As Israel continues to consider how to respond to Iran's massive ballistic missile attack nearly two weeks ago, former White House national security adviser John Bolton says it should seize what could be the “only opportunity” to eliminate the threat. represented by Iran's nuclear program.
The Biden administration and other world leaders have urged Israel not to take any retaliatory actions that could turn the conflict with Iran into an all-out war — including attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. But several conservative figures, including Canada's opposition leader Pierre Poilievre , said such attacks would be an appropriate response and could further weaken the Iranian regime.
In an interview with Mercedes Stephenson that aired on Sunday in The West Block, Bolton, a longtime Iran hawk who served in the Trump administration, said Israel should do everything it can to ensure Iran's next attack does not involve a nuclear warhead.
“If you are Israel and you saw, in both the April Iran attack and the October 1 attack, hundreds of ballistic missiles launched at you, you cannot be sure that the next time you see a ballistic missile coming from Iran, that under his nose he may not have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
“So how long are you willing to take this risk?”
Iran's October 1 attack came after Israel escalated its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the killing of the militant group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior commanders. Hezbollah receives support from Iran, which also supports Hamas in Gaza and other proxies in the Middle East that oppose Israel.
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Bolton, echoing other analysts in the region, said that Iran is “scared to death” of the Israeli government following military actions against Hamas and Hezbollah and knows that Israel would have US support in a direct war with Tehran.
This, coupled with the regime's infighting, puts Iran in a vulnerable position that Bolton says Israel should take advantage of.
“I think this is where Israel can have the maximum impact, precisely by pursuing the nuclear weapons program,” he said.
“There’s no guarantee they’ll get another opportunity this good.”
Poilievre last week told reporters in Ottawa that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities “would be a gift from the Jewish state to humanity.”
Defense Minister Bill Blair on Thursday told the House of Commons defense committee that it was “reckless and irresponsible to call for attacks on nuclear facilities, which are very specifically prohibited under international humanitarian law”.
Donald Trump, who is running again for president, said at a campaign event after Iran's October 1 attack that Israel should “attack nuclear energy first and worry about the rest later.”
Although Iran officially has a fatwa against the development and use of nuclear weapons in force, its intelligence minister has warned that position could change if it is “backed into a corner”, and there are fears within the international community that Iran may still use its program. nuclear power to produce such a weapon relatively quickly.
Bolton was Trump's national security adviser when Trump withdrew the US from an international agreement with Iran that limited its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief, effectively killing the pact. International assessments said that Iran complied with the agreement before it collapsed, but has since begun enriching uranium once again.
Bolton, who has long criticized the Iran deal, told Stephenson that the pact “gave a false sense of security” and that he believes Iran is now “very close” to developing a nuclear weapon.
“There is a lot about Iran’s program that we simply don’t know,” he said.
Bolton said Iran's Oct. 1 attack on Israel, which involved between 180 and 200 ballistic missiles, was “the largest ballistic missile attack in world history,” and that Israel's main concern in the short term will be reinforcing its system. of air defense to prevent similarly large barrages in the future.
There are few clues about what Israel might do next in retaliation, which Bolton said suggests the Israeli government is not keeping the US informed.
“They will decide for themselves on that,” he said.
Even if Israel renounces an attack on nuclear facilities and attacks Iran's military or oil production facilities, the response could have an impact on November's presidential elections, he added.
“(US President Joe Biden) would simply like to delay any action by Israel until after November 5th,” he said.
“I don’t think that will happen, because Israel has an urgent need right now.”
