Trump says “I have to be involved” in picking Iran’s next leader, calls Khamenei’s son “unacceptable”

In a new interview with Axios, President Trump said he must be involved in selecting the next leader of Iran, and said the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an “unacceptable” choice.

Mr. Trump said Iranian officials who are working on selecting the next supreme leader are “wasting their time.”

“Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the interim president of Venezuela who took power after the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro.

Axios said the president recognized that Mojtaba Khamenei, the late supreme leader’s son, is the most likely to succeed him. But he told the outlet that “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me.”

“We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Mr. Trump said.

Iran’s 88-member Assembly of Experts is responsible for choosing the next supreme leader under the country’s constitution. One member said on state TV on Wednesday that the group was close to making a selection.

Earlier this week, Mr. Trump said the worst-case scenario in Iran would be if the next leader is just as bad as the leadership the U.S. took out.

“I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right?” he said. “That could happen. We don’t want that to happen. That would probably be the worst.”