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.

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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.

'Not going quietly': Internet howls over Trump firing of John Bolton

Voices across social media erupted in a chorus of criticism and praise for President Trump after he announced that national security adviser John Bolton had been terminated from his post at the White House.

Bolton, the fourth individual to hold and be subsequently terminated from that position, was also on the receiving end of encouragement and sharp criticism after news of his departure went public.

"I'm very, very unhappy to hear that he is leaving," said GOP Utah Sen. Mitt Romney. "It's a huge loss for the andministration [sic] and for the nation."

A tweet from Nicholas Fandos from the New York Times reported that when asked about who could be a good replacement for Bolton, Romney responded, "John Bolton."

"John Bolton is a brilliant man with decades of experience in foreign policy," Romney continued. "His point of view was not always the same everybody else in the room. That's why you wanted him there. The fact that he was a contrarian from time to time was an asset, not a liability."

Other Republican members of Congress saw things differently and praised Trump for his choice to remove Bolton. "I commend @realDonaldTrump for this necessary action," said Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. "The President has great instincts on foreign policy and ending our endless wars. He should be served by those who share those views."

Paul had previously been critical of Bolton, saying in 2016, "I am a no on John Bolton for ANY position in the State Departement [sic] and will work to defeat his nomination to any post."

Others on Twitter had a lighter reaction after hearing Tuesday's news. Many compared Bolton to mustachioed Simpsons character Ned Flanders. "Unreal he fired Bolton just before Movemeber," one user said of Bolton's trademark facial hair.

Other media heavyweights lamented the departure of Bolton as a weakening on foreign policy by the Trump administration. "This is terrible for the White House," Ben Shapiro said. "Bolton was correct about the Taliban; State wasn't. Bolton has been a hawkish voice for a tough national security policy, and his ouster likely signals that Trump's approach will be significantly softer from this point forward."

Some considered the larger overall media reaction to the disagreements between Trump and Bolton that led to his termination. "Press is about to go from 'John Bolton is a radical warmonger who never should be permitted near the Oval Office' to 'This is a story of how a reasonable, respected expert was dismissed by a chaotic, megalomaniacal Administration, and whatever his critique is, we agree!'" one user suggested of a possible change in tone of a media often critical of Trump's inner circle.

Others noted Bolton's own contradicting account of his termination as an unwillingness to quietly leave Trump's Cabinet without defending his own actions. "Not going quietly," Maggie Haberman of the New York Times said.

US Political Spectrum and Media React to John Bolton's Shock Dismissal

The US president took to Twitter to announce that John Bolton handed in his resignation this morning. According to Donald Trump, he told his aide that his "services are no longer needed", admitting that he had disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions. In turn, Bolton stated that he had himself offered to resign.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented on the decision, saying that "The president is entitled to the staff he wants". However, he deflected when he was asked whether Bolton's departure was prompted by disagreements between him and the president over the planned Taliban peace talks.

Another White House official, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, rebuffed the claim that "this national security staff" is "a mess" over Bolton suddenly leaving the administration.

"That's the most ridiculous question I've ever heard", he reacted.

One of the commenters, President of the International Crisis Group consultancy Rob Malley, warned that the realignment would affect US policy on Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. According to him, with Bolton gone, the voice that was whispering in Trump's ears and pushing for belligerence has "lost its loudest proponent".

Even a congressman who left the Republican Party for its backing of Donald Trump, Justin Amash, welcomed the president's decision, tweeting: "John Bolton never should have been hired. I hope the president's next national security adviser will focus on securing peace, not expanding war".

At the same time, CNBC's correspondent covering the Trump White House, Eamon Javers, cited an unnamed source close to the outgoing national security advisor as saying: "Since Ambassador Bolton has been National Security advisor over the last 17 months, there have been no bad deals".

NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander noted that the resignation might have prompted hard feelings between the White House staff and NSC employees.

"A pro-Bolton NSC official came to speak with reporters inside the West Wing when Press Secy Stephanie Grisham walked by, gave a look & said: 'Oh look, right outside my office' as she walked past", he tweeted.

The announcement came hot on the heels of US media reports shedding light on the purported disagreements between the US president and Bolton over a now-cancelled planned meeting of US officials with the Afghan government and the Taliban movement at Camp David.

While Trump slammed media reports claiming that he had "overruled" US Vice President Mike Pence and advisors on the Camp David meeting as "fake news", he stated that the peace talks were "dead". Earlier, some media outlets suggested that Trump and Bolton had clashed over the US policies on Iran and North Korea. While Bolton has been known for his hard-line stance on Tehran, which has been described as "hawkish", Trump has never ruled out the possibility of holding talks with the leadership of the Islamic Republic, despite the escalation in tensions.

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