In Iran, hundreds of thousands joined a state-sponsored rally waving Iranian flags and chanting anti-American and anti-Israel slogans. President Hassan Rouhani addressed the crowd vowing to "raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground" in the event of a US attack on their soil.Bolton accused Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Islamic leaders in Iran of "tyrannizing its own people and terrorizing the world. Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons to intimidate peaceful people, all around the globe, and ballistic missiles to use as delivery systems." He noted Iran's support for Hamas and Hezbollah, proxy militias that threaten Israel, as well as it's military presence in Yemen and Syria.Khamenei was a close confidant of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 revolution that toppled the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Pahlavi had served as the Shah of Iran since 1941 and was widely seen as corrupt.Iran is mostly populated by Shiite Muslims as opposed to the majority of the Muslim world, which is of the Sunni denomination.Bolton served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations and has been an ardent advocate for regime change in Iran. "Perhaps worst of all, the people of Iran have suffered grievously," Bolton stated in his message regarding the 40th anniversary of the revolution. "Right now, unemployment is at record levels, inflation is at all time highs [and] the Iranian currency has gone through the floor."A message to the Ayatollah of Iran: "For all your boasts, for all your threats to the life of the American President, YOU are responsible for terrorizing your own people." #40YearsofFailure pic.twitter.com/gpCL1FeLis
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 11, 2019
Bolton calls Iran anniversary '40 years of failure'
John Bolton bashed the Iranian government for "terrorizing your own people" in a response to the Islamic republic's 40th anniversary celebrations.
