The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the American approach to Iran is doomed to failure and that force is necessary. John Bolton said in an interview published Wednesday that the United States has too readily agreed to an ineffectively European policy of negotiations with, and sanctions against, Tehran. As a result, he said, Iran has been able to advance its nuclear program toward bomb-making capability. “The current approach of the Europeans and the Americans is not just doomed to failure, but dangerous,” Bolton told the Jerusalem Post. He said the Bush administration must consider either overthrowing the regime in Tehran or carrying out preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Like the United States, Israel has hinted it could resort to military measures to prevent the Islamic Republic from attaining nuclear weapons, though many independent analysts believe the job may be too big for the Jewish state to take on alone. “Israel’s options are as limited as those of the United States, except that you are in more danger in that you are closer,” Bolton said. “I hate to say that.”
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