USA TODAY International Edition
Bolton: Military is ‘ready to go’
National security adviser John Bolton warned Iran on Sunday not to misinterpret President Donald Trump’s decision against military retaliation after Iran downed a U.S. drone as a sign the United States won’t use force to protect its interests in the Middle East.
“Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness,” Bolton said while visiting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. “No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East. As President Trump said Friday, our military is rebuilt, new and ready to go.”
Bolton, who said the world will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, promised tighter economic sanctions to be announced Monday that could drive leaders of the Persian Gulf state to the bargaining table.
Vice President Mike Pence echoed Bolton on Sunday, telling CNN’s “State of the Union” that Iran’s economy is “literally crumbling” under the weight of previously imposed sanctions.
“We have isolated them economically and diplomatically,” Pence said.
Iran said it shot down the drone over its coast. The Pentagon said the incident played out Thursday in international waters over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he canceled a retaliation strike minutes before it was to take place when military leaders told him about the potential for 150 Iranian deaths.
Trump secretly authorized U.S. Cyber Command to carry out a cyberattack that disabled Revolutionary Guard systems that control rocket and missile launches, officials told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the operation.
The Pentagon declined to confirm the cyberattack reports.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rebuffed U.S. warnings, blaming the economic “terrorism” of sanctions for Middle East tensions. Zarif accused Bolton of pushing the United States toward war.
“Prudence prevented it, but #EconomicTerrorism brings tension,” Zarif said.
Iranian Maj, Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid warned that Iran was prepared to defend itself against aggression – and that if war flares up, “its scope and timing could not be managed by any country.”
Trump has repeatedly said he is willing to negotiate with Iran without conditions.
“We are putting major additional sanctions on Iran on Monday,” Trump tweeted. “I look forward to the day that sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous nation again. The sooner the better!”
Trump said he is not ruling out military retaliation.
Tensions between the nations have been on the rise since Trump announced last year that the United States was pulling out of an agreement between Iran and several global powers that curtailed the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear buildup in return for easing some sanctions.
Other nations sought to keep the nuclear deal in place, and Iran was slow to formally bow out. Last week, Iran’s nuclear agency warned the country would soon break the uranium stockpile limit set under the agreement.