Trump says he ‘must be involved’ in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader | Donald Trump news

Analysts say the US president will not find an Iranian Delsey Rodriguez out of the existing Islamic Republic system.

Donald Trump says he wants to be involved in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader, reiterating his goal to instill new leadership friendly to the United States within the Iranian regime.

The US president on Thursday expressed opposition to appointing Mojtaba, the son of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to replace his slain father.

“They’re wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is light. I have to get involved in recruiting,” Trump told Axios.

He said he wants to have a leader similar to Venezuelan President Delsy Rodriguez, who succeeded Nicolás Maduro after he was kidnapped by US forces in January.

Although Maduro previously served as vice president, Rodríguez allowed Washington to sell off Venezuelan oil and cut off petroleum supplies to Cuba under the threat of further US strikes.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to find Rodriguez, the Iranian.

“Venezuela was incredible because we attacked, and we kept the government completely intact. And we had Delsey, who was very good,” he told reporters earlier this week.

However, there are important differences between Iran and Venezuela. Although Maduro’s kidnapping was a quick and limited military operation, the Iranian government is currently engaged in an expanding war with the US and Israel.

The supreme leader of Iran must be a qualified religious scholar.

Iranian officials have denied any talks with the US, and Trump’s aides have said Washington is raining “death and destruction” on Iran.

It is not clear how Trump could be involved in the selection process amid the hostility.

Trump wants Iran to capitulate, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute.

“As long as this person follows Trump’s policy preferences he’s fine with taking Iran as a figurehead, just like Delsey did,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.

Trump does not want a successor to Khamenei who is “unwilling to submit to Trump’s policy demands,” he said.

“With the current Iranian system, it doesn’t look like they’re going to find that guy,” Parsi said.

Trump’s emphasis on the Venezuelan model in recent days appears to be at odds with his initial call for “freedom” in Iran, urging people to rise up against their government.

The US president has not ruled out deploying US troops on the ground inside Iran.

Trump had previously said people had in mind to capture Khamenei, but he was killed in the initial US-Israeli strike.

However, key figures seen as successors to the 86-year-old Khamenei are still alive, including Hassan Khomeini, grandson of 1979 Islamic Revolution leader Ruhollah Khomeini – and Mojtaba, Hassan Khomeini, son of prominent cleric Alireza Arafi.

Khamenei’s successor is chosen by an 88-member elected council called the Council of Experts.

Earlier this week, Israel targeted a meeting of experts in the holy city of Qom.

Some Israeli and US media reports claimed the council was meeting to elect a supreme leader at the time of the attack, but Iran denied the claims, saying the building was empty and that no date had been set for electing a new leader.