President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is aiming to dismantle Iran’s current leadership structure but does not believe a ground invasion is necessary to achieve that goal.

During a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump explained that the objective is to prevent Iran from restoring its leadership and rebuilding power in the future.

“We want to go in and clean out everything,” Trump said. “We don’t want someone who would rebuild over a 10-year period.”

Trump also suggested that there are potential figures who could lead Iran after its current leadership is removed.

“We want them to have a good leader. We have some people who I think would do a good job,” he said, though he declined to identify any names and indicated that efforts are being made to ensure those individuals remain safe during the conflict.

“We are watching them, yeah,” Trump said.

The president also addressed comments made by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who told NBC News that Iran is ready to confront a possible ground invasion by American and Israeli forces.

Trump rejected that scenario, stating that such an operation would serve little purpose given the damage already inflicted on Iran’s military.

“It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose.”

Trump added that U.S. military operations against Iranian targets will continue at the same level of intensity.

Earlier Thursday, the president said American strikes have dealt a major blow to Iran’s missile capabilities and warned Tehran not to threaten the United States or its allies.

“As soon as they set off a missile, within four minutes the launcher gets hit,” he said, explaining that the campaign has taken out a significant portion of Iran’s launch systems.

“Missiles are gone, launchers are gone – about 60% and 64% respectively.”

Despite the losses suffered by Iran’s military infrastructure, Trump said the country’s leadership is still taking a combative stance.

“They are tough and they want to fight,” he stated, while also saying that Iranian officials have begun making contact about potential negotiations.

“They are calling and saying, ‘How do we make a deal?’ I say, ‘You are being a little bit late.’ We want to fight now more than they do.”

{Matzav.com}