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THE United States has indicated it wants a say in Iran’s future leadership as the conflict with Iran intensified, with American and Israeli forces escalating strikes across the country while the war spread to several neighbouring states.
US President Donald Trump said Washington intended to play a role in shaping Iran’s political future following the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening hours of the joint US–Israeli air campaign.
In a phone interview with Reuters, Trump dismissed the possibility that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader and widely viewed as a potential successor, would assume power.
"We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future," he said.
Trump also voiced support for Iranian Kurdish forces to launch an offensive against Tehran, adding that Washington had been in contact with Kurdish groups since the strikes began.
"I'd be all for it," said Trump, declining to specify whether the United States would provide air cover for such operations.
The widening conflict has become a major political gamble for the Republican president, particularly as rising global oil prices and energy supply disruptions have pushed fuel costs higher in the United States.
Trump brushed aside concerns over domestic economic pressures.
On the sixth day of hostilities, Iran launched retaliatory strikes against targets in Israel as well as Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In Bahrain, emergency crews were forced to extinguish a blaze at a refinery following a missile strike.
Security sources also reported drone attacks targeting an Iranian opposition camp in Iraqi Kurdistan and an oil field operated by a US company.
The Israeli military warned residents to evacuate several districts in eastern Tehran as fresh air raids struck areas across the capital. Iranian state television reported explosions in multiple locations, including an attack on a guesthouse northwest of Tehran that killed 17 people.
"Today is worse than yesterday. They are striking northern Tehran. We have nowhere to go. It is like a war zone. Help us," said Mohammadreza, 36, speaking by telephone from the capital as explosions were heard nearby.
US defence officials said the campaign could continue indefinitely, insisting that American forces possessed sufficient weapons to maintain sustained operations.
"Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation," Reuters cited US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters at Central Command headquarters in Florida. "Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad."
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US forces in the Middle East, said American strikes had targeted at least 30 Iranian vessels, including what he described as a large drone carrier comparable in size to a Second World War aircraft carrier.
He added that B-2 bombers had deployed dozens of heavy penetrator bombs against deeply buried ballistic missile launchers, while additional strikes focused on Iran’s missile production facilities.
According to Cooper, Iran’s ballistic missile attacks had fallen by roughly 90 per cent since the first day of the war, while drone strikes had dropped by 83 per cent.
The conflict has increasingly drawn in other countries across the region. Azerbaijan accused Iran of launching drones into its territory and responded by closing its southern airspace for 12 hours. Tehran denied the accusation, but the incident underscored how rapidly the confrontation has widened.
Other countries have also been affected by the escalation.
Cyprus and Turkey reported being targeted, while European governments pledged to deploy naval forces to the eastern Mediterranean.
Hostilities have even been reported near waters off Sri Lanka, where a US submarine sank an Iranian warship earlier in the week, killing 80 crew members. - March 6, 2026