RT |
US President Donald Trump does not appear to be in control of his own administration’s policy on Iran and he should fire the national security adviser John Bolton, special adviser to EU foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini told reporters.
US’s Iran policy has a very clear author and that author is not the president of the United States
In an interview with RT’s Sophie Shevarnadze, Nathalie Tocci said Trump has “been led into a very different direction” than the one he might otherwise have gone in without input from Bolton.
Asked why she didn’t trust Trump’s claims that he does not want regime change in Iran, Tocci said Bolton clearly has a different position – and he seems to be the one writing the administration’s policy on Tehran.
The White House, and especially National Security Council, are in disarray. And Bolton will soon be fired…Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s chief of staff, has very quietly and discreetly begun informal meetings with half-dozen possible replacements for Bolton… https://t.co/cYwWpqcvWR
— M. K. Bhadrakumar (@BhadraPunchline) June 13, 2019
Unfortunately at the moment it seems to me that the US’s Iran policy has a very clear author and that author is not the president of the United States.
Tocci noted that Bolton’s enthusiasm for regime change in Iran dates back “way further” than Trump, to “the Bush administration and even earlier.”
Read more: US-Iran conflict: Iraq invasion should be a lesson
“Perhaps [Trump] should try and change his national security adviser that very clearly has a very different position on this one,” she said.
Tocci also said that she understands Iran’s threats to breach the 2015 nuclear deal in light of heightening tensions with the US. Last week, the US accused Tehran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, but provided no strong evidence to back up the accusation.
“If I were Iran I would probably not stick with the JCPOA because indeed, as I said, the social contract can only hold if both sides live up to the bargain,” she said.
RT with additional input by GVS News Desk