US disrupts Iran's efforts to impose its will on countries: Bolton

The US has disrupted Iran's efforts to impose its will on countries around the region, National Security Advisor John Bolton said Sunday and warned that new sanctions will have a significant "economic and political" effect on Tehran.

The US in May withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy, with a US embargo due to hit Iran's oil industry on November 4.

The Trump administration has threatened entities and countries with consequences if they do not bring down their import of Iranian oil to zero by November 4.

"The president's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has had a profound effect on Iran and the region as a whole. And with even stronger sanctions coming back in November, we think we have disrupted their efforts to impose their will on countries around the region, Bolton told Fox News.

 

"We think these new sanctions coming in will have a significant economic and political effect inside the country. That's what we want. We want massive changes in behaviour by the regime in Iran. If they don't undertake that, they will face more consequences, because we will find more sanctions to impose and other ways to put maximum pressure on them, Bolton said, issuing a strong warning to Iran.

In another interview, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News that there is no plan yet for US President Donald Trump to meet Iran President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"I don't know that there are any plans to date. The President has been pretty clear: If there are constructive conversations to be had with the Iranians, the president is happy to have them. He'd be willing to do so, he said.

"We want Iran to stop being the world's largest state sponsor of terror. But make no mistake about it; there is no indication that they have any intent of doing this. Just this past couple weeks, they've come after American interests inside of Iraq, in Basra and in Baghdad, he said.

On Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blaming regional countries and their "US masters" for funding and arming the separatists after the military parade attack, he said Zarif should focus on keeping his own people secure rather than causing insecurity all around the world.

"With respect to the attacks overnight, I saw the comments of Zarif. When you have a security incident at home, blaming others is an enormous mistake. And the loss of innocent life is tragic, and I wish Zarif would focus on keeping his own people secure rather than causing insecurity all around the world," Pompeo said.

Asked about Trum's meeting with the Iranian leader, Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, said, I don't think the president is opposed to that. The Iranian president hasn't asked. If he asked, I think the president would strongly consider it."

"At this point, I think what you can see is when the president gets in front of any leader, things do come together, but both leaders have to be willing to have the political will to do that. And so Rouhani hasn't asked, so the president hasn't had to deal with that."

"We stopped the hundreds of billions of dollars that were going them and allowing them to do these violations. And so their economy is plummeting. The deals that they had are falling apart, and they're getting desperate, she said.