Bolton says Middle East already in 'wider war' after Iran, Lebanon attacks

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton on Thursday argued the Middle East is already in the middle of a "wider war" as concerns grow about an escalating conflict following the apparent assassination of a top Hamas political leader in Tehran this week.

Bolton argued the larger regional conflict began after Oct. 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise assault on southern Israel, where they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others.

"We're not dealing with conflict in Gaza or the conflict with Hezbollah and North Lebanon or a conflict with the Houthis closing the Red Sea or a conflict in Iraq with Shia militia," Bolton said Thursday on NewsNation. "This is all an Iranian 'ring of fire strategy' — that's the Iranian name for it."

"It's been going on since at least Oct. 7, so we've been in a wider war since then, and unless the U.S. understands that directly, we're going to be worse than useless in trying to deal with what the real threat is here," Bolton said. "The real threat is the regime in Tehran."

His remarks come a day after top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Wednesday while visiting for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. 

While Israel has not acknowledged the strike in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to seek revenge against Israel after Haniyeh’s death.

"I think it's almost certain [Iran] will try something like that; it was a real humiliation for the Iranian regime that one of their terrorist commanders, in effect, was killed in Tehran. So I don't doubt that Iran will try to do something," Bolton said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday said the U.S. was not involved in the death of Haniyeh, and in fact had no advance knowledge of the operation.

Haniyeh's death followed an already tense week in the region, after Israel killed Fuad Shukr, the top military leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon's capital of Beirut.

"They are senior leaders of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, that Iran has been arming, equipping, training, financing and directing for years and years, decades in the case of Hezbollah," Bolton said. "And they are the surrogate weapons really, that Iran intends to use against Israel and ultimately against the Arab states in the Persian Gulf."

"That's why I say you can't look at this as discrete, unrelated, individual ad hoc conflicts. Its part of a bigger plan, the bigger plan comes from Tehran and that's what Israel is trying to respond to," Bolton said.