US says it is close to controlling Iranian airspace

According to the White House, the United States is well on its way to gaining control of Iranian airspace. The announcement was made on Friday by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. She added that Washington expects the military objectives of the operation to be achieved within four to six weeks.

Leavitt confirmed that the US administration is analysing potential candidates for Iran’s future leadership. She made the statement a day after President Donald Trump suggested that the United States should be involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.

‘I know that our intelligence services and the US government are monitoring several people, but I will not comment further on that,’ the spokeswoman told reporters at the White House.

Trump said on Thursday that, in his view, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – widely seen as one of the main candidates to succeed him – is unlikely to become Iran’s next leader.

On Friday he added that the United States would accept no agreement with Iran other than ‘unconditional surrender’. According to Leavitt, Trump means a situation in which Iran ceases to pose a threat to the US and all the objectives of the American military operation Epic Fury are achieved.

(reuters, max)