United States President Donald Trump has insisted he should have a role in picking Iran’s next supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declaring the slain leader’s son “unacceptable” and warning of renewed war within five years if hardliners retain power .
In an interview with Axios published Thursday, Trump drew a direct comparison to Venezuela, where interim President Delcy Rodriguez has cooperated with his administration after US forces ousted her predecessor Nicolas Maduro in a January 3 military operation .
“Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy,” Trump told the news outlet .
He specifically rejected Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old cleric and second son of the late supreme leader who has emerged as the leading contender to succeed his father, having been selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts following intense pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) .
“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said .
The president warned that installing another leader who follows the elder Khamenei’s hardline agenda would drag the United States back into conflict. “If they put someone like that in, we’ll be back at war in five years,” he said .
Mojtaba Khamenei, who holds the religious rank of Hujjat al-Islam (below the Ayatollah level), has long operated behind the scenes and maintained close ties with the Revolutionary Guards, dating back to his service at the end of the Iran-Iraq war . The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on him in 2019 during Trump’s first term, stating he represented the supreme leader “despite never being elected or appointed” .
Trump’s remarks imply a willingness to work with someone from within the Islamic republic rather than seek to topple the government entirely, though it remains unclear how the US president could influence a selection process conducted by the Assembly of Experts—senior Shiite Muslim clerics mostly staunchly opposed to the United States .
The late shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi, has proposed returning as a transitional figure before Iran drafts a new constitution as a secular democracy, and said Thursday that any new supreme leader within the Islamic republic would be illegitimate .
In explaining his Venezuela reference, Trump pointed to Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president who has cooperated on key US demands, notably expanding private investment in Venezuela’s state-controlled oil industry and transferring millions of barrels of oil to the Trump administration .
“Venezuela was so incredible because we did the attack and we kept government totally intact,” Trump said earlier this week. “And we have Delcy, who’s been very good. The relationship has been great” .
The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was the clear frontrunner during Assembly of Experts discussions, though some members expressed concern that his selection could make him a target for further US or Israeli strikes . Analysts say his elevation would represent a hereditary transition that his father rejected as an idea in 2024 .
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, comprising 88 members elected every eight years, has only overseen one leadership transition process to date—when the elder Khamenei was selected in 1989 following the death of revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini . Other contenders had included Alireza Arafi, a member of the interim leadership council, and Hassan Khomeini, the revolutionary founder’s grandson .
