The United States is moving toward controlling Iranian airspace, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Friday, adding that Washington expects the achievable U.S. objectives to be completed within four to six weeks.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt said Washington was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview that the United States should be involved in choosing Iran’s next leader.
“I know there are a number of people who are being watched by our intelligence agencies and the United States government, but I don’t get too much into that,” Leavitt said.
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In an interview Thursday, Trump said he thinks it unlikely that Iran’s next leader will be the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has emerged as the front-runner to succeed his father, who was killed in a military strike at the start of the war.
Earlier on Friday, Trump said he would not make any deal with Iran other than “unconditional surrender”.
“What the president means is that, as commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, when Iran determines that it no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury are fully realized, Iran will essentially be in a position of unconditional surrender, whether they say so themselves or not,” Leavitt said.
(tags to translate)Iran(T)Donald Trump(T)Carolyn Leavitt(T)US News(T)World
