US President Donald Trump told journalists on the sidelines of the G7 summit on the shores of Lake Geneva he "never cared about regime change" in Iran, although he believed it had taken place anyway.
"I never cared about regime change ... but I guess you have regime change," Trump said on Tuesday after a meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
At the start of the war on February 28, Trump had called on Iranians to take control of their country's leadership. "This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country," he had written on Truth Social.
The Trump administration later repeatedly argued that the killing of numerous senior members of the Iranian leadership had effectively brought about a change of personnel at the top of the country.
Trump made similar remarks at the summit, saying the "first" and "second" groups were dead, as were parts of the "third group." The people now being negotiated with were rational, he said - not radicalized, and eager to help their country.
Trump also said: "I've watched regime changes for years, it didn't work."
