Former national security adviser John Bolton, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, on Saturday defended the administration’s decision to launch preemptive strikes on Iran over its continued nuclear program and endorsed calls for regime change in Tehran.
"Trump has every right to eliminate threats from the ayatollahs, the IRGC, and Iran’s nuclear-weapons program," Bolton wrote Saturday on X.
"This mission is completely justifiable and necessary," he added. "The regime must fall, and the opposition needs the support of the West."
In an earlier post, Bolton said that "launching military strikes to effect regime change in Tehran is the most consequential decision of Donald Trump’s presidency."
He has previously urged the administration to pursue regime change in the Middle Eastern nation.
Republicans in Congress have largely lauded the president’s decision to intervene militarily
"For years, Iran’s relentless nuclear ambitions, its expanded ballistic missile inventory, and its unwavering support for terror groups in the region have posed a clear and unacceptable threat to U.S. service members, citizens in the region, and many of our allies," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on X.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., also lauded the strikes.
"The sick Iran regime controlled by the blood-thirsty ayatollah terrorists has destroyed a nation, continued to pursue nuclear weapons threatening America and all of humanity, slaughtered innocent Iranians, and shed blood directly and through heinous terrorist proxies across the Middle East including that of Americans," Stefanik said.
"I know President Trump has to make some of the most difficult decisions imaginable and there is no decision more serious than military action to protect U.S. national security and American lives," Stefanik added.
"Despite the dogged efforts of the president and his administration, the Iranian regime has refused the diplomatic off-ramps that would peacefully resolve these national security concerns," she continued.
The strikes, however, have drawn opposition from several foreign leaders, including those of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
In a joint statement Saturday morning, the three leaders called on U.S. and Iranian officials to resume negotiations and urged the Iranian regime "to seek a negotiated solution."
"Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future," the leaders wrote.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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