Trump says that before attacking Iran, the US identified who could take over the country. However, they died after the first attack

The US President Donald Trump said that before launching the operation against Iran on February 28, the US had identified who could take over power in the country. However, these candidates were killed in the first attack.

This is written by ABC journalist Jonathan Karl, who interviewed Trump by phone.

"The attack was so successful that it knocked out most of the candidates. It wonʼt be anyone we thought of, because theyʼre all dead. The second or third place is dead," the American president said.

Various media outlets, including CNN, citing sources, reported that the operation began on Saturday, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was meeting with senior Iranian officials. The Defense Minister, the head of the Supreme National Security Council, the commanders-in-chief of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and others were present. All of them were killed.

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said that he had "three very good options" for who could lead the country, but he refused to name them.

War in the Middle East

On the morning of Saturday, February 28, the US and Israel began attacking Iran. The Israelis called the operation “Lion’s Roar”, the US called it “Epic Fury”. In the evening, it became known about the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He died in his residence during US and Israeli strikes on the morning of February 28.

Iran responded by attacking American bases in the Persian Gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Iran also attacked Israel with ballistic missiles. Some Iranian drones and missiles targeted infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries. For example, at the airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE), one person was killed and 11 were injured due to Iranian attacks.

Israel also attacked the Lebanese pro-Iranian "Hezbollah", which struck back.

An Iranian drone attacked the British air base in Akrotiri in Cyprus. The BBC writes that no one was injured, there is only minor damage. The day before, the British Defense Minister John Healy said that Iran had fired two missiles in the direction of Cyprus. Healy said that they were not aimed directly at British bases, but this shows how "indiscriminate" the Iranian response is.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement that the United States could use British bases in the region to strike Iranian missile depots and launchers. Britain will not attack Iran, but will intercept its air targets and will bring in experts from Ukraine and its own to help Gulf states shoot down Iranian drones.

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