In Israel, Bolton warns Iran not to mistake US ‘prudence’ for ‘weakness’
After Trump calls off retaliatory strike, his national security adviser says Tehran has not been granted a ‘hunting license in Middle East’
June 24, 2019
Iran should not misinterpret US President Donald Trump’s decision not to retaliate over the shooting down of an American drone last week as weakness, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday in Jerusalem.
“Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness. No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East,” he said before a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Friday, Trump acknowledged that he had ordered a halt to a planned strike on three Iranian military sites that would have killed 150 people, reasoning that the death toll was disproportionate to Iran’s shooting down of an unmanned drone earlier last week over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran argues the drone had crossed into Iranian airspace, a claim Washington denies.
Published at https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-israel-bolton-warns-iran-not-to-mistake-us-prudence-for-weakness/
