Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton says President Barack Obama made an "unforced error" when he said in an NPR interview that he would "never say never" to the United States' eventually reopening an embassy in Iran.
The statement comes on the heels of an "increasingly terrible deal" on Iran's nuclear program, Bolton said, adding that the deal would basically legitimize the program.
He said that while no diplomatic step is sacrosanct, Obama is giving away something without getting anything for it, much as he has done in Cuba and Afghanistan.
Obama thinks America is not a positive force in the world and has wronged Iran over the years, all the way back to U.S. support for the shah, Bolton said.
If the United States gives up on trying to contain Iran, Obama thinks Iran will give up its nuclear ambitions, Bolton said.
"It's naive, it's ideological," he said. "Most of all, it's dangerous for the country."