The American President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the successor of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will have a short governance if he is not validated by the White House. The statement comes on the day when the Assembly of Experts in Iran secretly appointed the new Supreme Leader.
“He will have to get our approval. If he doesn’t get our approval, he won’t last long“, threatened Trump in an interview given on Sunday to ABC News, quoted by Agerpres.
Previously, Trump said that he wants to have the final say in the selection of Iran’s next leader. “I have to be involved in the appointment, just as I was with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela”, he insisted on Thursday in an interview, referring to the vice president of Venezuela who took over as interim president from Nicolas Maduro after he was captured by an American commando on January 3rd.
Iran’s response came immediately through the voice of the foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. He reaffirmed the country’s sovereignty, stating that the choice of Ali Khamenei’s successor, killed by Israeli-American forces on February 28th, is the exclusive attribute of the Iranian people and the Assembly of Experts, “and no one else’s”.
On the morning of February 28th, the new supreme Iranian leader was elected on Sunday by the Assembly of Experts in Iran, but his name has not yet been revealed.