensure the region does not face repeated crises tied to Iran’s leadership or nuclear ambitions.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
While the president indicated he might consider supporting a figure linked to Iran’s existing leadership structure, he has been sharply critical of one potential candidate.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain leader, calling him “unacceptable” and “a lightweight.”
Mojtaba, 56, has been widely discussed as a possible successor. He was once described in U.S. diplomatic cables as “the power behind the robes” and has faced accusations of interfering in elections to help ensure conservative allies of his father gained power.
Reports have also suggested that Mojtaba may have been injured during early strikes in the conflict due to his close ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Despite those reports, the Iranian leadership has not publicly confirmed the identity of the next supreme leader as the country navigates the aftermath of Khamenei’s death and the escalating regional conflict.
