White House says US well on way toward controlling Iran airspace

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The ‌United States ​is ​well on its way toward controlling Iranian airspace, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, ‌adding that Washington expects the achievable U.S. objectives to ⁠be completed in four to six weeks.

Speaking to reporters at the ‌White House, Leavitt also said ‌Washington was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after President Donald Trump told Reuters in an ​interview that the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.

"I know there's a number ⁠of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at, ​but I won't get any further on that," Leavitt said.

In the interview on Thursday, Trump said ​that he thinks the next leader ‌of Iran is unlikely to be the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son, who has ⁠emerged as a frontrunner to succeed his father, who was killed in a military strike at the start of the war.

Earlier on ⁠Friday, Trump said there would be no deal struck with Iran except "unconditional ​surrender."

"What the President means is that when he, as Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces, determines that Iran no longer poses ‌a threat to the United States of America, and the goals of Operation Epic Fury has ‌been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a ⁠place of unconditional surrender, ‌whether they say it ​themselves or not," Leavitt said.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Steve Holland, Additional reporting by Costas Pitasediting by Michelle ‌Nichols)

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