Donald Trump has said it would be a “waste of time” to consider deploying United States ground troops to Iran at the moment, dismissing warnings from Tehran that such a move would spell disaster for invading forces.
According to a report by NBC News on Thursday, Trump made the remark during a telephone interview in which he reacted to comments by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi.
Araghchi had earlier warned that Iran was prepared for a possible ground invasion by the United States or Israel.
Responding to the warning, Trump said such a suggestion was unnecessary, arguing that Iran had already suffered significant losses.
“It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose,” he was quoted as saying, describing Araghchi’s remarks as a “wasted comment.”
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Trump also indicated support for changes within Iran’s leadership structure, suggesting that the current system should be replaced quickly.
“We want to go in and clean out everything,” he said, adding that he would not support a prolonged process that would allow a new leadership structure to emerge over a decade.
He further disclosed that he had ideas about who could lead Iran next but declined to name any individual.
Earlier, Trump had said he would “have to be involved” in the appointment of Iran’s next leader following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in joint United States-Israeli strikes at the start of the conflict last Saturday.
Meanwhile, heavy attacks were reported in Tehran on Friday after Israel announced it was targeting what it described as “regime infrastructure” in a new phase of the war launched with the United States against Iran.