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.

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.

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."

• Birds of a feather: Israel reportedly sells $250mln in cutting-edge spy systems to Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia and Egypt urge Arab nations to create ties with Israel
• Intel chiefs from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel reportedly attend Kushner-initiated meeting to discuss US
• Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince recognizes Israel
• Iranian prosecutor blames CIA, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stoking unrest

• 'Colonies against empires': Brexit Party MEP slams EU's idea of democracy
• Details of MEPs' €4,416-a-month expenses to remain secret, court rules

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif criticised Washington for new sanctions against Tehran on Wednesday, stating that the American "thirst for war" should've gone along with the resignation of John Bolton, who is known for being hawkish and an advocate of hardline policies against the Islamic Republic.

In the meantime, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has released a similar statement, calling on the US to stop its "aggression" against the country.

"America must understand that sticking to warmongers and war-mongering policies is no good and they must abandon warmongers and war-mongering policies and maximum pressure", he said, according to President Rouhani's official website, President.ir

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier reiterated that Donald Trump could meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani at the UN without preconditions. Tehran, however, stated it wouldn't engage in talks with the US even though Bolton had stepped down.

Iran announced it would suspend its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) on 8 May 2019 - exactly one year after the US pulled out of the accord and re-imposed economic restrictions against the Islamic Republic - a step, backed by Bolton, who also supported a massive military build-up by US forces in the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian government later said it would continue abandoning its obligations every 60 days if the European countries that signed the JCPOA failed to shield Iran from US sanctions.

• Media and Democrats lament Trump's firing of war hawk John Bolton, others see potential for peace
• Democrats Somehow Frame Bolton's Exit as a Bad Thing
• How Neocon money is funding the Hong Kong protests
• 'You're fired!' Trump sacks US National Security Adviser John Bolton

Former IDF chief and Netanyahu challenger Benny Gantz bragged that Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank are actually better off than their counterparts in Arab countries, echoing apartheid South Africa.

Journalist Ben White pointed out that Gantz was using the exact same arguments that South African politicians used to justify their apartheid regime during the 1980s, as the original Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign became a powerful force against the institutionalized racism of that nation's government. South African blacks, then-PM John Vorster claimed, enjoyed a standard of living "two to five times higher than that of any black country in Africa."

Electronic Intifada dug up a few other recent comparisons between apartheid South Africa and Israel, which emphatically denies it is an apartheid state and claims such comparisons are motivated by anti-Semitism.

Palestinians in the West Bank have seen their territory increasingly riddled with Jewish-only settlements that are illegal under international law and guarded by aggressive and intrusive checkpoints, and have been cut off from their families, farms, and workplaces by a long and winding wall that has claimed the best land in the territory for Israel. Arabs are barred from using the same schools, facilities, and even roads as their Jewish neighbors, who are seldom punished for committing crimes ranging from property damage to assault against what Netanyahu's government has declared second-class citizens.

Gantz presents himself as more moderate than Netanyahu, who has promised to annex the Jordan Valley if elected. However, the former IDF commander launched his campaign with ads boasting of the number of Palestinians killed under his leadership during Israel's 2014 assault on Gaza - and the subsequent "3.5 years of quiet." A Dutch citizen suing him for war crimes allegedly committed during that campaign - including a bombing that killed seven members of his family - will have his case discussed in The Hague next Tuesday - the same day as the Israeli elections.