Trump Says ‘Somebody From Within’ Iran More Appropriate to Lead Than Son of Late Shah

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the next leader of Iran should be a person “from within,” amid speculation that the exiled son of the late shah could be tapped for the role.

There has been speculation that Reza Pahlavi, the heir of the House of Pahlavi that formerly led Iran, could return to the country and lead it after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S. airstrikes over the weekend. Pahlavi, former crown prince and the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, recently said he would want to lead Iran in a transition to democracy if the current regime collapses.

“Some people like [Pahlavi], and we haven’t been thinking too much about that. It would seem to me that somebody from within, maybe would be more appropriate,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Trump said Pahlavi “looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular, if there’s such a person, but we have people like that.” Without providing more details, Trump also said, “We have people that were more moderate.”

Trump’s comments came four days into a U.S.-Israeli aerial operation that has targeted Iran’s military, leadership, and nuclear program. Iran has responded by firing rockets and drones into nearby countries, disrupting travel and causing the price of oil to spike.

The conflict has also spread to Lebanon, where Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel, prompting Israeli strikes in Beirut and additional troop deployments to southern Lebanon.

During an interview with CBS News this week, Pahlavi stated that Iranians “trust me as a transitional leader” and “not as the future king or future president or future whatever.”

“I’m totally focused on my mission in life, which is [to] let me bring the country to a point that they can make that free choice,” he said. “That would be enough for me having said mission accomplished.”

Pahlavi’s father was the last shah, or king, of Iran before the 1979 revolution. He left the country in 1979 amid increasing political tensions and as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to become the country’s leader when revolutionaries overtook the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held dozens of Americans hostage for more than a year.

In the CBS interview, Pahlavi said he wants to “join millions of my compatriots inside and outside of Iran to thank” Trump for launching the military campaign.

The Trump administration in January ordered a military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, taking him to the United States to face drug-related charges. Trump has said he would work with Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vice president.

Although Germany had no involvement in the U.S.-Israeli operation that targeted Iran, Merz said in the Oval Office meeting on Tuesday that Germany and the United States are working together.

“We are on the same page in terms of getting this terrible regime in Tehran away,” Merz said, adding that the strikes should “put an end to the destructive game being played by a weakened regime.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.