Most of the people we had in mind to lead Iran are dead — Trump
By: Abudu Olalekan
He spoke Tuesday, saying many once considered to lead Iran have passed away. The American president questioned if Reza Pahlavi, living outside Iran, holds enough support inside the nation. Doubts came up again about the former royal’s influence. Names that mattered before are now gone, he noted. Thoughts turned to what comes next without those figures.
Out of nowhere, Donald Trump dropped a dark comment in the Oval Office. During talks with Germany’s leader Friedrich Merz, he brought up Iran without warning. Most of those once seen as tomorrow’s figures there? Gone, according to him. His words hung in the air – sharp, unfeeling, unmistakably his own. The moment felt heavy, sudden, stripped of polish. A quiet chill followed what was just said.
That name never came up at all. Rather than pick one, he waved off the thought of Reza Pahlavi – the exiled heir of Iran’s former ruler – being the clear choice. Sure, Trump admitted, certain folks might favor Pahlavi, yet questions remain about whether he holds enough pull to move an entire nation. Those doubts linger without resolution. In his view, perhaps a figure already within Iran fits better, although he went no further and named nobody.
A sentence showed up that caught everyone’s eye. Most of the targets Trump referred to are already deceased, according to sources, though some in the following circle might have slipped through – but probably not for long. That remark hit hard, given how things have been escalating nonstop since airstrikes rolled in from both America and Israel. Initial blows supposedly wiped out Iran’s highest figure, Ali Khamenei, along with key aides. Another operation, verified by Trump himself, struck later Tuesday targeting whoever remained standing.
Living in the U.S. for years, Pahlavi stands by his readiness to step into leadership when the chance appears. Trust follows him among some Iranians, since ties to today’s rulers or the 1979 upheaval that ended his father’s reign do not stain his name. Yet Trump shows little sign of buying it. At this point, clarity about what unfolds afterward stays out of reach. Not entirely within grasp, at least.
