(NewsNation) — As President Donald Trump announced plans Tuesday to end the conflict in Iran in a little more than two weeks and scheduled a national address Wednesday to discuss the war, Ambassador John Bolton said that despite the apparent battlefield dominance, the on-the-ground situation in Iran is strategically incomplete and potentially dangerous.

Bolton told Leland Vittert on NewsNation’s “On Balance” that claims of a regime change in Iran are incorrect, saying that while the current leadership in Tehran is new, it represents the same ideology. He likened the Iranian regime to an injured animal.

“If this wounded animal gets back in power in Tehran, they will go back to doing exactly what their predecessors are doing,” Bolton said, positing that action in Iran may have caused more damage than inactivity. “This is worse than having just sat back and done nothing at this point.”

Bolton called the failure to notify U.S. allies of the forthcoming action in Iran “juvenile,” before saying the Europeans’ response was similarly “juvenile.” The disconnect, Bolton said, could change the landscape of global politics.

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“Trump is on the verge of destroying NATO after 77 years because it’s inconvenient for him,” Bolton said. “The Soviets wanted to split the Atlantic alliance during the Cold War … we’re now doing their work for them.”

The long-term effects of what Bolton sees as an early bow-out from the conflict in Iran due to a financial pinch at home would create a precedent for future conflict.

“When you see the real effect of it … this tells the ayatollahs and the Revolutionary Guard … that they can do that any time they want,” Bolton said, as gas prices soar past $4 per gallon, the highest the U.S. has seen since 2022.

“If Trump gets out before we have cleared the strait, it will be a significant strategic victory for Iran … and a defeat for the United States,” he said.

President Trump is set to deliver a nationwide address Wednesday regarding the ongoing conflict in Iran. You can watch it live on NewsNation at 9 p.m. ET.

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