President Donald Trump, has said that successive waves of US-Israeli attacks on Iran had killed figures he had thought would be new military leaders of the country.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among the first military leaders to be eliminated by the US-Israel strikes.
Trump stated this during a meeting with German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz on Tuesday, suggesting that at the moment there is capable hands to take over the country’s leadership position
The US president hosted Mr Merz for a bilateral meeting at the White House on Tuesday, the second such meeting since the new Chancellor, Merz took office in Germany.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead. I guess the worst case would be, we do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? … We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people,” he said as he met Merz.
“Many questions remained open after a very open discussion” at the White House on Tuesday, Mr Merz said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF.
“What is actually your strategy for the day after? Is there a vision for how this country will be governed afterwards?” Mr Merz said.
He added that he had noticed a “relatively high degree of uncertainty”.
The chancellor said they had also discussed the basis upon which the intervention had taken place.
“Efforts to negotiate with Iran have been ongoing for decades,” he said.
“There has been no lack of diplomacy. But there has been a lack of willingness to cooperate on the part of Iran, and developments towards a nuclear weapon have progressed very far.
“At some point, you also have to say stop,” Mr Merz said.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump announce that the whole of Iran military heads have been killed. The US later said that about 49 top military chiefs in Iran have been taken out.
War: Everyone I had in mind to take over from Ayatollah Khameini is dead – Trump