US President Donald Trump has said that a change of government in Iran would be "the best thing," amid reports the US military is preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations.
Trump's comments were his most overt call yet for the toppling of Iran's government, and came as he pushes on Washington's foe Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme.
Trump declined to say who he would want to take over in Iran from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but he added that "there are people."
Reuters has reported that the US military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack.
Citing two US officials, Reuters said that this would raise the stakes for the diplomacy underway between the United States and Iran and could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries.
US officials said on Friday the Pentagon was sending an additional aircraft carrier to the Middle East, adding thousands more troops along with fighter aircraft, guided-missile destroyers and other firepower capable of waging attacks and defending against them.