Trump says he must be ‘involved’ in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader

Analyst says US president will not find an Iranian Delcy Rodriguez from within the existing Islamic Republic system.Published On 5 Mar 2026Donald Trump says he wants to be involved in choosing the next supreme leader of Iran, reiterating his goal of giving rise to a new leadership that is friendly to the United States within the Iranian ruling system.The US president voiced opposition on Thursday to appointing the son of the assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba, to replace his slain father.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israel cancels Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque amid Iran conflictlist 2 of 3Trump voices support for possible Kurdish offensive in Iranlist 3 of 3Iran fires more missiles, drones across Gulf region as war shows no letupend of list“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment,” Trump told Axios.He added that he would prefer to have a leader similar to Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who succeeded Nicolas Maduro after he was abducted by US forces in January.Despite previously serving as Maduro’s vice president, Rodriguez has allowed Washington to sell Venezuela’s oil and cut off petroleum supplies to Cuba under the threat of further US strikes.Trump has repeatedly said he would like to find an Iranian Rodriguez.“Venezuela was so incredible because we did the attack, and we kept government totally intact. And we have Delcy, who’s been very good,” he told reporters earlier this week.However, there are major differences between Iran and Venezuela. While the abduction of Maduro was a swift and limited military operation, the Iranian government is currently engaged in an expanding war with the US and Israel.The Iranian supreme leader must also be a qualified religious scholar.Iranian officials have denied any negotiations with the US, and Trump’s aides have said that Washington is raining “death and destruction” on Iran.