May 10 – The former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Iran’s clerical regime had an assassination list which included former and serving U.S. officials, in a podcast with Sky News this week.
Bolton added that U.S. President Donald Trump was Tehran’s “most valuable target” and that the regime’s “terror network” in Europe and America was “extensive.”
Bolton reportedly survived an assassination attempt after the U.S. justice department issued an arrest warrant for an Iranian national who had allegedly plotted to kill Bolton.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that he wanted to dismantle Iran’s nuclear centrifuges or bomb them if the first option was not agreed, in a radio interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
The comments contradict reports that the U.S. are open to Iran having centrifuges to produce civilian nuclear power.
The U.S. has said that it does not want Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and is making efforts to prevent them from doing so through its Maximum Pressure Campaign against the Islamic Republic.
And Iran’s government has withdrawn a critical bill aimed at preventing violence against women in the country, after hardline lawmakers significantly watered down protections for women.
The original bill, which included increasing penalties for physical abuse and the provision of support services for victims, is now likely to be resubmitted by conservative lawmakers with their amendments which include reduced penalties for bodily harm.
Zahra Behrouz-Azar, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Women’s Affairs Deputy said she had asked for the bill to be withdrawn following the revisions.
