Trump: Anyone Who Aims to Lead Iran Will End Up Dead

US President Donald Trump said that the United States and Israel were in a strong position in their war with Iran. Trump vowed that they would continue to push back against the Islamic Republic. According to AFP, on Thursday (5 March 2026), Trump said the would-be successor to Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “ends up dead” and that Tehran’s ballistic missile arsenal was being “destroyed rapidly.” “We are fine on the battlefield, in short. Someone asked on a scale of 10, how would you rate it? I said about 15,” Trump told technology executives at the White House. “We are in a very strong position now, and their leadership is rapidly fading. Anyone who seems to want to lead, they end up dead.” Speaking on the fifth day of the war, Trump repeated his justification for striking Iran, saying Tehran was on a path to acquire a nuclear weapon. “When crazies have nuclear weapons, bad things happen,” added Trump. Iran is reported to be arranging a three-day state funeral for the late Khamenei, who died as a result of the US and Israel attack. The state funeral proceedings will begin on Wednesday night local time. The Iranian Islamic Development Coordination Council, as reported by AFP on Wednesday (4 March), announced that citizens would have the opportunity to pay their final respects to Khamenei at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran. “From 22:00 local time, the public may pay their final respects to the martyr leader by visiting the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque,” the Islamic Development Coordination Council said, quoted by IRNA.