American National Security Advisor John Bolton, joined his Russian and Israeli counterparts - Nikolai Patrushev and Meir Ben-Shabbat –in Jerusalem Tuesday morning for part of an unprecedented Middle East summit focusing on the Syrian civil war and rising tensions with Iran.
The summit opened just days after Iran shot down an American drone aircraft patrolling the Straits of Hormuz – the latest escalation in the region, following a string of suspected Iranian attacks on oil tankers in the strategic waterway.
In statements to the press before a trilateral meeting, Bolton blasted Tehran for its nuclear weapons program and acts of “belligerence and aggression.”
"Iran's provocations, which also include threats to and attacks on American personnel and assets in the Middle East are the external manifestations of the central threat that Iran poses, namely its continued pursuit of deliverable nuclear weapons."
Despite Iran's behavior, Bolton continued, President Trump has "held the door open for real negotiations".
"All Iran needs to do is walk through that open door."
Israeli Premier Binyamin Netanyahu also spoke at the summit Tuesday, warning Iran that Israel would “respond forcefully to any such attacks” by Tehran. “We have acted hundreds of times,” Netanyahu continued, alluding to Israeli airstrikes on Iranian forces stationed in Syria.
"Israel has acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, while it actively and openly calls and works for our destruction. We have acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from delivering increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah, or to form a second front in the north against us from the Golan Heights. Israel will continue to prevent Iran from using neighboring territory as platforms to attack us, and Israel will respond forcefully to any such attacks."