Administration Trump agrees to speak to Iran’s interim leadership: The Atlantic by Sophia Vento - 03/01/26 12:21 PM ET by Sophia Vento - 03/01/26 12:21 PM ET Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email NOW PLAYING President Trump on Sunday reportedly said he has agreed to speak to Iran’s new leadership after the U.S. and Israel’s joint strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, on Saturday. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them. They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” Trump told The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer in a Sunday morning interview , declining to state the timing of any call. Earlier Sunday, Iran named its interim leadership team as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Guardian Council jurist member Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, the head of the Iranian judiciary. The U.S. and Israel began launching strikes across Iran early Saturday. The mission, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” has resulted in the deaths of at least 200 Iranians, the country’s Red Crescent told state media Saturday. Aside from Khamenei, several other high-profile Iranian officials, including Ali Shamkhani, the leader of the national defense council, and Mohammad Pakpour, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed in the attacks. “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 told The Atlantic. “They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have made a deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.” Although Pezeshkian, Arafi and Mohseni-Eje’i will lead Tehran in the interim, an 88-member panel known as the Assembly of Experts “must” pick a new supreme leader “as soon as possible” under Iranian law. Saturday’s strike marked a stark escalation amid simmering tensions between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program. Trump, ahead of this weekend’s military action, had expressed frustration with how negotiations with Tehran were progressing. In recent weeks, the Trump administration had amassed a significant military presence in the region. Three U.S. service members were killed during Saturday’s military operation, per U.S. Central Command. Add as preferred source on Google Tags Ali Khamenei Donald Trump Masoud Pezeshkian Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Share ✕ LinkedIn LinkedIn Email Email More Administration News See All Administration Live updates: Trump warns Iran against retaliation; 3 US servicemembers killed by The Hill Staff 5 minutes ago Administration  /  5 minutes ago