白宫称军事行动初始阶段已消灭49名伊朗高级领导人
摩根·菲利普斯、埃弗拉特·拉赫特报道
福克斯新闻
2026年3月3日 美国东部时间下午1:20发布
福克斯新闻首席国家安全记者詹妮弗·格里芬在《美国新闻室》节目中报道了”史诗狂怒行动”的最新进展、任务后续计划及更多细节。
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美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，美国对伊朗的军事打击已基本摧毁伊朗政权预期的领导层继任梯队，这引发了新的疑问：在最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊去世后，谁将领导这个伊斯兰共和国？
“我们原本属意的大多数人都已死亡，”特朗普周二告诉记者，”所以，你知道，我们心中的一些人已经死了。现在我们有了另一群人，根据报道，他们也可能已经死亡。所以，我想会有第三波（打击）。很快我们就可能不认识任何人了。”
总统称最坏的情况是有人接任”和前领导人一样糟糕”。
“这可能发生，”特朗普说，”我们不希望这种情况发生。这可能是你经历的最糟糕的情况，然后在五年后，你意识到你选了一个并不更好的人。我们希望看到有人能为人民带来改变，我们会看看这些人的情况。你知道，他们有机会。”
这番言论发表之际，以色列对伊朗圣城库姆与该国专家会议相关的建筑发动了打击。以色列国防军发言人埃菲·德夫林向福克斯新闻数字版证实，这是对恐怖主义相关目标的打击。
“我们打击了几个与恐怖主义有关的目标，”德夫林说。
伊朗媒体声称，袭击发生时该建筑是空的。德夫林表示，以色列尚未对损坏情况进行评估。
白宫称，在行动的初始阶段，49名伊朗高级领导人被清除，特朗普称该行动”提前完成”。
然而，国防官员强调，此次行动并非旨在迫使政权更迭。
“这不是所谓的政权更迭战争，”战争部长彼得·赫格塞斯说，”但政权确实发生了变化，世界今天因此变得更好。”
这一区别现在成为了一个关键的地缘政治问题：如果美国无意推翻伊朗的统治体系，却已清除了其大部分高层领导人和继任链条，接下来会发生什么？
特朗普称美国的打击行动已消除了伊朗大部分继任候选人，这意味着在最高领袖阿里·哈梅内伊去世后，谁将领导伊朗尚不确定。（伊朗领袖新闻办公室/阿纳多卢/盖蒂图片社）
伊朗的继任流程本应如何运作
根据伊朗宪法，当最高领袖职位出现空缺时，专家会议将选举新的最高领袖。在此期间，由总统、司法机构负责人和高级神职人员组成的三人委员会将履行领袖职责，直至选出永久继任者。
哈梅内伊去世后，伊朗当局已启动这一宪法机制。总统马苏德·佩泽什基安、司法负责人戈拉姆-侯赛因·穆赫森尼-埃贾伊和高级神职人员阿里雷扎·阿拉菲正在监督过渡阶段。
这一结构旨在防止那种可能破坏威权体系的权力真空。但特朗普声称多名潜在继任者被杀害，这加剧了人们对德黑兰神职人员是否仍有清晰可行的前进道路的疑虑。
虽然以色列官员暗示最近的袭击针对了高级官员，但伊朗尚未公开确认神职人员或继任层级的伤亡名单。专家会议本身受到直接破坏的程度尚不清楚。
潜在继任者及报告的损失
司法负责人穆赫森尼-埃贾伊长期以来被视为继任框架内的高级内部人士，仍是过渡领导委员会成员。
《纽约时报》此前报道称，哈梅内伊在去年伊朗与以色列为期12天的战争期间已悄然开始为权力过渡做准备。
据报道，潜在继任者包括他的幕僚长阿里·阿斯加尔·赫贾齐、穆赫森尼-埃贾伊和伊斯兰共和国创始人鲁霍拉·霍梅尼的孙子哈桑·霍梅尼。
阿里雷扎·阿拉菲阿亚图拉被一些分析师视为哈梅内伊最高领袖职位的潜在继任者。（伊朗国际新闻提供）
以色列官员声称赫贾齐在最近的袭击中丧生，但伊朗当局尚未公开证实他的死亡。
阿里雷扎·阿拉菲阿亚图拉也被一些分析师视为神职人员阶层中的潜在竞争者。
特朗普称”第二或第三顺位者已死亡”，这表明美国情报部门评估领导层的多个层级受到影响。然而，尚未公布关于继任排名人物死亡情况的全面公开说明。
“史诗狂怒行动：美国空军如何摧毁伊朗恐怖政权”
权力转移的风险
一些分析师警告称，清除多层级领导层可能导致权力真空，这与其他国家在推翻根深蒂固的统治者后出现的情况类似。
2011年卡扎菲政权倒台后，利比亚陷入了民兵割据和政府分裂的局面。美国入侵伊拉克也导致了长期的叛乱和地区动荡。
伊朗的情况有所不同，该国保留了正式的继承规则、中央集权机构和运作中的国家官僚体系。
但如果神职人员领导人难以就继任者达成一致，可能会出现相互竞争的权力中心。
控制着庞大军事、情报和经济资产的伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC），在文职宗教领导层出现动摇时可能会试图巩固影响力。
“当神职人员无法达成一致时，权力不会消失，而是会转移，”民主与国防基金会的分析师在最近的评估中警告称，”持续的不稳定最有可能使伊斯兰革命卫队受益。”
国内动荡与反对派人物
伊朗领导层已面临严重的国内动荡。
2025年12月底，全国范围内爆发抗议活动，起因是经济困难和政治不满，引发了政府的大规模镇压。特朗普声称，在政权镇压期间有32,000人死亡，这一数字远高于伊朗官方声明和独立估计。
为了压制通讯并阻碍示威者之间的协调，伊朗当局在动荡期间以及美国打击开始后再次实施了近乎全面的互联网封锁。
在政权之外，反对派人物已准备在更广泛的政治重组中充当过渡性声音。
伊朗前国王的流亡儿子雷扎·巴列维将自己定位为反对派的象征，以及如果神职人员秩序崩溃后可能引导伊朗走向民主制度的过渡人物。
但巴列维现居美国，特朗普周二表示，伊朗国内可能有更”合适”的人选。
“有些人喜欢他，我们并没有过多考虑这一点，”特朗普说，”在我看来，或许内部的人更合适。我说过他看起来是个非常不错的人，但在我看来，如果有这样的人，现在在伊朗国内受欢迎的人会更合适。”
玛丽安·拉贾维是伊朗全国抵抗委员会（由人民圣战者组织领导的流亡反对派团体联盟）的当选总统，她主张推翻神职人员政权并建立民主共和国。
这两人都有国际支持者，但他们在伊朗国内的实际影响力仍不确定且存在争议。
德黑兰，伊朗，2026年3月2日，空袭后升起的烟雾。（莫森·甘吉/美联社）
不是政权更迭——但这是什么？
美国对中东干预的批评者经常指出，过去的政权更迭努力带来的是不稳定而非稳定。
特朗普转而将委内瑞拉作为更相关的例子。
