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Former US Official John Bolton Admits He 'Helped Plan Coups'

White House national security adviser John Bolton arrives to speak about the political unrest in Venezuela after violence broke out at anti-government protests near Caracas, outside the White House in Washington, US, April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
White House national security adviser John Bolton arrives to speak about the political unrest in Venezuela after violence broke out at anti-government protests near Caracas, outside the White House in Washington, US, April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
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Former US Official John Bolton Admits He 'Helped Plan Coups'

White House national security adviser John Bolton arrives to speak about the political unrest in Venezuela after violence broke out at anti-government protests near Caracas, outside the White House in Washington, US, April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
White House national security adviser John Bolton arrives to speak about the political unrest in Venezuela after violence broke out at anti-government protests near Caracas, outside the White House in Washington, US, April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Former US national security advisor John Bolton admitted on television Tuesday that he has helped plan coups in other countries, while arguing that the January 6, 2021 riot in Washington fell short of such efforts.

The attack on the US Capitol was the result of then-president Donald Trump "just stumbling around from one idea to another," Bolton told CNN's Jake Tapper.

"As somebody who has helped plan coups d'etat, not here, but, you know, other places, it takes a lot of work," he said.

Bolton -- who served as Trump's national security advisor from 2018 to 2019 -- did not specify which governments he had helped to overthrow, but while in his post, he advocated for US military intervention in Venezuela, AFP reported.

January 6 was "not an attack on our democracy. It's Donald Trump looking out for Donald Trump. It's a once in a lifetime occurrence," said Bolton.

"Ultimately, he did unleash the rioters at the Capitol. As to that, there's no doubt. But not to overthrow the Constitution, to buy more time, to throw the matter back to the states, to try and redo the issue," he added.

An unabashed hawk, Bolton served in the US Departments of Justice and State during three Republican administrations, starting with Ronald Reagan's in the 1980s.

He served as the US ambassador to the United Nations under former president George W. Bush, and for decades has been recognizable by his large white mustache.

Bolton unrepentantly pushed for the US invasion of Iraq and has voiced support for bombing Iran and North Korea -- an interventionist approach to foreign policy that put him at odds with Trump, who fired him in 2019.

Bolton's comments on the January 6 riots came as a congressional committee works to determine whether Trump or his associates had a role in planning or encouraging the violent insurrection that left at least five people dead and 140 police officers injured.

On Tuesday, lawmakers said a tweet by then-president Trump promising a "wild" January 6 rally was seen as a "call to arms" by members of right-wing militia groups and other supporters of the president who went on to assault the US Capitol.

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Pezeshkian: Iran is Open for Dialogue with Trump, Never Plotted to Kill him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
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Pezeshkian: Iran is Open for Dialogue with Trump, Never Plotted to Kill him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an NBC News interview on Tuesday

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned the US against the risk of a war against Iran, reaffirming that Tehran was not seeking to curb its nuclear program or acquire weapons of mass destruction.

In an NBC News interview on Tuesday, Pezeshkian said his country in principle is open to dialogue with the second administration of Republican US President-elect Donald Trump, adding that Iran never plotted to kill him.

Officials in Tehran fear that Trump will revive his maximum pressure strategy that sought to wreck Iran's economy to force the country to negotiate a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missile program and regional activities.

Questions have been raised about Trump’s approach to Tehran, with both sides sending contradictory signals, complicating any prospects for meaningful dialogue.

Trump's position on nuclear talks held during the term of Biden remains unclear. The President-elect has pledged a more assertive approach and a closer alliance with Israel, which opposes the deal.

Pezeshkian’s interview came less than a week before Trump’s inauguration as the 47th American president.

“I hope that (President-elect Donald) Trump will lead to regional and world peace and will not, on the contrary, contribute to bloodshed or war,” he said.

The interview also comes as Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart will sign a 25-year strategic partnership agreement during the latter's visit to Russia on Jan. 17.

Indirect Talks

Pezeshkian said Iran in principle is open to dialogue with the second Trump administration. But he said that the United States has not lived up to its commitments in the past and that it has sought to topple the Iranian government.

“The problem we have is not in dialogue,” Pezeshkian said. “It’s in the commitments that arise from talk and dialogue that we’ll have to commit to.”

Mehdi Fazaeli, a senior figure in the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, described negotiating with the United States as “a betrayal of the entire world.”

In an article published in the Hamshahri newspaper, Fazaeli said negotiating with the United States “will greatly contribute to the revival of American dominance.”

Last week, the Supreme Leader firmly rejected direct talks with Washington and cautioned Iranian officials against pursuing better relations. “Our officials mustn't succumb to demands of US and Zionists who desire Iran's ruin,” he said.

Israeli Plot

In November, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate the US president-elect. Law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan before any attack was carried out.

Trump also said last year during the US election campaign that Iran may have been behind attempts to kill him.

“None whatsoever,” Pezeshkian said on NBC News when asked if there was an Iranian plan to kill Trump. “We have never attempted this to begin with and we never will.”

He added: “This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia.”

Nuclear Threshold

Over the past few years, Iran has significantly advanced its nuclear capabilities and is now considered to be at the threshold of developing nuclear weapons.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, Iran has increased its manufacturing of enriched uranium such that it is the only non-nuclear weapons state to possess uranium enriched to 60 percent.

Iran says it has the right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and has consistently denied any ambition of developing weapons capability.

Pezeshkian defended his country’s policy, saying: “Everything we have done so far has been peaceful. We are not seeking to create a nuclear weapon. But they are accusing us of trying to make an atomic bomb.”

When asked about possible Israeli military strikes, with US approval, against his country's nuclear sites, the President said through a translator: “You see, naturally enough, we will react to any action. We do not fear war, but we do not seek it.”