Trump says Iranian successors killed in the initial U.S. strikes, claiming the operation eliminated potential leaders after Iran’s supreme leader.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that a number of Iranian leaders who were identified by American intelligence as potential successors to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed in the initial U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran. Trump made these remarks during interviews with media outlets as the conflict in the Middle East continues to escalate.
Trump told ABC News that the military operation, described by some as “Operation Epic Fury,” was so effective that “most of the potential leadership options for the Islamic Republic” were eliminated along with Khamenei himself and other senior officials. He said those individuals whom U.S. analysts had hoped might lead Iran after Khamenei were no longer alive, meaning Tehran could be facing an unexpected leadership path forward.
“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” Trump told ABC’s Jonathan Karl, according to the interview. “It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead.”
Trump added that although U.S. intelligence had identified “three very good choices” who could potentially lead Iran after Khamenei, he declined to reveal specific names, noting only that one Iranian official who survived may have reached out to him.
The president has framed the strikes as part of a broader effort to weaken Iran’s leadership structure and deter further aggression in the region. In separate remarks, he described the operation as having eliminated dozens of senior Iranian figures, including top military and political leaders who were integral to the regime.
Iranian state media and government sources have not publicly confirmed whom exactly was killed beyond Khamenei, but the sudden loss of the supreme leader and other senior officials has sparked uncertainty about the future direction of the Iranian political system. Under Iran’s constitution, the new supreme leader is chosen by the 88-member Assembly of Experts, a body of senior clerics whose deliberations are now seen as central to the country’s next leadership transition.
As international concern grows over the conflict’s implications, Trump has defended the military campaign. He asserts that the initial phase was a strategic success and that the U.S. will continue to monitor developments closely as the search for Iran’s next leader unfolds.
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