US 'to be blamed' in case of Israeli strike on Iran: Bolton

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Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:00:33 GMT





Former UN Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton

The former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton says that Washington should support Tel Aviv if it decides to attack Iran, since it will be 'blamed for it anyway'.

The worst outcome of an Israeli attack on Iran would be its failure to halt Tehran's nuclear program, Bolton said in an interview with Russia Today on Thursday.

"I personally believe the US should assist Israel, I think if Israel does attack, the United States is going to be blamed for it anyway," he said.

Bolton, however, described the Obama administration's relationship with Israel as "probably as bad as any since the Suez Canal crisis of 1956," saying that Washington's pressure on Tel Aviv has "complicated" the decision to "use military force".

Earlier this week in an interview with Fox News, when Bolton was asked if Israel is likely to take unilateral steps against Iran, he said, "I don't think Israel has really made a decision. But I think if you look at the history, Israel has not been afraid to take preemptive military action when it has seen an existential threat to ... Israel."

"It destroyed the Osirak reactor outside Baghdad in 1981. It destroyed a North Korean reactor in Syria in September 2007," he added.

Israel, which is the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has repeatedly voiced its determination to halt Iran's nuclear program, even through military options.

Tel Aviv and its Western allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program through its enrichment activities.

Tehran, however, denies the charges saying its nuclear program only serves civilian purposes and aims at generating electricity to meet the country's growing demand.