Former US ambassador to UN: US decision on Iran sanctions "naive"

"This additional round of sanctions will have no material impact," Bolton said on Thursday.

“The test is, can you pass a sanctions resolution that will stop Iran from continuing to pursue nuclear weapons, and the unambiguous answer is no,” he added.

“This continued talk about sanctions is counterproductive because it gives people the kind of a warm and fuzzy and comfortable feeling that we're doing something when in reality we're not."

"We're way, way behind the curve. Iran is much further along in getting nuclear weapons," he said.

"We had 14 months of naive and inexperience president. I just worry that the administration at bottom thinks it can deal with Iran. That's a fantasy," the former UN envoy added.

Bolton's comments, however, run counter to Iran's stated nuclear agenda. Tehran says its nuclear program is purely peaceful and aimed at the civilian application of the technology.

The US has stepped up its efforts to push other key world powers into passing new sanctions against Iran at the UN Security Council.

China and Russia, two veto-wielding members of the council, have repeatedly called for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear issue.

Tehran, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, rejects the accusations that it is pursuing a military nuclear program, describing the allegations as "baseless" and "politically-motivated."

The UN nuclear watchdog has conducted numerous unannounced inspections of Iran's nuclear sites and has found no evidence supporting the Western claims.

Tehran says it will never buckle under Western pressure to relinquish the legitimate nuclear rights of the Iranian nation.


/Press TV/