US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that Iran’s leadership had collapsed and its military severely weakened by extensive US operations, while asserting that Tehran was “begging” to negotiate, in remarks at the Future Investment Initiative Priority Summit in Miami.
Speaking at the summit, Trump referred to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in strikes on February 28 and claimed that Tehran’s leadership structure had collapsed, while questioning the status of his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since being named to the post.
“Their leaders are dead. Their Supreme Leader is no longer supreme — he's dead. The son (Mojtaba Khamenei) is either dead or in very bad shape, because no one has heard from him. I think he's saying, 'just keep me out of this.' It's the only country where no one wants to lead,” Trump said.
He added that US operations had significantly degraded Iran’s military capacity. “We hit them — they don't know what's happening. They are taking such a beating that anyone would enter negotiations. They are begging to make a deal,” he said.
He also said Iran’s military infrastructure had been severely degraded. “Anti-aircraft and communications capabilities are totally dismantled and dead. And their leaders are all dead, other than that they’re doing quite well,” he said, quipping about the extent of the damage caused by the US military operation in Iran.
Tehran had earlier announced Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader after Ali Khamenei’s death, but his continued absence has raised questions over Iran’s command structure. US officials have indicated he may have been wounded during the conflict, while Iranian military forces are believed to be operating without clear central coordination. Iran’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the lack of public appearances was due to “security considerations” arising from the current special circumstances, according to a CNN report citing Iranian state-affiliated media.
