By Steve Holland and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, March 4 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is discussing with his advisors what role the U.S could have in Iran after the military campaign while U.S. intelligence is monitoring reports that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran’s slain supreme leader, has emerged as a frontrunner to succeed him, the White House said on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen those reports as well, of course, and this is something that our intelligence agencies in looking at. We The truth is, we’ll have to wait and see,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba has emerged as the frontrunner to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader after years spent forging close ties with the elite Revolutionary Guards and building influence in the clerical establishment.
Leavitt added that Trump was actively considering and discussing with his national security team what role Washington may have in Iran’s future once the operation is over but the primary focus at the moment was the success of the military operation.
Leavitt also defended the U.S. goals of the joint Israeli-U.S. air war against Iran amid criticism that Washington has failed to provide evidence for the imminent threat that Tehran posed directly for the United States, while adding that Trump believed that the American people supported the war.
“This decision to launch this operation is based on a cumulative effect of various direct threats that Iran posed to the United States of America,” Leavitt said.
“Again, this is a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies and our people for 47 years and the American people are smart enough to know that,” Leavitt said.
Trump has rejected suggestions that Israel pushed the U.S. into the conflict, as his administration gave varying accounts and faced criticism from some supporters and Democrats who accused him of launching a “war of choice.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier this week showed that only one in four Americans approves of U.S. strikes on Iran that have plunged the Middle East into chaos, while about half — including one in four Republicans — believe Trump is too willing to use military force.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Humeyra Pamuk, Ryan Patrick Jones, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Alistair Bell)
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