Former national security adviser John Bolton said diplomacy likely won't be the answer to defusing Iran's ever-expanding nuclear capabilities.
For the countries that are condemning Iran's nuclear efforts — whether it's Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United States or any other Western ally — it'll probably require a significant show of force to change the narrative.
"[Iran] can still be stopped, but somebody's going to have to [physically] do it. And it won't come from [reviving] the failed Iran Nuclear deal," Bolton told Newsmax on Thursday evening, while appearing on "The Record with Greta Van Susteren."
Bolton was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action pact from 2015 (JCPOA), an Obama-era creation in which Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium and also cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%.
In return, the Iranian leaders reportedly collected $150 billion from other countries, including the United States.
The so-called Iran Nuclear Deal was an expensive lesson for U.S. officials, since Iran apparently didn't adhere to the terms of the JCPOA agreement.
And now, Bolton said the Biden administration must deal with an Iran that's more viable on the nuclear-capabilities front than seven years ago.
Bolton, who briefly served in the Trump administration, believes there are two courses of action for taking out Iran's nuclear arsenal: get a new regime in Tehran that "doesn't want to build nuclear weapons," or destroy Iran's nuclear program so much that it "makes it impossible for them to get to the end state."
Regarding the latter option, Bolton speculated that Israel, the Saudis, or another Western power could execute "very targeted strikes against well-known locations."
Iran's nuclear program, "as we know it, is extremely vulnerable," said Bolton, when brainstorming ways to vanquish the country's means for uranium enrichment and then converting the uranium to a gas-like state.
The reason for such vulnerabilities: Bolton believes the current Iranian regime, led by President Ebrahim Raisi, doesn't have the unwavering support of its citizens.
"I think the regime is more fragile today than any point of the [Iranian Revolution]" in 1979, says Bolton. "The current regime has never been more unpopular" in the rural and suburban-like communities.
"Obviously, the revolutionary guards still have the weapons," added Bolton. "This is not something that can happen without them fragmenting. But that possibility is very much there."
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