Sen. Tom Cotton says "not a simple answer" as to who will lead Iran now

Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated Sunday on 'Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan' that there is 'not a simple answer' regarding who will lead Iran following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a massive U.S.-Israeli military operation that began Saturday. Cotton explained that Iran has a 'very consultative, deliberative process to replace the supreme leader' and noted that Khamenei deliberately avoided establishing a clear succession plan. The U.S. and Israel launched the military operation inside Iran on Saturday, which continued into Sunday, resulting in at least 200 deaths according to Iranian state media, while Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel and Middle Eastern allies, killing at least seven people including Israeli military personnel and one in Abu Dhabi. Khamenei, 86, had ruled Iran as supreme leader since 1989 and was only the second person to hold the position. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that seven Iranian officials and commanders were killed, including Ali Shamkhani, a Khamenei adviser. When asked about Secretary of State Marco Rubio's January comments that there's 'not a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran,' Cotton agreed but expressed hope for a situation similar to Venezuela's transition after the U.S. captured then-President Nicolas Maduro. Cotton emphasized that the U.S. will continue targeting Iran's 'military capabilities' and 'senior leadership, the ayatollahs,' while defining the preferred new leadership as coming from the '90 million Iranians who have suffered under the brutal Islamic Republic Revolutionary regime for the last 47 years.' Despite President Trump's Saturday mention of potential American casualties, Cotton insisted there would be no 'large-scale, ground force' inside Iran. He did acknowledge that one risk of an 'extended air and naval campaign' is the possibility of an aircraft being shot down, noting that the U.S. has 'combat search and rescue assets in the region that are prepared to go in and extract any downed pilot.' The ongoing military operations have already caused significant disruption in the Middle East, with thousands of travelers stranded as strikes continue to snarl travel throughout the region.