Keep pulling the thread on John Bolton.
John Bolton asserts that any deal allowing the current Iranian regime to survive will enable Iran to use increased oil revenue to entrench its power and rebuild its nuclear program, military, and terrorist proxies.
According to nuclear proliferation experts cited by John Bolton, Iran could produce between 200 and 400 nuclear weapons using the spent fuel from its plutonium program.
John Bolton recommends that the US should use military force to open the Gulf Arab side of the Strait of Hormuz for oil and gas exports while maintaining the blockade on Iranian exports.
John Bolton predicts that if Iran resolves the current conflict through diplomacy without suffering military consequences, it will be emboldened to close the Strait of Hormuz again in the future.
John Bolton argues that unfreezing Iranian assets as part of a deal would be a 'huge mistake' as it would serve to further entrench the current regime in power.
John Bolton believes President Trump's negotiations with Iran are primarily motivated by a desire to lower US gasoline prices and reduce inflation ahead of the November elections.
John Bolton states that the 2015 JCPOA (Obama nuclear deal) was a failure because it did not address Iran's plutonium route to nuclear weapons, specifically the spent fuel at the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
John Bolton has no confidence that the current US negotiating team, which he characterizes as lacking technical experts, will fix the issues present in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
John Bolton believes the Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz may be more hollow than perceived, citing recent instances of carriers successfully transiting.
John Bolton asserts that President Trump's failure to prepare for Iran's potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz was a major strategic mistake.
John Bolton stated that during President Trump's first term, he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the president to adopt regime change in Iran as an official US policy objective.
John Bolton claims the Trump administration made a mistake by failing to contact and coordinate with internal opposition groups in Iran before the start of the conflict.