Trump: Nobody Knows Who Is Running Iran; US Faces Choice of ‘Nice’ or ‘Not-So-Nice’ Finish

WASHINGTON, Oct 7: US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he does not know who is currently running Iran, claiming that the country’s leadership has suffered major losses amid the ongoing US-Israeli conflict with Tehran.

Speaking at an Anduril Industries event in Sparrows Point, Maryland, Trump said Iran’s “second group of leaders” was gone and that his biggest problem was that “nobody knows” who was running the country. Reuters reported his remarks as the war entered its eighth month.

Trump also said the United States had to “finish up” with Iran and that Washington would soon decide whether to do so “the nice way or the not-so-nice way.” He claimed the United States was doing extremely well against Iran and said the country was no longer in the position of regional power it had previously held.

Trump also pointed to the recent resignation of Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad as evidence of severe economic pressure on Iran. Paknejad resigned for personal reasons, according to Iranian state media, and President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted his resignation. Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the National Iranian Oil Company, was appointed acting oil minister.

Trump claimed Iran was facing inflation of almost 300% and quoted Paknejad as saying Iran had “no economy” and “no oil,” although those claims were not independently established in the reports reviewed. Trump also said millions of barrels of oil had moved through the Strait of Hormuz in recent days, at times exceeding pre-war levels.