John Bolton was fired by the U.S. President Donald Trump for disagreement over easing Iran sanctions according to a report by Bloomberg.
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Trump fired his former national security adviser via Twitter saying he “strongly disagreed” with many of Bolton’s positions including relations with Iran and North Korea.
The report said Bolton might have been sacked because he was against Trump’s willingness to ease sanctions on Iran so that he could secure a meeting with President Hassan Rouhani.
Bloomberg cited three anonymous sources familiar with the matter who said that Bolton argued with force against easing sanctions Monday in the Oval Office.
After Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary supported Trump’s idea, “Trump decided to oust Bolton” the same day.
According to the sources, Trump wanted to meet Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly late September.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later confirmed that Trump might meet Rouhani. "Sure," Pompeo replied to questions on the potential meeting. "The president has made very clear he is prepared to meet with no preconditions."
However, Rouhani wants sanctions to ease if Trump wants a meeting which was vehemently opposed by Bolton who is close to People’s Mojahedin of Iran (MEK). MEK is an armed opposition group whose members are based in Albania.
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, said military escalation might reduce in the Middle East now that Bolton is gone. He also said the chances of Trump meeting Rouhani has increased now.
"But the likelihood of a meeting has gone up because one of its main detractors is now out of a job,” he said.