As Iran moves closer to naming its next supreme leader, U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday the new leader would need his approval to remain in power.
“He’s going to have to get approval from us,” the president told ABC News. “If he doesn’t get approval from us he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it.”
Trump said his goal is to prevent a future confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program.
“I don’t want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
The president also indicated he would be willing to work with remnants of the Iranian regime as leadership decisions unfold.