Donald Trump says regime change in Iran would be “the best thing that could happen”, marking one of his clearest endorsements yet for replacing the country’s clerical leadership.
Speaking on Friday, Trump criticised Iran’s rulers, saying: “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking. In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives.” He declined to name a preferred successor but added that “there are people” who could lead the country instead.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has not publicly responded to the remarks.
As diplomatic tensions intensify, the US is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East in a show of force aimed at pressuring Tehran to secure a new nuclear agreement.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest and newest US aircraft carrier, is expected to relocate from the Caribbean “very soon”, according to Trump. It will join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already stationed in the region.
The Pentagon first deployed a carrier strike group earlier this year after Washington warned it could strike Iran over a government crackdown on mass protests. The demonstrations were among the most significant unrest since the Iranian Revolution, which established the Islamic Republic under clerical rule.
Trump has repeatedly threatened military action if Tehran does not agree to new nuclear terms. However, following talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this week, he said negotiations with Iran would continue.
Speaking at Fort Bragg, Trump urged Iran to “give us a deal that they should have given us the first time” if it wants to avoid confrontation.
Washington is demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment, while Netanyahu’s government has also called for restrictions on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and its backing of proxy groups including Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran has signalled it is willing to limit aspects of its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. But President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned Tehran “will not yield to their excessive demands.”
Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear accord during his first term and reinstated sweeping sanctions that significantly weakened Iran’s economy. His administration resumed talks last year in pursuit of a new agreement, though negotiations were disrupted by the brief 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.
Trump’s latest comments underscore a harder rhetorical edge, even as diplomacy remains officially on the table.
Erizia Rubyjeana
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