Donald Trump Image: Reuters
Amid rising tensions in West Asia, US President Donald Trump claimed that the people of Iran wanted him to become their supreme leader, but said he rejected the suggestion.
Speaking at an event, Trump indicated that he had heard voices from inside Iran proposing him for a top leadership role, but insisted he had no interest in any such position.
What did Trump say?
He said, “There has never been a head of any country who has had so little desire to be the head of Iran. We listen to them very clearly. They say, ‘We want to make you the next supreme leader.’ I said, no, thanks. I don’t want this.”
The comments were made during an address at a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) fundraising dinner.
‘Cancer had to be cut out’: Trump
Trump also said that military action against Iran was necessary to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, and described the threat as a “cancer” that needed to be “cut out.” He revealed that previous US governments had avoided taking any decisive action for “47 years”.
He said, “When I did what any other president for 47 years should have done and you hear many of them say that they wish they had done it, but they didn’t have the courage to do it. We had no other choice, but I thought the situation would get even worse.”
He added, “In the short term, what we had to do was get rid of the cancer. We had to cut the cancer out. That cancer was Iran with nuclear weapons. We’ve cut it out. Now we’re going to cut it out completely.”
How much truth is there in Trump’s claims?
Trump is famous all over the world for lying. There is no leader in the world who lies as much or more than Trump. On the other hand, Iran can never offer Trump to become the Supreme Leader. The biggest reason for this is that the Supreme Leader is the highest post of Iran, who exercises ultimate control over the country’s military, foreign policy and key government institutions. He is selected by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 senior clerics.
Furthermore, there have always been differences of opinion between the US and Iran. Iran can never offer its enemy to become the supreme leader. Because this will end the existence of Iran and America will take control over Iran, which is impossible for Tehran and its people to accept.
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