President Donald Trump revealed that he has a potential leader in mind for Iran after strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Khamenei was killed on Saturday after Israel struck his compound, ending his 36-year reign and leaving the regime in disarray as it moves to appoint a successor as joint U.S. and Israeli strikes continue.
With that decision expected to be made soon, Trump was asked in an interview late Saturday if he has a preference over whoever the Islamic Republic chooses.
“Yes, I think so,” Trump responded. “There are some good candidates.”
He also said he knows “exactly” who is running Iran after Khamenei’s death, but declined to divulge who that is.
Trump’s comments come as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu floated regime change as the first strikes began overnight.
While no candidate has emerged over the past day, former crown prince Reza Pahlavi has been leading the opposition and has previously stated he would lead any transition government.
Trump, however, has been noticeably hesitant about endorsing Pahlavi, whose family ruled Iran before the 1979 revolution, and it is unclear if a transition to democracy is possible for Iran.
Pahlavi himself suggested in the wake of Khamenei’s death that the Islamic Republic was over. He said it will “very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history” and predicted any successor to the former ayatollah is “doomed to fail.”
READ IN FULL: TRUMP ADDRESS ON IRAN OPERATION
For now, a three-member council will assume power in Tehran. That includes Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was also targeted by Israel but survived, Chief Justice Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, and one Islamic cleric.
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, which is composed of 88 elected Islamic clerics, will then meet to elect a new supreme leader.