U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton warned Tehran on June 23 of misinterpreting as “weakness” President Donald Trump’s last-minute cancellation of a retaliatory strike on Iran.
“Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness,” said Mr. Bolton ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. “No one has granted them a hunting licence in the Middle East,” he added.
“Our military is rebuilt new and ready to go,” said Mr. Bolton, after Mr. Trump called off a planned attack on Iran in response to Tehran downing a U.S. drone on June 20.
Mr. Bolton, who was in Israel for a pre-scheduled trilateral meeting with his Israeli and Russian counterparts, Meir Ben-Shabbat and Nikolai Patrushev, noted that the “current circumstances in the region make our conversations even more timely”.
In a June 22 tweet, Mr. Trump had pledged to hit Iran with “major” new sanctions on June 24.
Washington has imposed a series of measures against Tehran since Mr. Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear accord between Iran and world powers in 2018. “We expect that the new sanctions president Trump referred to in preparation for some weeks will be announced publicly on Monday. Stay tuned,” Mr. Bolton said in Jerusalem.