Iran upbeat as Trump sacks Bolton
President Hassan Rouhani yesterday said that the United States’ “warmongering” was a failure, as Iran welcomed the sacking of hawkish US national security adviser John Bolton.
Rouhani also dismissed the prospect of a meeting with President Donald Trump at a time his US administration is continuing to slap more crippling sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Arch-foes Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since May last year when Trump unilaterally withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing the punitive measures.
Trump on Tuesday announced the firing of Bolton, a move widely seen as boosting the president’s push to negotiate with US foes in Afghanistan, North Korea and other trouble spots.
A replacement -- the White House’s fourth national security chief in less than three years -- would be named next week, Trump said.
Bolton denied being fired and insisted that he had resigned.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move doesn’t indicate any changes in US policies.
“I don’t think any leader around the world should make any assumption that because someone of us departs that President Trump’s foreign policy will change in a material way,” he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also suggested little would change with Bolton’s removal.
Analysts however say with the sacking of “war maniac” Bolton, as North Korean officials describes him, Washington-Pyongyang negotiations might get a boost. In the past, Bolton has proposed using military force to overthrow the ruling Kim family.
Richard Gowan, International Crisis Group UN director, said Bolton’s departure may also help the international institutions.
“Bolton brought his trademark dislike of the UN and other international institutions like the ICC (International Criminal Court) to the White House. On his watch, the US has ensured that the UN has been marginalized on crises from Libya to Venezuela. The Trump administration was highly skeptical of multilateralism before Bolton’s arrival, and is unlikely to embrace it warmly now he has gone. But the US may devote a little less time and energy to weakening UN institutions,” he said.
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