Trump says he would like to meet Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei
by Tom Howell Jr. · The Washington TimesPresident Trump says that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is heavily involved in Iran’s decision-making during peace talks and that he would like to meet with the supreme leader at some point.
The ayatollah rose to the top cleric position after his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in the first round of military strikes by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28.
“I’d like to meet him,” Mr. Trump said of the younger Khamenei in a podcast interview with the New York Post posted Wednesday. “I’d love to meet everybody. I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out.”
Ayatollah Khamenei, 56, has not been seen in public and is believed to have been severely injured in military strikes.
“If you believe the stories, he’s missing a lot of different parts,” Mr. Trump said.
Yet U.S. officials say he holds sway over Iran’s decisions in peace talks.
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“He’s involved, absolutely. Yeah, I think they have a lot of respect for him,” Mr. Trump said.
The comments underscore Mr. Trump’s penchant for seeking personal interaction with adversarial or reclusive leaders. He boasts about his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and he held a series of summits with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
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Mr. Trump is working to approve a memorandum of understanding with Iran that would lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while setting the table for final talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.
In the new interview, Mr. Trump confirmed that he cussed out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his repeated incursions into Lebanon to bombard Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters. The operation is complicating peace talks with Iran.
“I was a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon,” Mr. Trump said.
The president said he works well with Mr. Netanyahu, however, and said the tough conversation came with the territory of being a “wartime president” and a “wartime prime minister.”
SEE ALSO: Kuwait says international airport damaged by Iranian drone and missile attacks
Mr. Netanyahu on Wednesday said the two have common goals and, like many families, have spats at times.
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“We do so as great friends,” Mr. Netanyahu told CNBC. “He respects me, I respect him.”
Democrats and other critics of the Iran war say Mr. Trump needs to end the conflict to ease global economic pressures and bring down U.S. gas prices that are well above $4 per gallon, on average, compared to less than $3 when the war began.
Mr. Trump said he will not be rushed into a bad deal, and the U.S. blockade of Iran could last through Labor Day.
“But I think it’s unlikely. I think that we’ll have it,” he said. “I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly.”
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Tom Howell Jr.
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