Former National Security Adviser John Bolton told Newsmax on Friday that the United States acted at the right time to strike Iran, arguing Washington should not wait until a nuclear threat becomes imminent before moving to eliminate it.
Appearing on "Bianca Across the Nation," Bolton said the administration was right to act now rather than risk allowing Tehran's threat to grow more dangerous.
"I think it was the right time to go in," he said. "I don't think the nuclear threat was imminent, but I don't think the United States is required to risk the imminent destruction of our people before we take preventative action to remove the threat."
Bolton said the larger point is that the U.S. should not accept indefinitely living under the threat of a nuclear Iran.
"We don't have to live under the threat," he said. "That's just simply unacceptable."
The timing made strategic sense, Bolton argued, because the regime in Tehran is now more feeble and disfavored than it has been in decades.
"I do think that the moment was right," he said. "I think the regime in Tehran is as unpopular, as weak, as it's been at any point since it took power in 1979."
Bolton pointed to widespread frustration inside Iran, saying discontent runs across the country as the regime struggles with economic decline and growing public anger.
"There's dissatisfaction all across the country," he said. "The economy is in the tank."
Bolton said much of that frustration is especially visible among younger Iranians, who see a better future beyond the current regime.
"The young people who constitute under 30, or two-thirds of the population, know they could have a different life," he said. "They can see it across the Gulf and on the internet when the regime lets it operate."
Bolton added that opposition also remains strong among women and ethnic minorities, further exposing the regime's vulnerability.
"Women have been opposed to the regime ever since at least the murder of Mahsa Amini," he said. "Ethnic groups like the Kurds, the Azeris, the Baluchis, Arabs are dissatisfied."
Taken together, Bolton said, those pressures have left the regime exposed from within while outside pressure intensifies.
"This regime is very weak, and it can be pulled apart at the top," he said. "And that's what, in effect, what we and Israel are doing right now."
Still, Bolton said opposition forces inside Iran will have to carry much of the burden ahead, and he urged stronger U.S. support.
"We should be aiding them, giving them communications, assistance, money, weapons if they wanted," he said. "I think this is a time where we've staked a lot on this. We need to win."
Bolton also said Iran's threats against neighboring Gulf states only reinforce how dangerous the regime remains.
"If they needed any convincing or further proof of how risky, how dangerous the regime of the ayatollahs is, this is it," he said, adding that the regime "must be removed."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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