US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) said that "most of the people we had in mind are dead" when asked about potential future leaders in Iran following the killing of Tehran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the early phase of Operation Epic Fury.
Speaking during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump also asserted that the United States has initiated a "third wave" of military strikes against Iran, claiming that "everything’s been knocked out" in the country.
Reflecting on who could lead Iran next, Trump said, "Well, most of the people we had in mind are dead...we had some in mind from that group that is dead. Now we have another group. They may be dead also based on reports."
]He added that several senior figures were killed in the initial strike.
"And the leader of the pack is gone. And as you know, 49 people were taken out in the first hit. And I guess there was another hit today on the new leadership, and it looks like that was pretty substantial also."
Trump said the Iranian leadership has been "getting hit very hard" and claimed that many within the system are now seeking protection.
"A lot of people are coming forward. A lot of the people you would least suspect want to quit. They want to have immunity. They’re asking for immunity. And probably at some point they’ll be dropping, as you would say, laying down their guns."
Trump and his team have faced questions over the rationale behind the strikes, especially after a senior US diplomat suggested that Washington acted after learning of a possible imminent Israeli move.
However, Trump insisted the US acted preemptively. "Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen."
He went further, suggesting that he "might have forced Israel's hand" as he believed that Iran "would have attacked first" otherwise.
Expanding on that, Trump said, "I don’t know. I might have forced their hand. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.”
"Israel was ready, and we were ready. And we’ve had a very, very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out now. Their missile count is going way down," he added.
Trump claimed Iran’s air defences and detection systems had been dismantled and also accused Iran of targeting civilian sites.
"They’ll hit people that were actually at least somewhat friendly, and they had no problems with it. Also hitting only civilian places, hotels and apartment buildings. And we’re hitting them where it is much more appropriate," he said.
"The original hit, Midnight Hammer, was big. Everything you view is big, but it’s not considered very big by some standards, by some of our standards. We have a military like no other military that’s ever been built," he added.
The president’s remarks come amid criticism from opponents who argue that the administration moved the country toward war without a clearly defined strategy, without informing Congress, and without explaining how the conflict might end.
Critics also pointed to recent meetings between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including their seventh meeting since Trump returned to office last year, where Netanyahu reportedly urged a tougher stance on Iran.
However, some Republican allies rallied behind the president, saying "no one pushes or drags Donald Trump anywhere.”