US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that no one knew who was running Iran during the US-Israeli war against it, which has now entered its eighth month.
“Their leaders are gone, the second group of leaders is gone, and the biggest problem I have is that nobody knows who is running the country,” Trump is quoted as saying.
But on the other hand, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Washington knows very well who its counterpart in Iran is and how the decision-making system there works.
“The problem is actually the opposite: it lies in the contradictory positions and confusing messages from American officials,” Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was assassinated on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, which began on February 28.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, succeeded him, but has not been seen in public since he was injured in the same attack that killed his father.
Following this, Iran responded with attacks on Israel and the Gulf states that host American bases.
US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.
Fuel prices, which have risen as a result of the war, also pose a risk to Trump’s Republican Party ahead of the November US midterm elections, where control of Congress is at stake.
Trump, whose approval ratings have remained at record lows amid concerns about the high cost of living caused by soaring gasoline and oil prices, has offered shifting timelines and objectives for the war.