US President Donald Trump has suggested he may welcome the overthrow of the government in Tehran, hours after members of his administration insisted recent attacks on Iran were not intended as “regime change”.
“It is politically incorrect to use the term ‘regime change,’ but if the current Iranian regime is incapable of making Iran GREAT again, why not regime change??!” wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.
The comments came hours after leading members of the Trump administration-Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hagset-said that the purpose of the June 21 US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities was to reach a deal through negotiations, not to overthrow the current theocratic government.
At a press conference, Hegseth called the strikes a “precision operation” aimed only at Iran’s nuclear programme and not at Iranian troops or the Iranian people.
Trump “wants peace, and Iran should go down that path,” Hagseth said, later adding, “There should be a negotiated settlement here.”
“We don’t want to delay this or continue this any more than it’s already been done. We want to stop their nuclear programme,” Vance said on NBC. – “We want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term solution.
“The Iranian regime has to wake up and say, ‘OK, if we really want nuclear power in our country – there’s a way to do it.'” That proposal still exists. We’re ready to talk to them tomorrow and start working on it,” Rubio, who is also acting White House national security adviser, told US television channel CBS.
However, some members of Trump’s Republican Party have called for the overthrow of the Iranian government in the past, notably influential Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
“I’m in favour of us using maximum pressure and economic sanctions to pressure the regime in a way that could encourage it to fall”, he said before the USA strikes.
On 22 June, US officials warned Tehran against retaliating after unprecedented airstrikes that Trump said had “destroyed” key Iranian nuclear facilities.
Amid rising tensions, the United States issued a rare “global warning”, advising US citizens abroad to be more cautious.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has led to travel disruptions and periodic airspace closures over the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad,” the warning said.
Iran and Israel began new rounds of airstrikes against each other in the early hours of 23 June.
Iran responded coldly to calls for a return to talks, stressing its right to self-defence, saying the United States would be held responsible for the “dangerous consequences” of its actions, and suggesting that diplomacy could only begin after Tehran responded.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told a news conference in Istanbul that “the door to diplomacy” should always be open, but “that is not the case now.”
Iranian state media later reported that Araqchi had arrived in Moscow, where he will hold consultations with senior officials on 23 June, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose recent offer to help mediate talks with Tehran was effectively rejected by Trump.