US President Donald Trump has once again promised to exert influence over the selection of Iran's next Supreme Leader, stating that without Washington's approval, whoever is chosen for the role "is not going to last long." This statement came on Sunday, just hours after a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts said the clerical body had selected a replacement for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed following the US and Israeli initiation of war with Iran on February 28.
Trump told ABC News in an interview: "He's going to have to get approval from us. If he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long." He added that he didn't want future administrations to "have to go back" in the years ahead, an apparent reference to potential future military action. Trump also 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."
Iranian officials, however, have repeatedly rejected the notion of Washington asserting influence over the selection. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi reiterated on Sunday: "We will allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs." He emphasized: "This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader," noting that Iranians had elected the Assembly of Experts, which will select the next supreme leader.
Trump's comments came shortly before the Pentagon confirmed the death of a seventh US soldier since the war began. US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that the unidentified soldier had been wounded "at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1" and died on Saturday. The death toll in Iran has risen to 1,332, with at least 11 killed across the Gulf region and 11 killed in Israel.
As fighting escalates, the US and Israel struck oil storage and refining facilities in Tehran for the first time, while Iran launched further strikes across the Gulf, including a drone attack that caused material damage to a desalination plant in Bahrain. According to reports from Bloomberg and Axios, the US and Israel are considering a special ground operation to seize Iran's enriched uranium.
Source: www.aljazeera.com