Maduro’s capture likely caught Ayatollah’s attention more than anything else, says ex-US NSA Bolton

Maduro’s capture likely caught Ayatollah’s attention, says ex-US NSA John Bolton

• Bolton says Iranian regime is "coming apart" amid expanding anti-regime protests
• Capture of Maduro in Venezuela may alarm Iran's leadership
• Bolton doubts quick revival of Venezuela's oil industry despite US plans

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Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton suggested that the Iranian regime is "coming apart", amid the "continuing, expanding" anti-regime demonstrations, and that the capture of deposed leader Nicolas Maduro "probably caught the Ayatollah's attention more than anything else."

Speaking to ANI on US President Donald Trump's statement on Iranian protests, Bolton said, "What probably caught the Ayatollah's attention more than anything else was the capture of Maduro. They should be worried. But I think it's better to act rather than engage in rhetoric, as Trump does... in Iran, the anti-regime demonstrations are continuing and expanding. There are indications that at the top of the Iranian regime, it's really beginning to come apart... This is a time when the US and others should consult the Iranian opposition and ask what they can do to help... Let the people of Iran decide what kind of government they want."

Sporadic protests have erupted in Iran's capital, Tehran, and several other cities, with local media reporting intensifying clashes in parts of the country, particularly in the west.

The demonstrations, which began in late December, initially saw shopkeepers staging strikes over economic grievances before expanding in scale and scope. Protesters later raised political demands, Al Jazeera reported.

When asked about the impact of the current political situation in Venezuela on its oil production, Former National Security Advisor of the United States, Bolton told ANI, "The loss of Venezuelan production in international markets is insignificant... One reason, apart from the sanctions, why Venezuela produces so little oil is that its drilling, shipping, and other capacities are so degraded and dilapidated. Here's where Trump makes another fundamental mistake by thinking that foreign investment by US or other foreign oil companies can suddenly or quite quickly increase Venezuela's oil production, which is absolutely wrong.

This is going to take billions of dollars of new capital investment over an extended period of time before there's any real impact on Venezuelan production."US President Donald Trump, who on Saturday said Washington would move to take control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves and encourage American companies to invest billions of dollars to revive the country's weakened oil industry, CNN reported.

Trump made the remarks after the United States carried out what it described as a large-scale military operation in Venezuela, during which Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured in Caracas and flown out of the country.