Regime change would be the ideal outcome to the crisis in Iran, US President Donald Trump said on Friday, as he sent the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Middle East ahead of possible military action.
Mr Trump told reporters he wanted to settle the situation in Iran "once and for all". Without naming anyone, he said "there are people" he believes could take over in Iran should the current government fall.
The National first reported that even as Washington talks to Tehran about a possible new deal to avert war, the White House is working with Iranian-American business leaders to advise on the formation of some sort of transitional entity to help govern Iran in the event of the regime's collapse.
It "seems like that would be the best thing that could happen," Mr Trump said when asked if he supported regime change in Iran. His comments came hours after he confirmed a second aircraft carrier would be soon be steaming to the Middle East and warned Iran that the additional firepower would be put to use if Tehran doesn't make a new nuclear deal.
"For 47 years, they've been talking and talking and talking," Mr Trump said. "In the meantime, we've lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We've been going on for a long time. So let's see what happens."
The National on Thursday first reported that the USS Gerald R Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, will be sent to the region to join the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Ford strike group will come from the Caribbean, where it was posted in November ahead of the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House earlier on Friday, Mr Trump said the super carrier "will be leaving very soon".
If "we don't have a deal, we'll need it," he said. "We have it ready. A big, a very big force."
The deployment of a second carrier comes after Washington and Tehran last week held talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Trump on Thursday said that if Iran did not make a deal, it would be “very traumatic” for the country.
Last month, the Pentagon sent the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group from the Indo-Pacific to the Gulf as the Iranian government launched a brutal crackdown on citizens who had taken to the streets to protest against worsening economic conditions.
Influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time Iran hawk and a close ally of Mr Trump, said on Friday that it would be a "disaster" if the President "lets the Iranian regime survive".
Speaking at a Politico event at the Munich Security Conference, he said it means "you can't rely on America".
At a separate panel, he added that he had "never seen a more consequential time in history".
"If we can take this regime down through the people - their desire, not ours, and replace it with a friend, not a foe, [it would be] be the biggest change in 1,000 years," he said. "We've had it with this regime."
Thousands were killed during Iran's protests. On January 13, Mr Trump told Iranians to keep protesting and to take over their country's institutions, promising them that “help is on its way”.
In the month since, the US has been engaged with Tehran over its nuclear programme and Mr Trump has claimed to still favour a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. But he might simply be using talks as cover to buy time while the Pentagon posts warships, planes and missile defence units across the Middle East.
