© Jim Young / ReutersJohn Bolton
The Iranian government spokesman welcomed the departure of US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Tuesday, expressing the belief that the ousting of the "biggest proponent of war" and sanctions pressure would help Washington better understand Tehran.
"Months ago #JohnBolton had promised that #Iran would not be there in 3 months; we are still standing & he is gone. With the
ousting of its biggest proponent of war & economic terrorism, the White House will have fewer obstacles to understanding the realities of Iran," spokesman Ali Rabiei wrote on Twitter.
Asked by a US journalist to comment on Bolton's resignation, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in turn, said that his ministry
would not publish any statements on issues related to US internal affairs.
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump announced that he had
asked Bolton to resign over a number of strong disagreements.
Then, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that there was a potential for a meeting between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the UN General Assembly sidelines later in September.
Bolton, in turn, said that he "offered to resign last night" but the president suggested talking about it the next day.
Bolton is reportedly believed to be an
advocate of a hard-line stance on Tehran, opposing any idea of entering into negotiations with it. Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly voiced his readiness for talks with the Iranian leadership.
He also claims that the maximum sanctions pressure on Tehran aims to alter its conduct, rather than force a regime change.
Comment: Iran has had enough abuse from the US and won't be talking to them
any time soon despite Bolton getting canned:
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has no plans to start negotiations with the US even after the resignation of John Bolton - one of the most well-known hawks in the Trump administration.
"The departure of US National Security Adviser John Bolton from President Donald Trump's administration will not push Iran to reconsider talking with the US", he said as quoted by state news agency IRNA.
In the meantime, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged Washington to stop pressuring his country, adding that Tehran would continue cutting its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, if necessary.
Russia is also unimpressed, but being Russia, is always willing to
engage in diplomacy:
We don't think that the presence or dismissal of any official -even this influential- has a serious impact on correcting American foreign policy.
Nevertheless, Russia is determined to find a way out "from that dire state our bilateral ties are still in," Peskov reiterated. But it always takes two willing sides for this to happen, which leaves Moscow to just hope that the US "will demonstrate political will sooner or later."
Bolton is known as a die-hard Iran and North Korea hawk, but his views on Russia also never ventured beyond a Cold War mindset. Back in 2017, he made his case in a Washington Post piece, calling Russia's alleged election interference "a true act of war.
Other Russian officials had
comments on the Bolton firing:
To the question of whether the dismissal of a politician considered as a hawk generates some expectations in Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Riabkov replied that "there are not and cannot be."
"Our position remains the same as always: we judge the facts, not the statements, or the intentions," he said.
Riabkov refused to assess the removal of Bolton claiming that "it is an internal US matter."
At the same time, he recalled that "on repeated previous occasions we have witnessed that some or other changes in the composition of the US government do not lead to an improvement or normalization of relations [with Russia], contrary to statements that make high charges of that administration," Riabkov said.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov also offered Russia's position.
"It is an internal affair of the Americans," Peskov said, answering the question if in the Kremlin they link Bolton's dismissal with the spying scandal in the US.
For his part, a representative of the Security Council of Russia, commenting on the dismissal of Bolton to Sputnik, also said that it is an internal matter of the US and said that the agency takes this fact "in peace."
Comment: Iran has had enough abuse from the US and won't be talking to them any time soon despite Bolton getting canned: Russia is also unimpressed, but being Russia, is always willing to engage in diplomacy: Other Russian officials had comments on the Bolton firing: