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Ambassador John Bolton on why the Iran War is nothing but a US ‘political defeat’
Jun 18, 2026
Andrew Marr speaks to Ambassador John Bolton and Exiled Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, about whether the US-Iran peace deal actually marks the end of the conflict. Bolton sees it as less of a ‘peace deal’ and more a ‘political surrender’. Despite Trump’s attempts to spin the narrative, the Ambassador thinks it’s a ‘significant political defeat’ for the US. Donald Trump has said he doesn’t believe in Iranian regime change but warned 'all hell will rain down' if it breaks a newly agreed peace deal. Speaking at the G7 conference today, the US president threatened to continue their bombing campaign if Iran ‘doesn’t behave’. Speaking from the perspective of Iran, Reza Pahlavi says the ‘fight is not over’ until the complete liberation of his people from the IRGC. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #andrewmarr #iran #iranwar #trump #uspolitics #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
In Tehran, some are already declaring victory, and in Israel, there is a deep hostility to
0:05
an agreement which allows Iran to keep its regime and much of its military power
0:10
But how is the deal going down with the Republicans in Washington? Ambassador John Bolton joins me now
0:16
Ambassador, great to see you again. Is this being seen as a win or a lose for President Trump
0:23
Well, I think people will look at the damage done to Iran's military-industrial complex
0:29
during the war itself by Israel and the United States and see that that's a significant damage done to the regime
0:38
But the regime remains in place, and this document, which keeps coming in different forms
0:43
the administration has now released what it says is the copy, is a significant political defeat
0:50
There's no doubt about it. There are concessions in here that never should have been made
0:55
and this is just getting started. It's very clear that Trump wanted the strait open to get the price at the pump of gasoline in the United States down
1:04
That was his fixture because he's worried about the elections in November and has lost sight of the strategic issues that should have been central to his consideration
1:14
And to keep the strait open apparently means allowing Iran control of the strait, in effect
1:20
Well, that's been my fear really from the outset here, that if we had taken military
1:25
control of the strait at the beginning of the war, this would not have happened
1:30
And I think the Gulf Arabs are going to live in fear that the regime in Tehran will turn
1:35
it on and off like a light switch. And our friends around the world wonder even more than before what an American commitment means
1:44
And the Iranians have been able to put the word Lebanon into this agreement
1:48
Do you think that the first stumbling block of it might well be Israel's refusal to accept that
1:53
Well, that's going to be one of the steps. I mean, they make it very clear here that there's no status of war, including in Lebanon
2:03
Now, that means Israeli troops have to withdraw. You're in a state of war when you've got troops in another country's territory
2:09
and I'm sure the Iranian interpretation is Israel's got to withdraw. That isn't going to happen, period
2:15
John, can you remember any period when relations between Tel Aviv and Washington were this bad
2:22
Well, I think there have been a lot of periods when it's been bad. We just haven't seen it
2:26
publicly. The way Trump does his diplomacy is to tell everybody exactly what he thinks at any given
2:31
moment. But if you read, for example, Jimmy Carter's diaries about what he thought of the
2:36
Israelis during his tenure before Camp David it reminds you of today I put it that way Finally what do you think the status is of a possible unfreezing of Iranian assets
2:47
Because that's also been a very touchy subject for both sides. Well, I think it's coming. I think if you read the words of this MOU carefully
2:57
you'll see that the U.S. has made a lot of commitments that Trump has been denying
3:01
For example, when it comes to the $300 billion fund that he says we're not going to put any money into, the document says very clearly the United States undertakes, that's us, to create this fund
3:15
And at the end of a long sentence, it says, comma, while insuring, financing of at least $300 billion, while insuring
3:23
We call that a guarantee. And we're the guarantor. So if the Saudis and the Emiratis don't want to pump up $300 billion, it's coming from us
3:33
Is this a better deal than President Obama, God? Well, no, it's not. It's not really comparable, but it's a political surrender
3:42
Ambassador John Bolton, thank you very much indeed for being so clear and joining me tonight
3:46
Let's talk now to the man that much of the Iranian opposition looks to as its natural leader
3:51
The son of the last Shah of Iran and the exiled Crown Prince of Iran, now leader of the Democratic opposition Reza Pahlavi, who joins me in the studio
4:00
Welcome to the studio. Great to have you here. Thank you. I'm just wondering how you regard this so-called agreement
4:07
I was noticing some of the words that President Trump has used within the last hour
4:11
He says that the new regime in Tehran is smart and smarter than the previous ones, that they love their country
4:18
And he says that is regime change. look if you examine in the past four decades the overall behavior of this regime we can say that
4:29
they are not to be trusted and this is why i think this deal will not come through time and again
4:35
we've seen that the only strategy has been to buy time as a matter of fact a source very close to
4:41
the current leading negotiator on behalf of the iranian regime bengalibov has been stating that
4:47
they need some time to regroup, restock, rearm themselves offensively and defensively to get
4:53
ready for the final battle. Not hiding it, are they? Not even that. So if that's already not
4:58
you know, the sort of red herring, I don't know what else is. But the bigger picture is this
5:03
Andrew. The Iranian people have not lost 40,000 people on January 8th and 9th for the Strait of
5:09
Hormuz or for the nuclear deal. They've been fighting for liberation and they've been under
5:14
occupation for 47 years. This is where my focus is, and at the end of the day
5:19
we believe as Iranians that once liberated not only the world will be rid of every aspect of antagonism that this regime has brought into place but it will change entirely the dynamics
5:30
of the Middle East and beyond. This is really what we hope your listeners and government are
5:36
listening and understand of how crucial it is to understand that the persisting existence of this
5:41
regime is the continuation of all the problems. There was a moment a few months ago when it really
5:47
it did seem that the regime might be about to fall when there were huge numbers of people on the streets
5:51
and the IRGC and others had not yet started to machine gun or hang people
5:57
What do you think went wrong? Why did that moment of democratic revolution not happen
6:03
In these kind of struggles, when you are facing a regime that is ruthless
6:09
to the point that an industrial murder scale has occurred, you know, in over two days, this killed 40,000 people
6:15
That was not enough for them. They chase them into the hospitals and finish them on their hospital beds
6:21
And there's so much more to it that is beyond what you have heard
6:26
And all of a sudden you have a sort of halt in the process
6:31
So we have to regroup. We have to adapt to the new circumstances. And irrespective of whether there is a deal or not
6:37
and irrespective of whether there is support for the Iranian people or not
6:41
our struggle will continue. So we are regrouping. We are reorganizing. I think people eventually will find another chance to come to the streets at the right time, obviously, given some circumstances
6:55
And we are pretty much reorganizing ourselves under the circumstances. Let me ask you about that, because it's pretty clear that for an awful lot of Iranian people, money is tight
7:04
Indeed, people are finding it hard to pay basic bills for food and petrol and the rest of it
7:08
It's pretty clear that that is getting worse. The shortages are getting worse and the stories about corruption are getting worse
7:15
So do you think there is going to be another moment of, as it were, democratic uprising before too long
7:21
Of course. And when you fight for liberating yourself, there's no end until you ultimately succeed
7:29
It could take a long time. It could take a shorter amount of time, depending, of course, to what extent you are completely on your own
7:36
or whether or not you get some more element that supports it
7:40
And at the end of the day, I think the Iranian people will not settle for anything short of a clean break
7:45
because no aspect of the remnant of this regime have any legitimacy with the nation
7:49
We are paid a high price to get to this point. A very high price
7:54
President Trump started this war making big promises about regime change and big promises to the Iranian people
8:01
Are you disappointed in the way that he finished it Well I don know if it finished yet Because as you know every few hours we have a different tweet coming from this president and all of a sudden the headlight changes from one thing to the other So I not reading too
8:15
much to any statement that has been made. And in fact, I was just following a little bit what was
8:20
happening live in Avian in the press conference. And we hear a lot, but we have yet to see what
8:27
happens. Even the president of America says, well, let's see how they behave. Beyond how the regime
8:33
behaves, we know how it behaves. So you try to eliminate anything that stands in their way
8:39
including its own population. But we are going to continue this fight. I think the world needs
8:45
to understand that the Iranians are not going to give up their fight. They're courageous. They're
8:49
willing to sacrifice. And this is, at the end of the day, how history shapes itself. Eventually
8:55
they'll go down. They will fall on their own sword. And hopefully we'll have much more support
9:01
by countries that until now have been hesitant to take a strong stance vis-a-vis the regime
9:07
They've been timid. They've been blackmailed by hostage taking by the regime or now threatening
9:12
the straight and foremost. If you reward a regime that blackmails you by promising them
9:18
economic relief, it's adding insult to injury. And if you were to give that money
9:23
It will not trickle down to the people, by the way. They'll keep it. They'll keep it for themselves
9:27
Can I ask you about your own position? You've been out of the country now, what, 47 years, something like that
9:32
I left the country last time I was in my homeland was in 1978
9:37
So it's been quite a while. Quite a while. Now, you've mentioned in the past other sort of democracies with monarchies attached to them
9:44
And you've said that your job is to be a bridge and an enabler for the democratic regime that eventually follows
9:51
But are there circumstances in which, as a member of a royal family
9:55
you yourself would stand for an election and actually want to be part of the political process
9:59
Well, I'm glad you're asking the question because it has never been the case for me to run for office or position
10:04
But I'm uniquely placed to be an agent of change and transition
10:09
There's a trust in me. That's why when on January 8th and make a call, millions of people came out there supporting me and chanting my name and asking for my leadership
10:19
And what I'm offering as a transition post-regime collapse is the opportunity for the Iranian people to determine their own future through free and fair election
10:27
Part of our job is to manage the country's affairs in the meantime and allow and prepare the grounds for such constitutional assembly
10:34
You want to be the bridge, not the final destination. Exactly. And I think as such, I have to remain neutral
10:39
I'm not advocating for any specific form of government. That's for the people of Iran to decide
10:44
But it has to be based on secular democratic values and principles
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