Pompeo reaffirms the need to check Iran
The US Secretary of State has rightly stressed Tehran’s role in regional instability
On his first visit to the UAE, on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat down for an exclusive interview with The National. The conversation that ensued affords an exceptional insight into the US government’s approach to the Middle East. Consider Iraq, where Iran has used militias under its command to increase its military footprint and political clout just as attempts are under way to forge a government there. Mr Pompeo was emphatic: “America wants an Iraqi Iraq for Iraqis” that is free from Iranian influence. He bluntly identified Iran, specifically Qassem Soleimani of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, as the chief obstacle to achieving progress in Iraq as well as Syria, and said it was time for partners to “to raise the cost for him – for his organisation and for him personally”.
In a departure from the previous US administration’s position, this Secretary of State appeared flexible about the future of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, whose exit was once regarded in Washington as the prerequisite for a political settlement. Mr Pompeo subordinated the fate of Mr Al Assad to the more immediate need to reduce violence and resettle the millions of Syrians displaced by the civil war.
In Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been leading a military campaign to restore the country’s legitimate government, Mr Pompeo called for a political solution accompanied by a “global effort” to end meddling by Iran, which has armed the Houthi rebels and augmented their forces with its own personnel and fighters from Hezbollah. Mr Pompeo, paying tribute to the “great partners” in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, affirmed the US’s willingness to “defend the region militarily”.
Where the Obama administration advanced the nuclear deal with Iran as a cure for Iranian belligerence, Mr Pompeo identified it as the reason for the worsening of Tehran’s “malign activity”. The resources generated by the deal have financed Iran’s deadly operations in Yemen, Syria and Iraq. But as sanctions re-imposed by Mr Trump go into effect, the “combined effort” of the US and its partners in the region, he said, can reverse Iran’s gains and contain it.
Speaking as Nato members meet in Belgium, Mr Pompeo raised the possibility of a “comprehensive” new deal with Iran: one whose terms will extend to its missile programmes, and be overseen by a tough verification regime. Such a deal would be welcomed in this region, which continues to be threatened by Iran. Mr Pompeo’s words should be a starting point for a broader discussion as Mr Trump holds talks at the Nato summit with some of those responsible for the original deal.