In an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said the United States is willing to talk to Iranian leaders to ease tensions but also is set for retaliatory action against Iranian military provocations.
Bolton claimed during the interview that intelligence reports over the past month warned of covert attacks in the Middle East and South Asia by Iranian proxies, including the Quds Force, Iranian intelligence operatives, and other Tehran surrogates.
"It's a very precarious situation," Bolton said, adding the threat of Iranian-backed attacks 'very definitely' is continuing.
"A lot of preparations for the threat continue," he said, pointing to mine attacks, an attack on a Saudi pipeline, and a rocket attack near a US embassy that appeared linked to Iran.
While the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei has clearly stated that Iran does not seek to possess any weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including nuclear arms, and even he reiterated that Fatwa during a recent meeting with Japanese prime minister in Tehran Bolton claimed that the aim of the pressure against Iran is to make sure that "they can't have a nuclear weapon."
Separately, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Washington does not want to go to war with Tehran, while it reiterated his baseless accusations that Iran was to blame for the oil tanker attacks in the Sea of Oman last Thursday.
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