今年1月，美国军队逮捕了总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗，副总统德尔西·罗德里格斯根据委内瑞拉宪法程序接管权力。在华盛顿通过经济压力、石油资产法律诉讼和外交接触（而非直接统治）施加影响的同时，该国的治理机构继续运作。
特朗普在接受福克斯新闻的布雷特·拜尔采访时表示，委内瑞拉行动是”接管”并可与美国合作的领导模式，这表明政府认为，在压力下巩固的体系可以调整，而非彻底崩溃。
伊朗将遵循这种模式——尽管领导层遭受毁灭性打击但维持机构连续性——还是神职人员内部出现更深裂痕，仍是中东地区最具影响力的未解问题之一。
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Trump says Iran strikes eliminated most leadership succession candidates | Fox News
White House says 49 top Iranian leaders were eliminated in opening phase of military campaign
By Morgan Phillips, Efrat Lachter
Fox News
Published March 3, 2026 1:20pm EST
Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports the latest on Operation Epic Fury, what’s next in the mission and more during ‘America’s Newsroom.’
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President Donald Trump said U.S. military strikes on Iran have eliminated much of the regime’s anticipated leadership succession bench, raising new questions about who will emerge to lead the Islamic Republic after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. “So, you know, we had some in mind from that group that is, is dead. And now we have another group. They may be dead also based on reports. So, I guess you have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”
The president said the worst-case scenario would be someone taking over “who’s as bad as the previous person.”
“That could happen,” Trump said. “We don’t want that to happen. It would probably be the worse you go through this, and then, in five years, you realize you put somebody in who was no better. We’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people, and we’ll see what happens with the people. You know, they have their chance.”
The remarks come as Israeli strikes hit the building in the holy city of Qom, Iran, associated with the country’s Assembly of Experts, the 88-member clerical body constitutionally responsible for selecting the next supreme leader, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Effie Defrin confirmed to Fox News Digital.
“We struck a few targets involved in terrorism,” Defrin said.
Iranian media has claimed the building was empty at the time of the strikes. Israel does not yet have a battle damage assessment, Defrin said.
The White House has said 49 top Iranian leaders were taken out in the opening phase of the campaign, which Trump said put the operation “ahead of schedule.”
Defense officials, however, have stressed the operation was not designed to force regime change.
“This is not a so-called regime change war,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth said. “But the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it today.”
