Bolton:U.S. doesn't want to harm friends and allies with Iran sanctions

The Trump administration wants sanctions on Iran's crude exports to strain Tehran, but it "doesn't want to harm friends and allies," U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, who recently returned from the Caucasus, said in Washington on Wednesday, TURAN's U.S, correspondent reports.

"Our goal is maximum pressure and it will be to drive Iranian oil exports to zero... We understand, obviously, a number of countries immediately surrounding Iran, some of which I visited last week, some of which are purchasing oil, may not be able to go all the way to zero immediately," Bolton said in a talk at the Hamilton Society, a nonpartisan group that encourages debate on foreign policy.

"We want to achieve maximum pressure but don't want to harm friends and allies, either, and we are working our way through that. I think it is important that we not relax in the effort", he noted.

Washington is preparing to impose the new sanctions on Iran's oil industry next week. But the White House is also considering offering waivers to some allies on a case-by-case basis.

Yet, for Bolton, consequences for Iran "can already be seen," including the collapse of its currency rial.

A.Raufoglu

Washington, D.C.