Trump Says He Wants to Choose Iran's Next Leader as Succession Battle Looms

President Trump publicly declared his intention to determine who will lead Iran following ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes, remarking that most of the people they had in mind are dead. Iran's government rejected the overture, declaring it would never allow anyone to interfere in its internal affairs. Reports indicate that Iran's Assembly of Experts, forced to meet virtually after their buildings in Tehran and Qom were bombed, is weighing successors including Mojtaba Khamenei and Hassan Khomeini. Israel has warned that whoever emerges as Iran's new leader will also be an unequivocal target.