"It seems that would be the best outcome," US President Donald Trump stated on 13/2, when a reporter asked about pressuring for regime change in Iran, immediately after visiting troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. "For the past 47 years, they've only talked, talked, and talked."

When further questioned, Trump declined to reveal whom he would want to replace Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei to assume power, but added that "there are suitable individuals."

This marks the first time President Trump has publicly mentioned "power change" in Iran. He previously often dismissed the idea that US policy involved military intervention for regime change in Iran, warning that such action could lead to chaos.

President Donald Trump at Pope Army Airfield in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on 13/2. *Photo: AP*

In recent weeks, Trump had implied that his top priority was for Iran to further reduce its nuclear program. However, on 13/2, the president stated that this was only one of several concessions Washington required from Tehran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited Washington last week for talks with President Trump, is advocating for an agreement that must include provisions to neutralize Iran's ballistic missile program and end its funding for armed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

"If we do that, it's just the bare minimum," Trump said about targeting Tehran's nuclear program, which suffered heavy damage after US airstrikes last year.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Before the US-Israel strikes in 6/2025, the country had enriched uranium to 60% purity, whereas uranium for nuclear weapons requires enrichment to 90%.

Trump's more assertive comments on Iran come weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio remarked that orchestrating a power transition in Iran would be "very complex."

During a Senate hearing last month, Secretary Rubio stated that in Iran's case, "we are talking about an apparatus that has existed for a very long time." He added, "Therefore, it requires very careful calculation if such a situation were to actually occur."

Iran recently declared its readiness to negotiate with the US to resolve disagreements, but insisted that the diplomatic path must be free of any pressure or threatening actions.

Meanwhile, Trump recently announced that the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is being deployed from the Caribbean to the Middle East to join other warships and military assets that the US has augmented in the region.

"In case we don't reach a deal, we'll need it," Trump told reporters about the second aircraft carrier. "It will be underway very soon."

Nevertheless, the president left open the possibility of reaching an agreement with Iran.

"Give us the deal they should have given us from the beginning," Trump said, referring to how Iran could avoid US military action. "If they make a proper deal, we won't do that."

The US military has deployed the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and other assets to the Middle East in recent months, as tensions between Washington and Tehran, stemming from protests that erupted in late 12/2025 in Iran, have not subsided.

US-Iran nuclear negotiations resumed early this month following tensions between the two nations.

Iranian sources indicate that Trump has demanded three conditions for a potential agreement: no uranium enrichment in Iran, restrictions on its ballistic missile program, and an end to Tehran's support for armed groups in the region.

Iran has so far rejected expanding negotiations with the US on issues beyond its nuclear program. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on 11/2 that Tehran would "not concede to excessive demands." However, he affirmed that Iran does not seek to possess nuclear weapons.

Vu Hoang (According to AP, AFP)