As the war in Iran progresses, President Donald Trump has made it clear that he believes it is his duty to select the next leader of Iran. In telephone interviews given on March 5 to Reuters and Axios, Trump argued for the necessity of choosing the successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei, who was killed in an Israeli air strike at the beginning of the Middle Eastern conflict. 

“We’re going to have to choose that person along with Iran. We’re going to have to choose that person,” Trump told Reuters. The president stressed that picking Khamenei’s successor was vital to long-term peace in the region: “We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future, so we don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again. We want somebody that’s going to be great for the people, great for the country.” 

The U.S. has drawn heavy criticism for its joint efforts with Israel to effect regime change in Iran. U.S. officials have offered varying explanations for the decision to attack Iran, but most centered around the idea that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S. However, this theory is undermined by a Defense Intelligence Agency report from 2025 which indicated that Iran would not have intercontinental ballistic miles capable of reaching the U.S. until 2035. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered slightly different reasoning for the war, stating that the U.S. attacked because Israel was planning to strike Iran, and “we knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces” – supposedly necessitating preemptive action by the U.S. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, for her part, said that Trump “had a feeling based on fact” that Iran was going to strike the U.S.

The conflict has already killed over 3,000 people in the Middle East, including six U.S. service members killed by an Iranian strike on a makeshift operations center in Kuwait. The deadliest single event of the war so far is a strike that hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, killing at least 168 students and 14 teachers. Investigations conducted by The New York Times, CNN, CBC, and NPR concluded that the U.S. was responsible for the attack. Despite these findings, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Iran was at fault for the strike. Other U.S. officials have been more cautious with their words, refraining from blaming Iran but saying that the situation was still under investigation. 

Overall, the war has been very unpopular with the American public. According to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 56% of Americans oppose U.S. military action in Iran, while 44% support it. By comparison, around 70% of Americans showed support for military action in Iraq after Operation Iraqi Freedom took place in 2003, with that figure gradually falling through the course of the war. 

In Iran, it appears likely that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, will be named to succeed his father as supreme leader. Last week, Trump voiced his opposition to the younger Khamenei. “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela,” Trump said. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.” 

Beyond labeling Mojtaba unacceptable, Trump did not elaborate on his opposition. But analysts think that picking Mojtaba signals that compromise is not on the table for Iran – it’s a confrontational move that would intentionally defy Trump.  Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that “having Mojtaba take over is the same playbook.” 

Despite Trump labeling Mojtaba a “lightweight,” experts like Alan Eyre, former U.S. diplomat and Iran specialist, warn that the son is even more hardline than his father. If Mojtaba becomes supreme leader, one thing is clear: “He’s going to have a lot of revenge to exact.”