How does Donald Trump see his war on Iran continuing?

US President Donald Trump has outlined his plans for the next phase of the US-Israeli war on Iran, following Saturday’s attack on the country and the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a series of social media posts and interviews.

He also expressed satisfaction with what he called the “weakness” of Iran’s response, and claimed that he still wanted a “diplomatic” solution.

Military operations to continue throughout the week

After announcing that the US had killed Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei on Saturday night, Trump said that “intense and precise bombing will continue uninterrupted throughout the week or as long as necessary,” and claimed that the goal of this was “bringing peace to the entire Middle East, and indeed the whole world.”

He warned that if the Iranian regime retaliates, he would strike them with force “the likes of which they have never seen before.”

‘I can prolong or end it’

Trump has also claimed to be fully in control of the situation saying he was able to “prolong the war or stop it”.  In televised remarks, he said he has “a number of options for exiting this battle with Iran.” He told Axios editor Barak Ravid: “I can prolong it and control everything, or I can end it within a few days and tell the Iranians: we’ll see you again in a few years if you start rebuilding. In either case, it will take them several years to recover from this attack.”

Regime change?

In his speech directly after the attacks began, Trump identified overthrowing the Iranian regime as a possible objective and called on the Iranian people to wait until the attacks were over, then take to the streets to “take control.”

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday evening, he said: “This is the greatest opportunity for the Iranian people to reclaim their country,” calling on members of the Revolutionary Guard, the army, and the police to surrender and work with the Iranian people or “they will face death.”

 Later, in remarks to CBS, he said: “There are some qualified candidates to lead Iran,” without providing further details.

Trump open to an Iranian ‘surrender’ as a diplomatic solution

Trump launched his attack on Iran while negotiations were underway regarding its nuclear programme. However, he told CBS that he believes the joint US-Israeli attacks “could pave the way for diplomacy.” In a phone interview, he said: “It’s much easier now than it was a day ago, of course, because they are taking heavy hits.” He also indicated that the Iranian counterattacks were less than what the United States and its allies had expected.