Pompeo: Iran actions have ‘ a real high cost’

Abu Dhabi, July 10: US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that America and its Gulf Arab allies want to show Iran that its actions have “a real high cost,” stepping up his warnings after Tehran threatened to disrupt Mideast oil supplies.

Mr Pompeo’s comments came during a short trip to the United Arab Emirates, a staunch US ally that hosts some 5,000 American forces at a crucial air base and the US Navy’s busiest foreign port of call.

He stopped short of offering any specifics during an interview with Sky News Arabia, an Arab satellite news channel half owned by Abu Dhabi ruling family member Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a UAE deputy prime minister.

However, his message undoubtedly reached receptive ears. The UAE long has been suspicious of Iran and its nuclear deal with world powers, from which President Donald Trump recently pulled out.

“The one that we are most focused on today is ... that we deny Iran the financial capacity to continue this bad behaviour,” Mr Pompeo said. “So it’s a broad range, a series of sanctions aimed not at the Iranian people, but rather aimed at the single mission of convincing the Iranian regime that its malign behaviour is unacceptable and has a real high cost for them.”

Mr Pompeo made a point to mention recent threats by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of all oil traded by sea passes. While in Europe last week, Mr Rouhani said that any disruption to Iran’s oil exports would result in the whole region’s exports being disrupted.

Iran “should know that America is committed to keeping sea lines open, keeping the transit of oil available for the entire world,” Mr Pompeo said. “That’s the commitment we have had for decades. We continue under that commitment.”

In Tehran, Iran’s deputy parliament speaker Ali Motahari praised Rouhani for making the threat.

The one that we are most focused on today is ... that we deny Iran the financial capacity to continue this bad behaviour — Mike Pompeo, US secy of state