Bolton Says U.S. Wants Iran Out of Syria as Part of Broad Move

(Bloomberg) -- National Security Adviser John Bolton said the U.S. would like to see Iranian forces leave Syria as part of a broader withdrawal from foreign territory, after a meeting with his Russian and Israeli counterparts.

“It’s not a question I think of a disagreement about the outcome, but a mutual effort to find a way to make it happen,” Bolton said at a press conference in Jerusalem. “In our view, that ought to be in the context of a general withdrawal of Iranian forces and surrogates from areas of conflict back into a nice happy peaceful life in Iran without nuclear weapons.”

Bolton also said the U.S. is not interested in fomenting regime change in Iran.

Earlier in the day, Bolton said the door was open for Iran to sit with the U.S. and negotiate a new agreement to limit its nuclear program. The weeks-long showdown between the U.S. and Iran intensified Monday when President Donald Trump extended a raft of sanctions on the Iranian economy to include Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, something Iran said ended any chance of diplomacy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ivan Levingston in Tel Aviv at ilevingston@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Michael S. Arnold, Yaacov Benmeleh

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