Trump Says Iran Leadership Unclear Amid War

President Donald Trump said on October 6 that Iran's leaders and second group of leaders are gone and "the biggest problem I have is nobody knows who the hell is running the country." The war is in its eighth month. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed February 28, the first day. His son Mojtaba succeeded him but has not appeared publicly since reportedly being injured in the same strike. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. Iran struck Israel and Gulf states hosting US bases. Esmaeil Baghaei said Sunday that Washington knows Iran's counterpart and decision-making system, and that "the problem is actually the opposite: it lies in the contradictory positions and mixed messaging from US officials." Trump said Saturday he will make a decision on Iran and that after Iran has been "decimated," it will be "the easy way or the hard way." He said Iran was "virtually giving up any plans to have a nuclear weapon" without details. Axios reported senior US national security advisers met at Camp David on Iran policy. Iranian officials are preparing contingency plans for renewed US action, per Reuters. A ceasefire took effect April 8 after 40 days of war.