This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," March 8, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: President Ahmadinejad strikes again. First he called the holocaust a myth. And now, get ready, he says 9/11 was a big lie, and the United States used 9/11 to justify invading Afghanistan.
Joining us live is former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton. Ambassador, why is he saying these things?
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: He believes them.
VAN SUSTEREN: That may be worse.
BOLTON: This is nothing new from him. As you point out, he has denied the holocaust. And I think what this shows is what goes on inside his mind and reflects a broad swath of opinion inside Iran.
So when you look at all this, it just underlines why there's no way we should accept Iran with nuclear weapons, because you put those weapon in the hands of people like this, this is not going to have a happy ending.
VAN SUSTEREN: There are a lot of things going on. He's going to make a trip soon to Afghanistan. And then you've got Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who went around South America trying to gather up votes for the U.N. sanctions. There's a lot of problems trying to get that.
If we don't get sanctions, the U.N. doesn't impose sanctions, then what?
BOLTON: I think the almost inevitable result at this point is that Iran gets nuclear weapons. I don't think there will be significant new sanction. I think it is possible there would be fourth Security Council sanctions resolution, but I don't think there would be any material step-up in the intensity of the sanctions, and that means they simply continue to make progress.
The only variable out there I think is the possibility of an Israeli military strike.
VAN SUSTEREN: And what are the odds on that? Ahmadinejad has said he wants to wipe Israel often map, so it's not exactly like he's extended the olive branch.
BOLTON: That's from Israel's point of view. If you think Ahmadinejad's behavior is bad now, imagine how much worse it gets once he has nuclear weapons.
And of course it doesn't stop with Iran. The idea we can contain and deter Iran I think is a mistake, but even if that's right, Saudi Arabia will get nuclear weapons, Turkey, Egypt, maybe others.
So if you're Israel looking at a lot of adversaries in a delicate region with nuclear weapons the incentive to stop the beginning of it, to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons is pretty intense.
VAN SUSTEREN: What does he get out of going to Afghanistan?
BOLTON: I think he's been on a diplomatic campaign. He was just in Syria. He talks to the Arab states across the Persian Gulf. There's a substantial Iran ethic community in Afghanistan. He is covering his bases. He's doing his diplomacy to help enhance Iran's position. I think he's having some success.
VAN SUSTEREN: Of course he beat Secretary of State Clinton to Brazil. He was in Brazil six months ago to wrap up the president there pretty much.
BOLTON: The Brazilians have said not only don't they want sanctions against Iran, they want more trade with Iran. We are not making progress with Russia or China either. I think is going to be a long, drawn-out process and a mouse of sanctions resolution at the end of it, at best.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, big news in the election in Iraq yesterday, I think we hear Wednesday the results.
BOLTON: We'll have preliminary results. The turnout I think was really quite good nationwide.
VAN SUSTEREN: It was about 65 percent of the voters?
BOLTON: As it appears, and that's with some pretty intensive terrorist activity to intimidate voters. Not as high in Baghdad as we might like to security.
But I think the most important news here is all the communal groups participated. The Sunnies did not boycott. Even Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite leader, encouraged his people to vote. We have some difficult counting ahead, some difficult coalition building ahead, but it's one more brick in the wall towards a sustainable system of representative government.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ahmadinejad has tried to interfere as much as he could in Iraq. What do you think he's thinking?
BOLTON: I think he's going to do what he can to make sure the government that emerges from the coalition negotiations is as favorable to Iran as he can get it.
That's why one of the most significant aspects of this election is nationalist parties that are not strictly Shia or strictly Sunni or strictly Kurd, to have more or less what we have in this country, more philosophical differences than religious or ethnic differences.
VAN SUSTEREN: In other words, the ones who don't win to see how they react to this?
BOLTON: Right. And we could still, in the counting phase, we could still have claims of fraud and cheating. We could have attacks --
VAN SUSTEREN: We have that here.
BOLTON: So what else is new? But we're not home free yet by any stretch of the imagination.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, thank you, sir.
BOLTON: Thank you.
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