US, Russian and Israeli security heads to meet on Iran and Syria; Bolton met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, warns Iran “Our military is rebuilt new and ready to go.”
US National Security Adviser John Bolton arrived in Israel on Saturday and met with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Iran and Syria in Jerusalem on Sunday morning. Bolton and the prime minister will hold a tripartite meeting centered on Syria with Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and Russia’s Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.
Following their meeting Sunday, both Netanyahu and Bolton addressed the press on Iran, and the United States and Israel’s commitment to assuring the Islamic Republic does not acquire nuclear weapons. Last week President Trump confirmed that he called off a strike on Iran in retaliation for its downing of a US drone. Bolton warned Iran, “Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness. Our military is rebuilt new and ready to go.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu praised US sanctions that have been crippling Iran’s economy. Stating next to Bolton from Jerusalem, “When the sanctions against Iran were lifted because of the nuclear deal, and the money began to flow in, Iranian aggression surged. Anyone who says that this aggressiveness began only now is living in a different reality.”
The US, Russia and Israel tripartite meeting on Syria, mainly to center on Iran’s entrenchment in the region, is the first high-official meeting between the three countries. A spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, stated on the security summit, “The sides will have a vital exchange of views on the situation in the region, namely the Middle East settlement, the settlement process in Syria and other issues which they consider necessary to discuss.” Russia ahead of the weekend accused the United States of provoking a war with Iran given the recent tensions and its decision to deploy an additional 1,000 US troops to the Middle East. Peskov stated on this, “The situation in the Persian Gulf is very tense. We are extremely concerned about it, and we’re following the situation carefully. We call on all sides involved to show restraint.
