Donald Trump warned that Iran's next supreme leader will not last long without his support, while Iranian authorities say they have chosen a new leader but have not yet disclosed who it is.
On 8 Mar 2026 GMT+7, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran's next supreme leader will not last long if he does not receive approval from him, as Iran prepares to announce the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades until he was killed in an airstrike on 28 Feb.
"He will have to be approved by us," Trump said in an interview with ABC News. "If he is not approved by us, he won’t last long."
Earlier, Trump declared firmly that he wants to be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader because he does not want to deal with the same issues every 10 years. "We want to choose a president who will not lead their country into war," he told reporters on Air Force One last Saturday.
Trump also told CNN that he is open to a religious leader in Iran. "I mean, it depends on who the person is. I don’t mind religious leaders. I've dealt with many religious leaders, and they were great," he said.
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Source:cnn