Trump agitates for regime change to ‘make Iran great again'
Donald Trump has appeared to agitate for new leadership in Iran.
The US president on Sunday suggested a 'regime change' would take place if its leaders were 'unable to make Iran great again'.
His comments came just hours after vice president JD Vance and defence secretary Pete Hegseth stressed that Washington was not seeking to topple the Iranian government following US air strikes on its nuclear facilities this weekend.
'It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change?' Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Referencing his 'Maga' (Make America Great Again) movement, he added: 'MIGA!!!'
Since striking Iran in the early hours of Sunday, Mr Trump has pressed the country not to retaliate and urged it to return to the negotiating table immediately.
At a press conference at the Pentagon on Sunday morning, Mr Hegseth declared: 'This mission was not, has not been, about regime change.'
'We don't want a regime change,' Mr Vance said a short time later. 'We do not want to protract this.'
He added: 'We want to end the nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here.'
Senior US officials have warned that forcing out Iran's government would leave a power vacuum and result in another protracted American war in the Middle East.
Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, said on Sunday that Israel would like to see regime change in Iran but would not seek to engineer it.
'That's for the Iranian people to decide, not us,' he said.
Also on Sunday, John Bolton, Mr Trump's former national security adviser, claimed Iran was 'on the verge' of regime change following the US attacks and said the president would be forced to use 'brutal force' if Tehran retaliated.
Mr Trump previously vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, American officials revealed last week.
In the early hours of Sunday the US launched strikes on Iran, hitting three nuclear bases at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Mr Trump described the action as 'a spectacular military success' that had 'completely and totally obliterated' Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities.
He said in an earlier Truth Social post: 'We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the 'bomb' right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!) but, as usual, and despite all of the praise and accolades received, this 'lightweight' Congressman is against what was so brilliantly achieved last night.'
Israeli officials on Sunday said they believe Iran's heavily-fortified nuclear site at Fordow sustained serious damage from the strikes but had not been completely destroyed. A US official told the New York Times it had been taken 'off the table'.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, issued a more conservative assessment than the president on Sunday.
He said Iran's nuclear capabilities had been 'degraded' and 'set back from a technical standpoint', but stopped short of saying they had been outright destroyed.
On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, claimed Israel was 'close' to wiping out Iran's nuclear programme and ballistic missiles.
He vowed not to be dragged into a 'war of attrition with Iran', saying: 'When we achieve our objectives, the fighting will stop.'
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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
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More than 20 dead after 'Islamic State suicide bombing' in Damascus church
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