Trump speculates about regime change in Iran after US strikes

US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a change in leadership in Iran, after his country joined Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Sunday, Trump posted on social media to ask “why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

His remarks came after other top US officials stressed that toppling Iran’s leaders was not the aim of Saturday’s military action, during which US bombers targeted three sites in an effort to curtail Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Trump has previously criticised US involvement in overseas conflicts, including in Iraq, where the US and its allies toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

In Sunday’s post, Trump wrote: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???”

It appeared to put him at odds with his top allies. Over the weekend, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the “mission was not and has not been about regime change” – a message that was echoed by Vice-President JD Vance.

Trump’s post caused a flurry of speculation, but one of his former officials questioned how seriously it should be taken.

Elliott Abrams, who was the American envoy to Iran during Trump’s first presidency, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there had been a lot of “misdirection” following the comments, and that Trump might just be “kidding around”.