Western allies need to deal significant damage to Iran through the use of “direct military force” to deter Tehran from further escalating its proxy war against the US and Israel, according to John Bolton.
Mr Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN and US National Security advisor, noted evidence Iran struck a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean with a drone is of huge importance, as it should command the next move of Washington and London.
In a comment piece for the Daily Telegraph, he wrote: “Obviously, Tehran does not feel pressured enough to restrain its expendable surrogates, proving that the West has not established conditions for deterrence, thereby potentially cooling the conflict down.”
The White House has repeated it doesn’t want hostilities to further spread in the Middle East, but Mr Bolton fears failing to respond to Iranian actions could lead just to that.
He wrote: “Only if Israel, America, Britain, and others show they possess the resolve and capability to impose significant costs on Iran, as punishment for its aggression, will they persuade the ayatollahs that proceeding further will bring them intolerable pain.
“Very likely, only direct military force, applied against critical targets inside Iran, will impose such costs, proving to Tehran it has miscalculated not only about Israel, but on President Biden and the West more generally. That is why the evidence of a direct Iranian attack on a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean is potentially so important.”
The Pentagon accused Iran on December 23 of launching a “one-way drone” attack on the Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker.
This incident, which didn’t cause any casualties, highlighted the regional tensions that have been escalating since Hamas launched its horrific terror on Israel on October 7.
The deadly rampage on southern Israel was shortly followed by missile attacks by Hezbollah militants targeting the Israeli area bordering southern Lebanon.
In recent weeks, the Yemenite Houthis have also been terrorising the Red Sea and threatening the global economy by attacking commercial shipping vessels and taking, so far, 25 crew members of an Israeli-linked cargo hostage.
These three groups are linked to Tehran, which provides them with economic support as well as advanced weapons and military technology. Through these alliances, Iran leads a conflict by proxy aimed at weakening Western presence in the Middle East and harming Israel.
Following the October 7 terror attack, Iran repeatedly claimed Hamas acted on its own, although celebrating the killing spree that resulted in the death of some 1,400 people and the kidnapping of around 230 more.
But earlier this week, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps described Hamas’ assault as an act of revenge for the death of Qasem Soleimani, a general of the Corps viewed as a terrorist by the White House who was killed by a drone strike in January 2020.
Hamas was quick to deny the link, and the Corps also walked back from their claim it had been an act of revenge for the military leader.
