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Bolton to Asharq Al-Awsat: Negotiations with Tehran behind Delay in Revealing Assassination Plot

National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters as he announces that the US will withdraw from a treaty with Iran during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, October 3, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst – Reuters)
National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters as he announces that the US will withdraw from a treaty with Iran during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, October 3, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst – Reuters)
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Bolton to Asharq Al-Awsat: Negotiations with Tehran behind Delay in Revealing Assassination Plot

National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters as he announces that the US will withdraw from a treaty with Iran during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, October 3, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst – Reuters)
National Security Advisor John Bolton answers questions from reporters as he announces that the US will withdraw from a treaty with Iran during a news conference in the White House briefing room in Washington, October 3, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst – Reuters)

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton said that President Joe Biden’s administration has delayed announcing an Iranian plot to assassinate him due to the nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Bolton said that the current US administration has suspended the unveiling of the scheme, pending the indirect US-Iranian talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

He also criticized Biden administration’s supplicatory approach to revive the nuclear agreement, describing it as a grave mistake for the United States and its friends and allies in the Middle East.

The Department of Justice charged Iranian Shahram Poursafi, 45, with plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump’s national security advisor.

Poursafi tried to arrange the killing of Bolton in retaliation for the January 2020 US airstrike that killed Iran’s top commander, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, according to court documents.

Bolton strongly condemned the US administration’s policy towards Iran, warning against separating the nuclear agreement from Tehran’s support for terrorism.

He noted in this regard that Iran’s nuclear weapons program and its terrorist capabilities were two sides of the same coin.

The former US security advisor considered that Biden’s policy would send a message of weakness to Iran, which Tehran would exploit in its favor.

Regarding the details of the assassination plot, he said that he was not surprised when he heard that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was among the targets of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, pointing to other names on the list, including former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Commander of the US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie.

Bolton, on the other hand, expressed his gratitude to Biden for allowing members of the Secret Service to be assigned to protect him. He said the FBI warned him in the spring of 2020 of potential threats against his life.

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Georgian Opposition Leader Arrested after Fourth Night of Protests

Protesters shoot fireworks toward police during a fourth day of nationwide protests against a government decision to shelve EU membership talks in Tbilisi early on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
Protesters shoot fireworks toward police during a fourth day of nationwide protests against a government decision to shelve EU membership talks in Tbilisi early on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Georgian Opposition Leader Arrested after Fourth Night of Protests

Protesters shoot fireworks toward police during a fourth day of nationwide protests against a government decision to shelve EU membership talks in Tbilisi early on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
Protesters shoot fireworks toward police during a fourth day of nationwide protests against a government decision to shelve EU membership talks in Tbilisi early on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

Georgian police arrested a prominent opposition leader early on Monday after using water cannon and tear gas to scatter anti-government protesters who rallied outside parliament for the fourth straight night.

The protests were sparked by the government's announcement last week that it was suspending talks on joining the European Union. Critics saw that as confirmation of a Russian-influenced shift away from pro-Western policies, something the ruling party denies.

The Coalition for Change, the country's largest opposition party, said in a post on X that Zurab Japaridze, one of its leaders, had been arrested by police whilst leaving the demonstration.

Footage showed Japaridze being placed in an unmarked vehicle by masked police. It was not clear if he would be charged with any offence.

The United States and the EU have voiced alarm at what they see as democratic backsliding by Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that lies at the intersection of Europe and Asia and was once part of the Soviet Union.

Russia denies interfering in its neighbor, but former president Dmitry Medvedev warned on Sunday that Georgia was "moving rapidly along the Ukrainian path, into the dark abyss", adding: "Usually this sort of thing ends very badly."

On Sunday night, protesters gathered again in Tbilisi on the central Rustaveli Avenue. Some tossed fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of water cannon and tear gas.

"I'm here for a very simple reason, to defend my European future and the democracy of my country," one of the demonstrators, Nikoloz Miruashvili, said.

Police eventually ended the standoff by moving demonstrators away from the parliament building.

INJURY TOLL MOUNTS

Georgia's interior ministry said 21 police officers had been injured during the overnight protest, with 113 hurt since the beginning of the unrest. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of "coordinated violence" aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order.

Dozens of protesters have also been injured since the latest demonstrations began, and the United States has condemned what it called the excessive use of police force.

President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU figure who backs the protesters, said many of those arrested had suffered head and face injuries as a result of beatings.

"This is the revolt of an entire country," she told French news group France Inter.

Hundreds of diplomats and civil servants have signed open letters protesting the decision to suspend talks with the EU and stop receiving any funds from the bloc for four years. At least four Georgian ambassadors have resigned.

Ilia Topuria, a martial arts fighter with a major following in the country, wrote in an Instagram post: "I am opposed to the decision to terminate our accession negotiations to the European Union. I am ashamed to see how the children of Georgia are treated. This is not called freedom."

Zourabichvili has called for pressure to be brought on the Constitutional Court to annul elections won by the ruling party, Georgian Dream, in October. Both the opposition and Zourabichvili say the poll was rigged.

Zourabichvili, whose powers are mainly ceremonial, says she will not leave office when her term expires this month because the parliament that will choose her successor is illegitimate.

The election commission says the vote was fair. Prime Minister Kobakhidze on Sunday said Zourabichvili was reacting emotionally to the opposition's election defeat and would have to leave the presidential palace at the end of the month.

Tension in Georgia has been building for months as the ruling party has passed laws on "foreign agents" and on curbing freedoms. Georgian Dream says it is acting to defend the country's sovereignty against outside interference and prevent the West from dragging it into a war with Russia.