Ex-NSA Bolton: Aging Iranian Supreme Leader’s death may provide window for regime change

Without a clear transition of power, the IRGC could be compromised, former national security adviser John Bolton said.

By World Israel News Staff

Former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said that a regime change in Iran “may be doable” when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 84 and having faced several illnesses, dies, which will weaken the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In a webinar titled “Supporting Iran’s Quest for Democracy and the Urgency of Europe Proscribing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC),” Bolton noted that there was no clear transition of power in the event of the Khamenei’s death.

The Jerusalem Post cited Bolton as saying that the vacuum left by his death could harm the IRGC.

Bolton, alongside other attendees, highlighted the importance of the UK and EU sanctioning the entire IRGC. However, despite the EU’s move in May to sanction five senior IRGC officials and two entities over human rights, neither the EU nor the UK has taken steps to sanction it as a whole. Top EU officials have countered with arguments suggesting the IRGC is a state military and that blanket sanctions would require a court ruling.

Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, another speaker at the webinar, which was organized by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, made a fervent appeal: “We urge our friends in the UK and EU to take a stand for moral clarity and to outlaw [the IRGC].” She emphasized the need for the UK and EU to recognize the IRGC as a “terrorist entity” that impedes the Iranian population from achieving freedom and democracy.

Gamliel reiterated that the IRGC’s actions, including 15 assassination attempts since 2022 and threats to the UK and Italian governments, necessitate stringent action. The minister stressed that striving for a democratic Iran is not just an ideal but is attainable.

Reminiscing about his time during the Trump administration, Bolton admitted facing significant resistance within bureaucratic circles against branding the entire IRGC a terror entity. He shared insights into the internal disputes and his strategies to navigate them.

The JCPA emphasized the escalating global momentum to ban the IRGC, spotlighting its involvement in terror training and executing worldwide attacks. Recent collaboration between Iran and Russia involving kamikaze drones used against Ukraine has added to the urgency to proscribe the IRGC, a move that Israel has consistently championed.

Ayatollah Ali KhameneiGila GamlielIranJohn BoltonNational Security