President Donald Trump told Axios in an interview Sunday that he must be involved in choosing the next leader in Iran, making the purpose of the war more confusing. Both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had expressly stated that the purpose of the campaign against Iran was not regime change but to prevent the authoritarian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Trump said he expects to be involved in the process, similarly to his picking the successor to former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez. He said that while the 56-year-old son of the former supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Ali Khamenei, such an outcome would be unacceptable to the Trump administration. The United States bombed the building in which the election for the successor was being held in an attempt to disrupt the voting.

Iran has not yet announced the replacement for the dead ayatollah, but such an announcement is expected in the coming days. Trump said he could not accept a new leader who would follow the policies of the previous one, dragging the U.S. back into a war “in five years.” A hardline cleric, Mojtaba Khamenei has never held public office.

“They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodríguez] in Venezuela,” he said.

“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” he added.

When asked who would replace the former supreme leader, Trump said, “Most of the people we had in mind are dead.”