Last week, President Donald Trump walked out of the Iran nuclear deal. He announced that the U.S. will not hesitate to impose sanctions on any nation that helps Iran’s interests.
On Sunday, John Bolton, National Security Adviser, appeared on the CNN ‘s State of The Union and hinted that the U.S. wouldn’t think twice about imposing sanctions on its allies if they continue to help Iran. The sanctions depend on the conduct of their respective governments, he said.
He explained that the U.S. walked out of the agreement because Iran had never made a strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons, and it was testing the limits of the deal’s provisions and exceeding them in some cases. “So the president has to make a decision where America’s national interests lie, and it did not lie in continuing this deal,” he said.
Echoing Trump’s perspective on the deal, Bolton said that the agreement was flawed. He explained that the “fundamental deficiencies of the deal” would not stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. On the contrary, it provided cover for Iran to continue its efforts, and, if the U.S. had continued to be a part of the deal, it would have given Iran extraordinary economic benefits. “So the rationale for getting out of the deal is contrary to America’s national security interests when we entered it,” he said.
He said that the intention of the U.S. for getting out of the deal was to reimpose all American sanctions as they were before the deal came into effect.
#Trump & #Bolton call for regime change in #Iran even as they speak of peace https://t.co/wBSuX2TpQD pic.twitter.com/DivDTbRRI4
— RT (@RT_com) May 11, 2018
“Iran’s economic condition is really quite shaky so the effect here could be dramatic,” he said.
Bolton pointed out that because of the deal, Iran was able to take advantage of turmoil in the region to advance its interests all across the Middle East—in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
The consequences of American sanctions goes well beyond the goods shipped by American countries because of our technology licenses to many other countries and businesses around the world, he added.
Bolton added that the U.S. has support from countries like Israel and other Arab nations. “The EU too will see in their interests to come along with us,” he said.