That distinction now sits at the center of a critical geopolitical question: If the U.S. did not intend to overthrow Iran’s ruling system but has eliminated much of its top leadership and succession chain, what happens next?
Trump said U.S. strikes eliminated much of Iran’s succession bench, meaning it’s unclear who will lead after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.(Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images)
How Iran’s succession process is supposed to work
Under Iran’s constitution, the Assembly of Experts selects a new supreme leader when the position becomes vacant. In the interim, a three-person council — composed of the president, the head of the judiciary and a senior cleric — carries out the leader’s duties until a permanent successor is chosen.
After Khamenei’s death, Iranian authorities moved to activate that constitutional mechanism. President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and senior cleric Alireza Arafi are overseeing the interim phase.
The structure is designed to prevent exactly the kind of vacuum that can destabilize authoritarian systems. But Trump’s assertion that multiple potential successors were killed has intensified uncertainty about whether Tehran’s clerical establishment still has a clear and viable path forward.
While Israeli officials have indicated that senior figures were targeted in recent strikes, Iran has not publicly confirmed a full list of clerical or succession-level casualties. The extent to which the Assembly of Experts itself was directly disrupted remains unclear.
Potential successors and reported losses
Judiciary chief Mohseni-Ejei has long been viewed as a senior insider within the succession framework and remains part of the interim leadership council.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had quietly begun preparing for a potential transition during last year’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel, according to prior reporting by The New York Times.
Possible successors reportedly included his chief of staff Ali Asghar Hejazi, Mohseni-Ejei and Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi is seen as a potential successor to Khamanei as supreme leader.(Courtesy Iran International)
Israeli officials have claimed Hejazi was killed in recent strikes, though Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed his death.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has also been viewed by some analysts as a potential contender within the clerical hierarchy.
Trump’s claim that “second or third place is dead” suggests U.S. intelligence assessed that multiple tiers of leadership were affected. However, no comprehensive public accounting of succession-ranking figures killed has been released.
OPERATION EPIC FURY: HOW AMERICA’S AIR POWER IS CRUSHING IRAN’S TERROR REGIME
Risk of power shifts
Some analysts warn that wiping out multiple tiers of leadership risks creating the kind of power vacuum that has destabilized other countries after the removal of entrenched rulers.
After Moammar Gadhafi was removed in Libya in 2011, rival militias and competing governments fractured the country. The U.S. invasion of Iraq similarly led to prolonged insurgency and regional upheaval.
Iran’s situation is not identical. The country retains formal succession rules, centralized institutions and a functioning state bureaucracy.
But if clerical leaders struggle to agree on a successor, competing power centers could emerge.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which controls vast military, intelligence and economic assets, could move to consolidate influence if civilian religious leadership falters.
“When clerics cannot agree, power does not disappear. It shifts,” analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote in a recent assessment, warning that sustained instability could empower the IRGC. “The most likely beneficiary of sustained instability is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Domestic unrest and opposition figures
Iran’s leadership already has faced intense domestic unrest.
Nationwide protests erupted in late December 2025 concerning economic hardship and political grievances, prompting a sweeping government crackdown. Trump has claimed 32,000 people were killed during the regime’s response, a figure significantly higher than official Iranian statements and independent estimates.
To stifle communication and hinder coordination among demonstrators, Iranian authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout during the unrest and again after the start of U.S. strikes.
Outside the regime, opposition figures have positioned themselves as potential transitional voices in the event of broader political realignment.
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, has cast himself as a symbol of the opposition and a potential transitional figure who could steer Iran toward a democratic system if the clerical order collapses.
But Pahlavi lives in the U.S., and Trump said Tuesday someone within Iran might be more “appropriate.”
“Some people like him, and we haven’t been thinking too much about that,” Trump said. ‘It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate. I’ve said that he looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there that’s currently popular if there is such a person.”
Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran — a coalition of exiled opposition groups led by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) — advocates for the overthrow of the clerical regime and establishment of a democratic republic.
Both figures have international supporters, but their actual influence inside Iran remains uncertain and contested.
A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026.(Mohsen Ganji/AP)
Not regime change — but what is it?
Critics of U.S. intervention in the Middle East often point to past regime-change efforts that produced instability rather than stability.
Trump has instead pointed to Venezuela as a more relevant comparison.
In January, U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro, and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power under Venezuela’s constitutional process. The country’s governing institutions continued functioning while Washington exerted influence through economic pressure, legal action over oil assets and diplomatic engagement rather than direct rule.
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Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that the Venezuela operation was a template for leadership that “takes over” and one the United States can work with, suggesting the administration sees a pathway where entrenched systems adjust under pressure rather than collapse outright.
Whether Iran follows that model — maintaining institutional continuity despite devastating leadership losses — or whether deeper fractures emerge inside the clerical establishment remains one of the most consequential unanswered questions in the Middle East.
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