‘Thatcher would have blocked Huawei’
Mike Pompeo launches scathing attack on British security policy as he flies in for first official visit
DONALD TRUMP’S secretary of state suggested Margaret Thatcher would never have given Huawei access to British 5G networks yesterday as USUK policy differences were laid bare during his first official UK visit.
Mike Pompeo warned that America would only share information on “trusted networks” as he hinted at the potential knock-on effects for intelligence sharing if Theresa May decided to give the Chinese technology company restricted access to British 5G.
He also disapproved of Britain’s refusal to take back home-grown Isil fighters captured on the battlefield, insisting that repatriating jihadists was a “key part” of defeating Islamic radicalism in the Middle East.
He went on to admit there had been “forthright” discussions behind closed doors on the Iran nuclear deal, from which America has withdrawn but which Britain still supports, and cited Winston Churchill when he said the “evil” regime must be confronted.
In an interview in today’s Daily Telegraph, Mr Pompeo calls on Britain and European powers to support Washington on Iran as America announced fresh sanctions against the regime. At a press conference and speech in London yesterday, after talks with Mrs May and Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, he made clear that fundamental differences remained between the US and Britain.
But when discussing the “special relationship” he appeared at pains to stress how closely the Trump administration valued the US-UK partnership.
Mr Pompeo said the president was “eager” to sign a free trade deal after Brexit that would take their trading relationship to “unlimited new heights”, regardless of how the protracted negotiations with Brussels ended.
He also took a public swipe at Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, over his support for the Venezuelan government, saying it was “disgusting” that some politicians on both sides of the Atlantic were backing Nicolás Maduro, the country’s controversial president.
Coming just a month before Mr Trump arrives on a state visit, the remarks will leave No 10 braced for criticism from the president himself.
The Trump administration has been lobbying European countries against allowing Huawei a role in 5G networks over fears China would have unrestricted access to the company’s data streams.
It has created tensions with Britain, a partner in the Five Eyes intelligencesharing pact, as Mrs May has privately supported giving Huawei restricted access to the network, as disclosed by The Telegraph. That leak led to the dismissal of Gavin Williamson as defence secretary. Addressing the issue in a speech honouring Baroness Thatcher, Mr Pompeo asked what the former prime minister would have thought of the challenges posed by China.
“Would she allow China to control the internet of the future?” he asked. “I know it’s a sensitive topic but we have to talk about sensitive things as friends. As a matter of Chinese law, the Chinese government can rightfully demand access to data flowing through Huawei and ZTE systems [another Chinese telecoms firm].
“Why would anyone grant such power to a regime that has already grossly violated cyberspace?”
Earlier, alongside Mr Hunt, Mr Pompeo said “technical” discussions were ongoing between the two governments but America had made its views clear. British officials attempted to play down the differences, noting Mr Pompeo said he was “confident” both nations would ensure network security.
Mr Pompeo also urged a hard line on Iran. Referencing Churchill, who “stared evil in the face and recognised the threat that evil presented to the world”, he stressed the US and UK were “on the same side”.
On captured Isil soldiers, he said: “We have an expectation that every country will work to take back their foreign fighters and continue to hold those foreign fighters.”
He came to talk up the special relationship. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his visit to London yesterday to focus on Washington’s increasingly tense confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme, and call for the support of Britain and Europe.
Mr Pompeo had arrived in London to deliver the annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture after being obliged to make an emergency visit to Baghdad prompted by American intelligence reports suggesting that Iran was planning attacks against US forces based in the Middle East.
Consequently, while much of the focus of his 20-minute speech was spent on extolling the virtues of the links between Britain and the US, as well as relating his personal admiration for Lady Thatcher, it was more pressing concerns, such as the mounting confrontation with Iran, that was clearly occupying his mind.
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph from Lancaster House, Mr Pompeo said he had made the decision to cancel a planned visit with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and travel instead to the Iraqi capital Baghdad after receiving intelligence “that suggested it was a good time for me to go visit Iraq”.
Britain is among several European countries, including Germany and France, that are resisting calls by Washington to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme.
Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, yesterday sought to
increase the pressure on Britain and other European signatories to uphold the terms of the agreement by threatening to resume nuclear enrichment within 60 days if they did not fulfil their oil and financial commitments under the JCPOA deal.
The Trump administration is currently in the process of increasing the pressure on Iran by imposing a stricter sanctions regime against Tehran, yesterday announcing further measures against its steel, aluminium, copper and iron sectors.
And over the weekend, it announced it would send a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to a “troubling and escalatory indications” of Iranian activity in the region.
US intelligence officials believe Iran might respond by attacking American interests and those of its allies in neighbouring countries such as Iraq.
Over the weekend, “there were a handful of information streams that we saw that generated concern,” Mr Pompeo explained.
He called on Britain and other European allies to support Washington’s sanctions policy against Iran rather an undermining it by attempting to continue doing business with the ayatollahs. “We think the ideal course is that every nation join the sanctions regime that exists today,” he said. “We believe that denying Iran the wealth to foment terror, denying Iran the wealth to continue its ballistic missile testing and its nuclear programme, is a good thing.
“It will also enable the Iranian people to get the democracy that they so richly deserve.
“I am convinced that the Iranian people do not want what it is the Islamic republic leadership is offering them.”
Yesterday, Jeremy Hunt warned the regime of “consequences” should Iran renege on the deal, but the UK and other EU governments made it clear they stood by the accord so long as Tehran was willing to uphold it.
Mr Pompeo said European governments should resist the Iranian pressure, arguing that most European conglomerates were no longer prepared to trade with Iran.
“The vast majority of significant entities from the West have moved out of Iran,” he said.
“Compliance with oil sanctions has been near uniform.”
In the course of delivering the Margaret Thatcher Lecture, which was hosted by London’s Centre for Policy Studies think tank, Mr Pompeo insisted there was hardly any “daylight” between the British and American positions on Iran, even though the two countries had different approaches to the nuclear deal.
“When it comes to the threat from Iran, they understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran is underwriting Hizbollah,” he said, referring to the British government. “They understand that Iran is underwriting terrorism in Shia militias in Iraq, they understand that Iran has engaged in assassination campaigns recently here in Europe.
“They share our assessment of the threat, but they have taken a different approach when it comes to constraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Our goal is not to hurt Iran or the Iranian people. Our goal is to have Iran behave like a normal nation.”
During his lecture, Mr Pompeo laid particular emphasis on the importance of maintaining the special relationship, which he described as being “sturdy pillars of our relationship”.
And in his interview with The Telegraph, he insisted that he did not believe this vital relationship would be in any way damaged by the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
“We have told Britain’s political leadership that this is their sovereign choice, their path to choose,” he said. “This is an important economic relationship. We stand ready to engage, with free trade agreements when the moment comes which we know will be good for our two countries.”
Having served as a tank commander in Germany during the Cold War, Mr Pompeo is a staunch supporter of the Nato alliance, which he also believes will continue to thrive irrespective of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.