US President Donald Trump has told CNN that, even if Iran did not become a democratic state, he would be quite happy with another religious leader in Tehran who was “going to be fair and just” and “[t]reat the United States and Israel well”, along with its Middle East partners.
He foresaw a process similar to what happened in Venezuela after the US toppled Nicolás Maduro earlier this year and put his deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, in power. “It’s gonna work very easily. It’s going to work like it did in Venezuela. We have a wonderful leader there. She’s doing a fantastic job. And it’s going to work Iike in Venezuela.”
He said he was open to another religious leader in Iran. “Well, I may be, yeah, I mean, it depends on who the person is,” he said. “I don’t mind religious leaders. I deal with a lot of religious leaders and they are fantastic.”
CNN reports that when “pressed on if he is insisting there needs to be a democratic state”, Trump replied: “No, I’m saying there has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just. Do a great job. Treat the United States and Israel well, and treat the other countries in the Middle East — they’re all our partners.”
(In the same interview, he appeared to indicate that his attention was already moving on to a new American target – Cuba, which he said “is gonna fall pretty soon”.)
Earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social that “there will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”, adding: “After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. ‘MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).'”
How Iran responds to this remains to be seen. But so far the regime has shown no sign of capitulating soon.
Late yesterday, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said several countries had “begun mediation efforts” to end the war with the US and Israel, but insisted Iran had “no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity and sovereignty”. He did not name any countries, but reports suggest Qatar, Turkey, Egypt and Oman have all offered to mediate.
In a post on X, Pezeshkian said: “Some countries have begun mediation efforts. Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity and sovereignty. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.”
Oil prices rose yesterday after Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, warned he expected all oil and gas exporters in the Gulf to stop production within days. He told the Financial Times the conflict in the Middle East could “bring down the economies of the world”.
Brent crude oil rose 6.7% yesterday, topping $91 a barrel, with Kaabi warning it could hit $150 a barrel if the Iran conflict continued over the coming weeks.
AFP news agency reports that there were explosions near Erbil airport in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, which hosts US-led coalition troops. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said earlier that oil production at a field operated by US firm HKN Energy had been halted after an attack.
It is reported that several Iran-backed armed factions have claimed attacks on the US base at Erbil airport in recent days, as the war draws in new armed actors and threatens wider chaos and violence.
Spanish Prime Minister Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has repeated criticism of the US-Israeli strikes against Iran, saying they were an “extraordinary mistake” and “not in accordance with international law”. He said “loyal cooperation” should prevail over “confrontation” in relations with the US, adding: “Between allied countries, it is good to help when the other is right, but also to tell them when they are wrong or make a mistake, as is the case here.”
In Britain, Downing Street has said that deputy prime minister David Lammy’s remarks in a BBC interview that Royal Air Force jets could legally strike Iranian missile sites being used to attack British interests in the Middle East was not a U-turn in UK policy.
A spokesperson said: “We have consistently said that we’ll take the necessary steps to prevent future strikes … (that) as we’ve set out over the course of the week, is allowing the US to take out those missiles at source whilst we are defending the skies.”
Lammy’s comment prompted Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller to say: “The deputy prime minister is sliding down the slippery slope to full conflict by backing direct UK strikes on military positions in Iran. We need an urgent clarification from Number 10 on whether this is a change in Britain’s position on involvement in Trump’s illegal war.”
Reuters reports that, according to two unnamed US officials, US military investigators believe the strike on an Iranian girls’ school on the first day of the war was probably carried out by US forces. So far, the Pentagon has confirmed only that an inquiry is under way.
The girls’ school in Minab, in southern Iran, was hit on Saturday. Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the death toll.
The Washington Post reports that, “according to three officials familiar with the intelligence”, Russia is providing Iran with targeting information to attack American forces in the Middle East, “the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating — even indirectly — in the war”. The unnamed officials reportedly said Russia had passed Iran the locations of US military assets, including warships and aircraft.
The newspaper said the CIA and the Pentagon declined to comment.
Sources: CNN, Reuters, BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, AFP
[Image: sina drakhshani on Unsplash]