Trump says he has a candidate to replace Iran's new supreme leader, declines to elaborate
- Middle East
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 11:53 | 09 March 2026
- Modified Date: 11:57 | 09 March 2026
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he has someone in mind to replace Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, without providing any details.
"I have no message for him. None, whatsoever," he told CBS News.
Trump has been openly critical of Khamenei's appointment since it was announced over the weekend, calling it "a big mistake" and saying he doubted it would last.
He earlier warned that any Iranian leader who failed to gain Washington's approval "would not last long," and The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Trump had privately told aides he would support killing Khamenei if he refuses to meet US demands, including dismantling Iran's nuclear program.
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, became Iran's third supreme leader since the 1979 revolution after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the opening wave of the US-Israeli joint attacks on Feb. 28.