Washington: Fresh Israeli strikes on the headquarters of Iran’s remaining leadership have likely eliminated more candidates the US had in mind to take over the country, US President Donald Trump said, as he denied Israel forced his hand to launch the initial attacks.
He also escalated tensions with Britain’s Keir Starmer over the use of UK military bases, saying of the prime minister: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Israeli forces reportedly targeted a building where dozens of top Shia clerics were due to meet to select a new supreme leader of Iran, although it was not immediately clear whether the building was being used for that purpose or how many casualties, if any, were sustained.
An Israeli official told US news site Axios that the strike was timed to occur while votes were being counted: “We wanted to prevent them from picking a new supreme leader.”
The Israel Defence Forces said on X that a compound housing the Iranian regime’s “most senior forum” was struck in Tehran. “The leaders behind this terror regime, and the headquarters in which they sat, have been eliminated,” it said.
Trump, taking questions at the White House for the first time since Operation Epic Fury began days ago, said strikes had taken out multiple rounds of potential candidates to replace former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in initial strikes.
“Most of the people that we had in mind are dead,” he said. “We had some in mind from that group that is dead. Now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports. So, I guess you have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon, we’re not going to know anybody.”
Trump said the worst possible outcome, in his view, was to install a new leader who, in five years’ time, turned out to be no better than the previous one.
He once again played down the idea of drafting the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, who lives in Washington, has encouraged anti-regime protests and says he is ready to lead.
“It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate,” Trump said. “He [Pahlavi] looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular if there’s such a person [would be better]. We have people like that, we have people that were more moderate.
“We’ll see what happens, but first we have to finish off the military.”
Meanwhile, Trump announced he was instructing the US Development Finance Corporation to provide free political risk insurance and guarantee the financial security of all shipping, “especially energy”, in the Gulf.
He said the US Navy would escort oil tankers through the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz if necessary. “No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD,” Trump posted on social media.
Iran ‘decimated’
Trump said Iran had been “decimated” but gave no indication of how long the US and Israeli military campaign might continue. He has previously given varying estimates, from two to six weeks, while also saying in a social media post on Monday night (US time) that US munitions stockpiles meant wars could be fought “forever”.
There have also been mixed signals about what prompted the timing of the strikes, which came amid ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran, mediated by Oman.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday there had been an “imminent threat” to the US because Israel was about to attack Iran, and Tehran would have responded by attacking US bases and assets.
But Trump denied Israel had forced his hand into the conflict.
“No, I might have forced their hand,” he said. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics [Iran], and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first.
“Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. I didn’t want that to happen. So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
A senior Trump administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said that after a third meeting with Iranian officials mediated by Oman, it became clear that “they weren’t willing to make the kind of deal that President Trump would have been satisfied with”.
They told Trump that while a deal on nuclear enrichment was probably possible, it would take months, and the Iranians appeared to be stalling for time.
“It’s going to take a lot for us to get there,” the official said they told the president. “They’re basically playing games with us all over the place.”
Starmer is ‘no Winston Churchill’
As the military operation entered its fourth day, Trump took aim at US allies he believed were not sufficiently supportive of the strikes, particularly Spain and Britain, who denied the US the use of their military bases.
Britain’s Starmer later relented and allowed use of the bases for “defensive” purposes, but has publicly stated that the US’s campaign might breach international law. That included a base on the island of Diego Garcia, which Starmer had planned to lease to Mauritius.
“We were very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said, referring to the legendary British wartime prime minister.
“It’s taken three, four days to work out whether we can land there. It would have been much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours.”
Trump kept criticising Starmer later. “The UK has been very, very un-cooperative with that stupid island that they have, that they gave away,” he said. “But this is not the age of Churchill … they ruin relationships, it’s a shame.”
The US president said Spain had been “terrible” and “unfriendly”, and he was instructing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to sever all US trade with the European nation.
Trump suggested he could use Spain’s military bases without their permission. “We could use their base if we want; we could just fly in and use it. Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it.”
He made the comments during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance also present in the Oval Office.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
