John Bolton, who served as White House national security adviser during Donald Trump's first administration, warned that a flawed nuclear deal with Iran could trigger a nuclear weapons race, arguing that the Iranian regime must be removed to resolve the situation.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, the former adviser said, "Whatever deal President Trump strikes with Iran, the contradictory decisions made throughout the conflict have laid the groundwork for nuclear proliferation in the Middle East."
He expressed concern that Arab nations could move to acquire nuclear capabilities, saying, "If there is a judgment that America's conventional deterrence cannot be trusted, concerns over preventing nuclear proliferation can only grow." He added, "Gulf Arab states and countries in other regions have long deliberated over whether they should acquire nuclear capabilities to prepare for a volatile United States," pointing out that Saudi Arabia alone has stated since 2018 that it could pursue nuclear weapons if Iran develops them. He also noted, "Anxiety over the U.S. nuclear umbrella is not confined to the Middle East," stressing that "Europe's concerns are also growing after witnessing President Trump's aggressive rhetoric toward NATO and the reduced U.S. participation in alliance activities." In particular, he mentioned, "Discussions of nuclear armament in South Korea and Japan, which had only continued beneath the surface for years, are increasingly coming out into the open."
The former adviser argued, "If a nuclear weapons race spreads, the Middle East situation will become even more unstable, and the resulting risks could ultimately expand to the entire world," maintaining that the current Iranian regime must be removed to prevent the situation from heading in that direction. He added, "The best way to prevent a nuclear race in the Middle East is to restore trust in the United States again," pointing out that "this requires, at the very least, efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."
Bolton, considered a representative neoconservative figure from Trump's first term, has maintained a hard-line stance, arguing that peace in the Middle East is possible only after a regime change in Iran.
