Trump Says It’s Unclear Who Will Lead Iran

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Alex Ossola (0:33)

Trump says much of Iran's military is knocked out, and he seems to be deciding what to do about the country's future in real time.

Vera Bergengruen (0:40)

He's trying to make a deal with the regime that he's encouraging people to overthrow, which really shows that there isn't a clear, defined endgame.

Alex Ossola (0:48)

Plus, scrutiny is growing over the Trump administration's case for war. And the Middle East conflict sends stocks spinning. It's Tuesday, March 3 I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

It's been three days since the U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Trump today told reporters that who comes next in Iran isn't obvious, and many of the country's would-be leaders have been killed.

Donald Trump (1:22)

We had some in mind from that group that is dead. And now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports.

Alex Ossola (1:33)

And he suggested that someone inside the regime should be in charge.

Donald Trump (1:36)

It would seem to me that somebody from within might maybe would be more appropriate, I've said that.

Alex Ossola (1:42)

US officials are also saying that President Trump is open to supporting groups in Iran who could fight to dislodge the regime. Journal National Security Reporter, Vera Bergengruen joins me now from Washington. Okay, Vera, on a functional level, who is actually running Iran right now?

Vera Bergengruen (1:57)

So after the death of the Supreme Leader, the country formed an interim council, and there's basically three people, they're still hardline clerics, and they're waiting to select a successor. But obviously, they're in the middle of this massive military assault. And we have little visibility into who's actually running a lot of those decisions. Because besides the Supreme Leader, a lot of his inner circle, a lot of the very top officials that the US kind of looked at as power brokers have been killed as well.

Alex Ossola (2:23)

We just heard a few clips from President Trump here about who he thinks should be in charge of the country. What role is the US going to play in the successor to the Supreme Leader?

Vera Bergengruen (2:33)

Trump has floated quite a few options, and he's offering really contrasting visions as to how that could work. He obviously on Saturday, when he launched the military operation, and called on Iran to rise up, to take over their government, basically encouraging a coup or a revolt. At the same time, he has been very clear that he would love what he calls the Venezuela model, which is working with an insider in the regime to keep most of it in place, keep it stable, and declare victory because he took out the top bad guy basically. So these are obviously very different things. He's trying to make a deal with the regime that he's encouraging people to overthrow, which really shows that there isn't a clear, defined endgame.

Alex Ossola (3:14)

What is the best case scenario for the administration? What are they looking for in a successor?

Vera Bergengruen (3:19)

It really depends who you ask. The president. He's been quite clear that he does not want boots on the ground, he does not want to do nation building. The best case scenario is finding someone who already has authority in the country, who can take over, who can manage all this mess, and he can get out, say that he's deposed the foreign leader of this brutal regime and declare victory. A lot of other people in the administration disagree with that. A lot of the hardliners who have been pressing Trump to take action, really want the entire repressive structure dismantled. But several people I spoke with who were in Trump's first administration said he had two rules. One was military action had to be one and done. You do one overwhelming show of force, we saw this in Venezuela, we saw it in Nigeria, we saw it in Iran last year, and then you get out and you declare victory. He broke that rule now in this extended military engagement. We have six dead American troops and he said this could last for four weeks. The second rule was no boots on the ground, no US invasion. He basically built his whole political career on saying that he had learned the mistakes of the post 9-11 war on terror and he wasn't going to commit US troops to any extended quagmires in the Middle East. This is the closest he's ever come to really testing that.