Trump: Regime change in Iran would be “best thing that could happen” Video

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that regime change in Iran would be “the best thing that could happen,” in one of his clearest endorsements yet of replacing the country’s clerical establishment.

“For 47 years, they've been talking and talking and talking. In the meantime, we've lost a lot of lives,” he said on February 13, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

Trump did not specify who he believes should lead Iran if its current leadership were replaced, but added that “there are people” who could take over. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has not yet publicly responded to the latest remarks.

The comments came as Washington increased military pressure on Tehran. The United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East in what officials describe as a move aimed at strengthening leverage in efforts to secure a new nuclear agreement with Iran.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the newest and largest aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy fleet, is expected to relocate “very soon” from the Caribbean to the Middle East, Trump said.

Although the U.S. president has warned of possible military strikes if no nuclear deal is reached, he emphasized after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 12 at the White House that negotiations with Tehran would continue.

By Sabina Mammadli