President Donald Trump said Sunday that the military operation which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was so sweeping that it removed nearly all viable successors, creating a leadership vacuum in Tehran.

Speaking to ABC News, Trump referred to reported assassination attempts by Iranian intelligence and declared, “I got him before he got me. They tried twice. Well, I got him first,” framing the strike as both preemptive and decisive.

When asked who he now envisions leading Iran, Trump said that those once considered possible replacements are no longer alive. “The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates. It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead,” he told ABC News.

In a separate interview with The New York Times, Trump had previously said there were “three very good choices” for Iran’s future leadership but declined to identify them. He discussed several potential paths for a transition of power in Tehran without committing to any single outcome.

One scenario he mentioned resembled what he described as his approach in Venezuela, where only former President Nicolas Maduro was removed during an American strike, while much of the governmental structure remained intact and later adopted a more pragmatic posture toward the United States.

Trump also indicated in that interview that the United States stands ready to continue its military campaign against Iran for “four to five weeks” if necessary, signaling that further action remains on the table following Khamenei’s elimination.

{Matzav.com}