4 minutes of readingNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 2, 2026 11:43 pm IST
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the White House did not know who might succeed the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iran’s new leader.
In an interview with cnnTrump said: “We don’t know what the succession plan is in Iran or who the new leader will be.” This comes as the conflict in the Middle East enters its third day after coordinated attacks between the United States and Israel killed Khamenei and senior figures in the military and state apparatus.
Even though Trump hinted that his administration doesn’t have a clear idea of who will take care of things until the end (or until negotiations resume), his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, made it clear that the administration is determined to press ahead with the offensive.
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In a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth reiterated the administrator’s commitment to continuing the conflict “surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically,” adding that it will only end under ‘America First’ conditions. “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump we are ending it,” he said.
After the initial attack on the Islamic Republic, the American president had pressured the Iranian public to change the regime, calling on them to “take control of their destiny” by rising up against the rulers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a similar call on Monday, adding that Tel Aviv “will create the conditions for the brave people of Iran to liberate themselves.”
Before his assassination, Khamenei had already named four levels of successors to military and government roles.
In Saturday’s attacks, Trump in a fox news The interview said that 48 regime leaders “disappeared with a single shot.”
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Trump does not rule out “American boots on the ground”
Trump said he has not ruled out having US personnel directly involved in the conflict on Iranian soil.
“I have no problem with troops on the ground, as every president says, ‘There will be no troops on the ground.’ I’m not saying that,” Trump told the New York Post on Mondays.
“I say ‘you probably don’t need them’ (or) ‘if they were necessary’.”
The succession scenario
On Monday, Iran named Ayatollah Arafi, a close aide to Khamenei, as part of the Leadership Council to temporarily run the country. Arafi currently serves as vice president of the Assembly of Experts, the body that appoints the Supreme Leader. Ali Larijani, the country’s top national security official and former IRGC commander, has been effectively running the country, reportedly sidelining President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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After Saturday’s strikes killed Khamenei, the Islamic Republic launched retaliatory drone and missile strikes against Washington’s allies in the Middle East (the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar), all of which host US military bases.
Four American deaths have been reported so far at a US base in Kuwait.
The main agenda
Washington’s main goal has been to ensure that the Islamic Republic does not build a nuclear weapon. The attacks began a day after negotiations between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear enrichment program reportedly collapsed in Geneva.
The United States had crippled the program last June with a bombing campaign after it attacked three key enrichment sites. It has been a cause of concern for Israel and a point of contention with the West for decades. Saudi officials have said they will acquire nuclear weapons if Tehran does so.
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Hegseth said Iran was stalling negotiations and using them to “reset its nuclear ambitions.” “They were dragging their feet, buying time to reload their missile arsenals and restart their nuclear ambitions,” he added.
