President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he must personally approve Iran's next supreme leader, rejecting Mojtaba Khamenei as a successor and drawing parallels to his Venezuela intervention. In an eight-minute call with Axios, Trump insisted Khamenei's 56-year-old son is unacceptable and that he must be involved in the appointment process.

Trump compared the situation to his intervention in Venezuela, where Vice President Delcy Rodriguez took over after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January. The Iranian regime has delayed announcing the new supreme leader for several days, though political statements suggest an announcement could be imminent. Polymarket data shows a 66% chance Mojtaba Khamenei will become the next supreme leader.

Mojtaba Khamenei, a hardline cleric with deep ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has emerged as the frontrunner despite never holding public office. Trump warned that accepting a leader who continues the former supreme leader's policies would force the U.S. back to war within five years. Israel bombed the Iranian building in Qom housing the clerical body responsible for selecting Iran's next supreme leader on Tuesday, seeking to disrupt the vote-counting process.