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Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, March 29.
Reiterating that the war in Iran is “ahead of schedule,” he said the United States is now engaging with a “completely different set of people” whom he described as more reasonable, expressing optimism that a deal with Tehran could be reached “pretty soon.”
Commenting on Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Trump said he may still be alive but is “seriously wounded.”
“The one regime was decimated, destroyed — they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead. And the third regime, we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change,” Trump said.
“Frankly, they’ve been very reasonable. So I think we’ve had regime change. We can’t do much better than that. The regime that was really bad, really evil, was the first one — that was done. The second was appointed, and they’re gone. They’re all dead.”
On the prospect of a deal, Trump added: “I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure… but we’ve had regime change.”
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28, was elevated as Iran’s third Supreme Leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Since the conflict began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply passes.
The closure has driven global oil prices higher. However, Trump said relief could be imminent, citing concessions from Iran, including the planned movement of several oil tankers through the vital waterway.
“They gave us, I think, out of a sign of respect, 20 boats of oil — big, big boats of oil — going through the Hormuz Strait,” he said, adding that the shipments would begin “tomorrow morning” and continue over the next few days.
