Former National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks to reporters after speaking in a panel hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran – U.S. Representative Office (NCRI-US) at the Willard InterContinental Hotel on August 17, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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Former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton believes Israel’s war in Gaza is “still in the very early stages” and says it has been complicated by Iran’s involvement.
Framing the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas as “an Iranian war against Israel,” Bolton told CNBC’s Dan Murphy: “The fact that Iran has not yet been held to account for any of it, suggests that we’re still in the very early stages of the war.”
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group launched a surprise terror attack on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people including women and children, and kidnapping more than 200 others. Some 130 are presumed to be still in captivity in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.
“This is not a Gaza versus Israel war, or a Palestinian versus Israel war, or an Arab versus Israel war. This is an Iranian war against Israel, fought through terrorist proxies,” he told CNBC on Wednesday. Bolton is a noted foreign policy hawk and has previously advocated for regime change by the U.S. in Iran.
On Monday, Iran accused Israel of bombing part of its embassy compound in the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing seven Iranian military personnel, including three senior commanders. Tehran has vowed retaliation, while Israel has not publicly acknowledged the strike.
A dominant force in Middle East politics, Iran funds and supports groups opposing Israel, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen. The ongoing conflict in Gaza has often been referred to as a proxy war between Israel and Iran. Iran has repeatedly rejected allegations that it was behind the Oct. 7 terror attack, and U.S. intelligence has indicated that Iranian leaders were…
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