Pompeo vows Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday warned Tehran would be hit with the “strongest sanctions in history” and cautioned European firms against continuing to do business with it, toughening up Washington’s policy line after its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
In his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the CIA, the longtime Iran hawk and ardent opponent of the 2015 nuclear pact outlined an aggressive series of moves designed to counter Tehran, which he called the world’s top sponsor of terror.
“We will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime. The leaders in Tehran will have no doubt about our seriousness,” Mr Pompeo said in a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
“This sting of sanctions will be painful if the regime does not change its course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen to one that rejoins the league of nations.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani quickly dismissed the threats, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts Washington making decisions on their behalf.
“Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?” Mr Rouhani said in a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies.
“The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence,” he added.
Mr Pompeo said if Iran were to abide by stricter terms, including ending its ballistic missile programme and its interventions in regional conflicts from Yemen to Syria, the United States would lift its most recent sanctions.
President Donald Trump has long said the 2015 deal with Iran — also signed by Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — did not go far enough, and now wants the Europeans and others to support his hardline strategy.
The deal was designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The international community, including top US officials, have said Tehran had been in compliance.
But Mr Trump despised the deal, pointing to other aspects of Iranian behaviour not covered in the pact, and on May 8 he pulled America out despite intense diplomatic lobbying by European allies who had beseeched him to stick with it.
Instead of suggesting a renegotiation of the Iran deal, Mr Pompeo outlined 12 tough conditions from Washington for any “new deal” with Tehran to make sure it “will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East”.
These essentially address every aspect of Iran’s missile programme and what the US calls its “malign influence” across the region, including support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah and Huthi rebels in Yemen.
“It must cease its threatening behavior against its neighbours,” Mr Pompeo said.
Mr Rouhani compared the comments as akin to those made by the administration of George W Bush ahead of the 2003 Iraq invasion.
“The era of such statements has evolved and the Iranian people have heard these statements hundreds of times, and no longer pays attention,” Mr Rouhani added.