Trump says 48 leaders killed in strikes on Iran, and new leaders want to talk
Trump said in media interviews on Sunday that 48 leaders were killed in strikes on Iran, but that he would "be talking" to new Iranian leaders, although he didn't specify when.
US President Donald Trump speaks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, accompanied by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during military operations in Iran, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, US, February 28, 2026. (Photo: The White House/Social Media/Handout via REUTERS)
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday (March 1) that 48 leaders have been killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
"It's moving along. It's moving along rapidly. This has been this way for 47 years," he was quoted as saying in an interview with Fox News. "It's moving along rapidly. Nobody can believe the success we're having; 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it's moving along rapidly."
In another interview with The Atlantic, Trump on Sunday said he would "be talking" to Iranian leaders but was vague on the timing and noted that much of the country's leadership was dead.
"They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner," Trump said as US and Israeli forces continued a war against Iran for a second day.
Trump did not indicate with whom he hoped to speak or when.
SOME IRANIANS IN PRIOR US TALKS KILLED
Referring to the Iranian leadership, which has been in years of on-and-off talks with the US and other Western governments, Trump said, "most of those people are gone."
"Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big - that was a big hit," Trump was quoted as saying, apparently referring to the strike that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials.
"They should have done it sooner," he said. "They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute."
In Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian said a leadership council composed of himself, the judiciary head and a member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
