US President Donald Trump has said that a change in Iran’s leadership would be “the best thing that could happen”, as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to mount.
Speaking to reporters after visiting troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Friday, Mr Trump was asked directly whether he wanted to see the current Iranian government replaced.
“It seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” Mr Trump said.
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“For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking.
“In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We’ve been going on for a long time.”
He did not identify who he would want to succeed Iran’s clerical leadership, saying only: “there are people”.
USS Gerald R Ford Deployment Signals Rising US-Iran Military Tensions
Mr Trump also confirmed that the USS Gerald R Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — is being sent to the Middle East should diplomatic efforts collapse.
“In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it,” he said. “It’ll be leaving very soon.”
The redeployment of the USS Gerald R Ford forms part of a broader build-up of American military assets in the region as relations between Washington and Tehran deteriorate.
Last month, the USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying guided-missile destroyers were deployed to the area.
In a further escalation, US forces shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln on the same day Iran attempted to stop a US-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian and American officials met in Oman last week in an attempt to de-escalate the situation, but no agreement has yet been secured.
Trump Hints at Possible Iran Deal While Warning of Military Action
Despite his remarks on regime change, Mr Trump suggested that diplomacy remains possible and that military action could be avoided if Tehran makes concessions.
“Give us the deal that they should have given us the first time,” he said. “If they give us the right deal, we won’t do that.”
He has repeatedly warned that the United States could act militarily if the Iranian government uses force against anti-regime demonstrators.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has cautioned that any American strike would push the region into full-scale war.
Further talks are expected in the coming days. According to Reuters, a US delegation including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is due to meet Iranian representatives on Tuesday.
Iran Nuclear Programme and Israel Pressure Shape US Strategy
Iran’s nuclear programme remains central to the dispute. Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Tehran to scale back its atomic ambitions. However, on Friday he indicated that nuclear facilities were only one part of Washington’s wider objectives.
“If we do it, that would be the least of the mission,” Mr Trump said, referring to targeting Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Mr Trump in Washington earlier this week, has pressed for any agreement to include measures to curb Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities.
The United States carried out strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, marking the climax of a 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel.
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