Weekly update

​25  MAY 2018

The Washington Post writes that Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo delivered his first public address on the Trump administration’s Iran
strategy at Heritage Foundation on 21 May–two weeks after President
Trump terminated the United States participation in the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Pompeo stated
that “President Trump withdrew from the deal for a simple reason: it failed to
guarantee the safety of the American people from the risk created by the
leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He also said there will be “no more
wealth creation for Iranian kleptocrats. No more acceptance of missiles landing
in Riyadh and in the Golan Heights. No more cost-free expansions of Iranian
power.”

Pompeo emphasized,
that “the JCPOA permitted the Iranian regime to use the money from the JCPOA to
boost the economic fortunes of a struggling people, but the regime’s leaders
refused to do so. Instead, the government spent its newfound treasure fueling
proxy wars across the Middle East and lining the pockets of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hizballah, Hamas, and the Houthis.” He also added
that the United States will “continue to work with its allies to counter the
regime’s destabilizing activities in the region, block their financing of
terror, and address Iran’s proliferation of missiles and other advanced weapons
systems that threaten peace and stability. We will also ensure Iran has no path
to a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever.”

The Secretary
of State also presented a list of goals on Iran. According to Pompeo, the U.S.
will apply unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime and will work
closely with the Department of Defense and regional allies to deter Iranian
aggression. He stated, that the U.S. will “advocate tirelessly for the Iranian
people.” “The regime must improve how it treats its citizens. It must protect
the human rights of every Iranian. It must cease wasting Iran’s wealth
abroad.”-said Pompeo.

During his
address, Pompeo said that President Trump “is ready, willing, and able to
negotiate a new deal” but only if Iran meets certain demands, like ending
enrichment and pursuing of plutonium reprocessing; ending its proliferation of
ballistic missiles and halting further launching or development of
nuclear-capable missile systems; ending support to Middle East terrorist
groups, including Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad,
as well as ending its threatening behavior against its neighbors–many of whom
are U.S. allies.

Pompeo
concluded his speech with a final remark: “My final message today is, in fact,
to the Iranian people. I want to repeat President Trump’s words from October.
President Trump said that, “We stand in total solidarity with the Iranian
regime’s longest-suffering victims: its own people. The citizens of Iran have
paid a heavy price for the violence and extremism of their leaders. The Iranian
people long to reclaim their country’s proud history, its culture, its
civilization, and its cooperation with its neighbors.”

Prepared by Marina Muradyan

https://acnis.am/en/weekly/19-2018-en