By Jerry Fisayo-Bambi with AP
Published on 14/02/2026 – 9:12 GMT+1•Updated
9:27
US President Donald Trump said Friday that a change in power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen” as his administration weighs whether to take military action against Tehran.
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The remarks came shortly after Trump confirmed earlier on Friday that he was sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and after he spoke with troops at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
“It seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters when asked about pressing for the ouster of the Islamic clerical rule in Iran. “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking.”
Although Trump has stated in recent weeks that further reducing Iran’s nuclear program is his top objective, he implied on Friday that this is just one of many concessions the United States requires from Iran.
During his trip to Washington this week to meet with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been insistent that any agreement include measures to stop Iran’s support of proxy organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah and to neutralise its ballistic missile development.
“If we do it, that would be the least of the mission,” Trump said of targeting Tehran’s nuclear program, which suffered significant setbacks in US military strikes last year.
Another round of talks planned
Trump’s remarks supporting the possible overthrow of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also come weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the administration’s recent attempt to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from office was not nearly as complicated as a possible change of power in Iran.
During a Senate hearing last month, Rubio stated that “you’re talking about a regime that’s in place for a very long time” when discussing Iran.
“So that’s going to require a lot of careful thinking, if that eventuality ever presents itself,” Rubio said.
Trump said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, is being sent from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to join other warships and military assets the US has built up in the region.
Trump had suggested another round of talks with the Iranians was planned for this week, but those negotiations didn’t materialize as one of Tehran’s top security officials visited Oman and Qatar and exchanged messages with US intermediaries.
“In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it,” Trump told reporters about the second carrier. He added, “It’ll be leaving very soon.”
With the Middle East still reeling from the Israel-Hamas battle in the Gaza Strip, Gulf Arab countries have already cautioned that any attack may escalate into another regional confrontation.
Iranians are also starting to observe 40-day mourning rituals in remembrance of the thousands of people who were slain during Tehran’s brutal suppression of statewide demonstrations last month, which will increase internal pressure on the heavily sanctioned Islamic Republic.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but experts say before the June war, Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.