This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

US President Donald Trump suggested he might welcome the toppling of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei despite members of his administration insisting that US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities over the weekend were not intended to bring about “regime change.”

Israel allegedly pushed a plan to kill Khamenei, only to have Trump reject the move. Soon after, however, the US president called Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader “an easy target” who “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”

In the face of all this, reports say Khamenei has already accelerated the hunt for his successor in response to Israel launching large-scale air attacks on June 13.