Bolton: None of US Will Have Many More Anniversaries

Bolton to Khamenei: You won’t have many more anniversaries

US National Security Adviser sends message to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday had a message for Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who continues to verbally attack US leaders.

“This week, Iran marks the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and what a 40 years it’s been. Tyrannizing its own people and terrorizing the world. Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons, to intimidate peaceful people all around the globe and ballistic missiles to use as delivery systems,” Bolton said in a video posted by the White House.

“Iran under the Ayatollahs remains the central banker of international terrorism, and its conventional military forces are all over the Middle East: In Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Perhaps worst of all, the people of Iran have suffered grievously. Right now, unemployment is at record levels, inflation is at all time highs, the Iranian currency has gone through the floor,” he continued.

“So, Ayatollah Khamenei, for all your boasts, for all your threats to the life of the American president, you are responsible for terrorizing your own people and terrorizing the world as a whole. I don’t think you’ll have many more anniversaries to enjoy,” concluded Bolton.

Khamenei explained last week that the slogan “Death to America”, which Iranians regularly shout at rallies, is directed at President Donald Trump and US leaders including Bolton, and not the American nation.

“As long as America continues its wickedness, the Iranian nation will not abandon ‘Death to America,’” he told a gathering of Iranian Air Force officers marking the 40th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

“‘Death to America’ means death to Trump, (National Security Adviser) John Bolton, and (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo. It means death to American rulers,” he explained.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, often touted as a “moderate” president, has personally presided over “Death to America” chants during rallies in Iran, even though he claimed that Iranians “respect the American people”.

Similarly, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, with whom the Obama administration negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal, was caught on camera last year joining in a public chant against the US, UK, and Israel.