The United States is well on its way to controlling Iranian airspace, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, adding that Washington expects achievable U.S. objectives to be completed in four to six weeks.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Leavitt also said Washington was reviewing potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview that the United States needs to be involved in choosing Iran’s next leader.
“I know there are a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at, but I’m not going to go into any more detail about that,” Leavitt said.
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In Thursday’s interview, Trump said he thinks it’s unlikely that Iran’s next leader will be the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has emerged as the favorite to succeed his father, who was killed in a military strike early in the war.
Earlier this Friday, Trump said there would be no deal with Iran other than an ‘unconditional surrender’.
“What the President means is that when he, as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Military, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and that the objectives of Operation Epic Fury have been fully accomplished, then Iran will essentially be in a position of unconditional surrender, whether they say so themselves or not,” Leavitt said.
