President Donald Trump
AFP / Jim WATSON
President Donald Trump said the U.S. military could sustain its assault on Iran for "four to five weeks" if necessary and described the post-Maduro transition in Venezuela as "the perfect scenario" for what could follow in Tehran.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, Trump outlined shifting possibilities for Iran's political future, including one in which only the top leader is removed while much of the existing government remains in place but cooperates with Washington.
"Well, we intended four to five weeks," Trump told NYT when asked how long U.S. and Israeli forces could maintain the current level of attacks. "It won't be difficult. We have tremendous amounts of ammunition."
Referring to Venezuela, where a U.S. military operation led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro in January, Trump said: "What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario." He noted that "everybody's kept their job except for two people," suggesting a similar approach could apply in Iran following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
At other points in the interview, however, Trump suggested that Iran's military forces might "surrender to the people," or that Iranians themselves could overthrow the existing system. "That's going to be up to them," he said. He also claimed to have "three very good choices" in mind for Iran's leadership but declined to name them.
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The Venezuela model cited by Trump emerged after Delcy Rodríguez, a top official during the Maduro regime, assumed interim leadership following his capture. Since then, Rodríguez has publicly called Trump a "friend" and urged him to lift sanctions and end what she described as a blockade. Trump, on his part, referred to Venezuela as a "new friend and partner" in his State of the Union address last week, and announced that the United States had received "more than 80 million barrels" of Venezuelan oil.
In recent weeks, the administration has eased certain oil sanctions, allowing limited commercial activity in the South American nation. Venezuela's National Assembly approved a new hydrocarbons law expanding private-sector participation, and Rodríguez has hosted U.S. officials as part of renewed engagement.
Trump said he would consider lifting sanctions in Iran if new leadership proved "pragmatic," but declined to commit to defending opposition forces. "I don't make a commitment one way or the other; it's too early," he said.
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Tags: Donald Trump, Iran, Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Delcy rodriguez