Can take them out with one shot: Trump on Iranian leaders at Khamenei funeral

Trump said the US could strike Iran's leadership gathered for Ali Khamenei's funeral but chose not to. He said avoiding such a move would preserve nuclear negotiations with Iran.

In Short

• Iran is mourning the death of Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli airstrikes
• Trump said US could wipe out remaining Iranian leadership with 'one shot'
• He was referring to the gathering of senior Iranian figures at funeral procession

United States President Donald Trump asserted that Washington could eliminate the remaining leadership of Iran with just "one shot" if it wanted, referring to the gathering of senior Iranian figures at the funeral of Ali Khamenei, the late Iranian Supreme Leader who was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.

He, however, said that such a step was not what the US was willing to take as it wants negotiations with Iran to continue. "They are all there. One shot [and we can take them all out], but we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios.

In an interaction with the news outlet, he also said he was surprised to see some Iranians crying at the funeral, saying he thought people hated Khamenei. "Maybe it's fake tears," he said. Iran's embassy in Armenia reacted to Trump's remarks in a post on X: "You don't understand these things because you have neither civilization, nor history, nor honor."

- Ends
(With inputs from agencies)