Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday questioned who is running Iran, saying the country’s leadership has been decimated since the war began and suggesting that Washington still does not have a clear picture of who is making decisions in Tehran.
“Their leaders are gone, their second group of leaders are gone, and the biggest problem I have is nobody knows who the hell is running the country,” Trump said.
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His remarks came nearly eight months after US and Israeli strikes on Iran set off a 40-day war and as the Trump administration weighs its next steps towards Tehran, including military and diplomatic options.
TRUMP QUESTIONS IRAN’S LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE
Trump’s comments pointed to continuing uncertainty in Washington over Iran’s chain of command following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, the first day of the war.
Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him but has not appeared in public since he was reportedly injured in the same strike that killed his father.
Iran has rejected suggestions that its leadership structure is unclear.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday that Washington knows who its counterpart is in Tehran and understands how Iran’s decision-making system works.
“Washington knows very well who their counterpart is in Iran and how the decision-making system in Iran works,” Baghaei said at a news conference.
“The problem is actually the opposite: it lies in the contradictory positions and mixed messaging from US officials,” he said.
Iran has retaliated against Israel and Gulf states hosting US military bases since the conflict began. US and Israeli strikes on Iran, along with Israeli attacks on Lebanon, have killed thousands and displaced millions.
TRUMP WARNS IRAN OF ‘EASY WAY OR HARD WAY’
Trump had already signalled on Saturday that a decision on Iran could be approaching, warning Tehran that it would face either “the easy way or the hard way”.
“We have a decision that I’ll make about Iran,” Trump told reporters before leaving the White House to campaign for Republican candidates in Ohio ahead of the November midterm elections.
“Iran’s been decimated. So the only question is, it’ll either be the easy way or the hard way. We’ll have it the easy or the hard way,” he said.
Trump did not explain what decision he was considering. His comments came as his administration weighs how to deal with Tehran amid continuing tensions and stalled diplomatic efforts.
He also claimed that Iran was “virtually giving up any plans to have a nuclear weapon”, but did not provide details or say whether Tehran had made a new commitment regarding its nuclear programme.
WAHINGTON WEIGHS MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS
The uncertainty over Trump’s next move follows an Axios report that senior US national security advisers met at Camp David to discuss policy options on Iran as well as the escalating conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen.
The meeting has fuelled speculation that Washington could consider renewed military action if diplomacy fails to break the deadlock with Tehran.
At the same time, mediation efforts are continuing to revive negotiations between the United States and Iran after months of conflict and regional instability.
Iran, meanwhile, has been preparing contingency plans in case Washington resumes large-scale military operations, according to Iranian officials and a source familiar with internal deliberations who spoke to Reuters.
The planning reflects a growing view within Iran’s leadership that any future US military campaign should be met with a stronger response than the one launched during the earlier conflict.
Senior Iranian commanders have examined options that could broaden potential targets beyond US-linked assets and potentially include countries supporting American military operations, according to the sources.
Iranian officials continue to pursue diplomatic efforts to prevent another confrontation, although some privately acknowledge that the chances of a breakthrough remain slim.
WAR KEEPS PRESSURE ON TRUMP
The conflict has also created an economic and political challenge for Trump, with higher fuel prices adding to concerns over the cost of living ahead of the November midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake.
Trump has faced persistent pressure over the cost of the conflict and has offered shifting timelines and objectives for bringing the war to an end.
The fighting began on February 28 after US and Israeli strikes on Iran. A ceasefire took effect on April 8 after 40 days of war, ending large-scale hostilities but not the wider regional tensions and intermittent clashes.
Trump’s latest comments suggest that Washington has yet to settle on a definitive path forward.
While the US weighs military, diplomatic and economic options, Iran is preparing for the possibility of renewed American action while continuing to pursue diplomacy — leaving both sides facing a potentially dangerous next phase of the confrontation.
– Ends
With inputs from Reuters
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
