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EXCLUSIVE: Former White House National Security Advisor Ambassador. John Bolton said the assassination plot against him by Iranian operatives and the continued threats from Iran to American citizens on the mainland were an "unprecedented" and "act of war," and the Biden administration warned Tehran to " It shows weakness," he told Fox News.We need to "finish" negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department accused Iranian operativeand member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shahram Poursafi , in an assassination plot. Bolton, who announced the indictment in 2018, served as former President Trump's national security adviser until 2019.
US officials said the conspiracy may have been planned in retaliation for an attack in January 2020 that killed Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani, leader of Iran's Quds Party. Said expensive. Power.
In his interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday, Bolton said he had been "aware" of the conspiracy against him "for some time."
Iranian operatives charged with alleged conspiracy to assassinate John Bolton
Be warned. "
``As time went on, I was given several assignments to warn about, and each one got a little more serious,'' Bolton said, adding that in the fall of 2021 he will be at the FBI for a meeting. I noted that I was present. Officials described the latest information they had about the conspiracy against him.
File - This file photo of him December 13, 2018 Now, National Security Advisor John Bolton presents the Trump administration's Africa strategy at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
Bolton sought Fox News protection from the U.S. Secret Service during the Trump administration, which was lifted after his resignation. said.
The FBI granted him a request for USSS protection in December 2021, and Bolton told Fox He News that protection was underway.
However, Bolton said he was less concerned about individual conspiracies against him, but more concerned about the threat from Iran to all Americans.
"I'm not alone," said Bolton. "The regime in Tehran is targeting many Americans."
"The objective here is to kill Americans and former government officials on the mainland," Bolton explained. "I believe this is a broader threat to American citizens on the US mainland and is inherently unprecedented."
TEHRAN, IRAN - SEPTEMBER 18: Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani takes place on September 18, 2016 in Tehran, Iran. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's meeting with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). ) ( Pool / Press Office of Iranian Supreme Leader/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
He added: , tells you everything you need to know about Tehran's government.
When it indicted Puru Safi this week, it said it "has a solemn duty to protect its citizens from hostile governments seeking to harm or kill them."
Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's National Security Agency, said, "This is not the first time an Iranian conspiracy to seek retaliation against individuals in the United States has been uncovered, and it is a relentless effort."
According to the Department of Justice, Pursafi approached a U.S. resident he met online and took a picture of the former national security adviser. and claimed that the photographs would be used in a book he was writing. The resident said he connected Poursafi with someone who would take his picture for $5,000 to $10,000.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters The United States plans to withdraw from the Iran treaty at a press conference in the White House Briefing Room in Washington, U.S., Oct. 3, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst-RC1A79D01DF0
Poursafi then contacted another person via an encrypted messaging application to "eliminate" Bolton. He offered $250,000 to hire someone. Poursafi also hinted at another "job" in the future, saying he would be paid $1 million.
Pursafi then showed the person how to perform the operation, pointing out that the use of small arms would require approaching a former Trump administration adviser.
"Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, through its defendants, attempted to conspire a brazen conspiracy to assassinate a former U.S. official on the U.S. mainland in retaliation for U.S. actions," said Matthew of the District of Columbia. M. U.S. Attorney Graves said. said this week.
Opponents argue that the nuclear deal has emboldened Iran's non-nuclear activities, including extremism, ballistic missile development and supporting cyberattacks. (Reuters)
Bolton, meanwhile, lashed out at the Biden administration for negotiating with Tehran to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). continued. is known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.
"For me, more important than the threat to individuals is the disastrous strategic policy the administration is pursuing to revive his 2015 nuclear deal," Bolton said. "The government will never keep its promises. It will do whatever it thinks is necessary to obtain nuclear weapons."
He added: “People are fooling themselves if they think that if we give Iran enough concessions to get us back in the nuclear deal, they will do what they want.”
Will the US yield to EU appeasement in its desperate effort to save the Iran nuclear deal?
President Trump's administration withdrew from his 2018 deal.
Bolton told Fox his news that the threat Iran posed to the United States "has been intensifying for some time," but that it is now "at its highest level."
This image was taken in March 2022 On Tuesday, Iranian state television showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps launching a rocket carrying the Noor-2 satellite into the Sharod desert in northeastern Iran. (Iranian State Television via AP)
} was able to develop nuclear weaponsand threatened to annihilate New York with atomic bombs and turn the metropolis into "hell-like ruins".
"The Biden administration signals weakness," Bolton said, noting that officials said talks on the nuclear deal were "separate from terrorism." Mentioned.
"Well, that might be fine. But Tehran doesn't have such a plot," he continued. “And Iran sees a patchwork of incoherent policies that we are pursuing, which is also a sign of weakness.”
Negotiator for President Biden in Vienna, Austria They are not seeking to limit the production of Iran's long-range missile program.
The Iran nuclear deal does not include provisions to stop Tehran from supporting terrorism worldwide.
Iran declares it could use nuclear missiles to "turn New York into the ruins of hell"
he and in the light of threats against American citizens." I don't think the passage of time has improved it, or that the concessions made by the Biden administration have strengthened the deal. I think they undermined the pact.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - May 24: Iranian The flag is seen in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters building. (Photo by Michael Gruber/Getty Images)(Photo by Michael Gruber/Getty Images)
Bolton said Iran would negotiate "as camouflage and as a weapon." said to be using
Bolton went on to tell Fox News that US opponents had taken the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan last year "as a signal to withdraw."
Monday 16 August 2021, International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani)
"I thought it was a terrible mistake to withdraw. I mean, the way the withdrawal was done was also embarrassing. Dangerous. But the decision was a mistake," Bolton said, adding that "the past year has shown that the United States has abandoned an incredibly important strategic position in Central Asia."
"They simply abandoned it and increased the terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan," Bolton told Fox News. ``It has boosted the strategic situation of Russia and China in Central Asia. Whether they are deaf or terrorist groups, they must learn not to keep their promises," Bolton continued. "The Taliban didn't do it. The Iranians don't."
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Moscow "was a sign of American withdrawal and isolationism, and they acted accordingly."
"It is very detrimental to our interests," said Bolton.
Brooke Singman is a digital political reporter for Fox News. Brooke. Singman @ Fox. You can reach her at www.brookesingman.com or on her Twitter @BrookeSingman.
