China and Russia weaker after Iran’s leadership is decapitated by US Strikes: John Bolton

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton says China and Russia may be in a weaker position to cause trouble as a result of the US strikes on Iran.

Speaking exclusively to The Nightly, Ambassador Bolton said Russia and China, which have deepened their cooperation since President Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, had suffered significant setbacks with the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the decapitation of Iranian leadership.

Mr Bolton, who has been a strident critic of Mr Trump since departing as one of his many national security advisers in the first administration, praised the US President’s decision to strike Tehran alongside Israel on Saturday.

The move followed Mr Trump’s raid in January this year on Venezuela to capture the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, who was also a collaborator of Russia, China and Iran.

“And now we may be seeing the collapse of the regime in Iran, so for Russia and China these are all significant setbacks, and that’s what a global strategic picture is all about,” Mr Bolton said.

“The gravest threat the West faces in the 21st century is the China-Russia axis, and what we have done incredibly in the past few months, and what’s been happening because of how Israel responded to the Hamas attack from 2023, is systematically dismantling the capabilities of some of the surrogates, some of the proxy satellites, if you want to call them that, of Russia and China.

“I mean, that is very important work. And it leaves them much less in a position to cause us trouble around the world.”

Mr Bolton also pointed to the collapse in December 2024 of the Assad regime in Syria where Russia had military bases, fixtures he said remained in question.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin had lost three of his “closest pals in little more than a year,” and had done nothing to help them.

“Russia is not a reliable ally even for those who rely heavily on it,” he said.

China said the US and Israeli strikes on Iran were “unacceptable” but limited their response to words.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov by telephone.

“The attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran in the Iran-US negotiation process are unacceptable, blatantly killing the leader of a sovereign country and encouraging regime change are unacceptable, which violates international law and basic norms governing international relations,” Mr Wang told Mr Lavrov, according to a readout published by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

Happy with Australia’s response

The US military action divided allies around the world.

Australia and Canada both swiftly supported the strikes but the Europeans were lukewarm and urged restraint.

“There has not been a satisfactory resolution to the risk that Iran poses should it acquire a nuclear capability. And so for that reason, Australia supports the action taken to ensure Iran does not achieve such capability,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Today.

Mr Bolton slammed Europe’s response by contrast as weak, and they were no different from Australia and Canada, which had experienced terrorism on home soil that had been orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“So I’m very happy that Canada and Australia came out the right way,” he said.

Mission right, but what is Trump’s plan for regime change?

Mr Bolton said that he had tried unsuccessfully to convince Mr Trump to orchestrate regime change in Iran and backed the weekend action.

“The threats from the Iranian nuclear program and ballistic missiles, and its terrorist activity in the Middle East and really worldwide, all justify seeking regime change,” he said.

He said for this reason, he backed President Trump’s objectives but questioned whether he had a plan to bring about the regime change that was really required.

“Whether he’s carrying it out correctly remains to be seen. I’m very worried, for example, he has not effectively coordinated with the Iranian opposition, which is essential to success in affecting regime change,” he said.

“Maybe he has? We just don’t know about it. Maybe we’ll see in the coming days, but I’m worried about that.

“I’m worried that he hasn’t effectively made the case to the American people. He can do it, but he had the State of the Union opportunity last week, and he only took a few minutes to talk about Iran.

“So I have concerns about the way it’s being implemented, but is it the right thing to do? Absolutely!”

Mr Trump has not given a single media conference since announcing the strikes via a pre-recorded video which he uploaded to social media.

He has only been sighted once since Friday by the White House reporters at Palm Beach, Florida, who are assigned to cover him this weekend.

The President has, however, been active on social media and spoken to several media outlets by phone.

He also posted a second video message on Sunday night local time, warning Iran that there would likely be more attacks.

Mr Trump in his first video message on Saturday, urged Iranians who have been protesting, with thousands estimated to have been killed by the regime in recent weeks, to take over the government.

But in an interview with The Atlantic, he said he was open to dialogue with Iran’s new leadership.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said.

Iran’s counterattacks on neighbours and US and allied military bases, as well as civilian targets such as hotels, using drones and missiles, have angered the region.

Britain, Germany and France, which did not back the US and Israel’s initial strikes, said they could join US action to stop Iran’s retaliatory strikes, which have grounded flights and caused havoc in the tourist-rich Gulf States.