Secretary Pompeo: “US Iran Policy ‘Straightforward'”

 Secretary Pompeo: “US Iran Policy ‘Straightforward'”

• Stop being a world sponsor of Terror.

US President Donald Trump’s policy on Iran is and has been ‘straightforward’ all along, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday: Stop being a world sponsor of terror.

“We have made it clear that regime change is not President Trump’s policy,” Secretary Pompeo said in a TV interview.  “We have laid it out what we want from the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop launching missiles into Riyadh, and threatening Hezbollah, and ceasing to be the world’s state sponsor of terror.”

When Iran’s governing regime makes those Key changes, The Trump Administration will be “happy” to have a conversation with its leaders, Secretary Pompeo said.

“President Trump has made it clear, but there are no signs that they are backing off and continuing the terror threats around the world.”

Meanwhile, Secretary Pompeo said that he finds it offensive that people are suggesting The Trump Administration is continuing to work in Yemen to avoid jeopardizing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and others.

“The reason that we are continuing to work in Yemen is to support the peace resolution, and we support that effort,” said Secretary Pompeo. “The killing of the children is tragic, and the Saudis have taken responsibility for that and the secretary and myself have worked closely with the Saudi-led coalition to reduce the risk of casualties and civilian collateral damage. They are imperfect, but we are working toward that end.”

President Donald Trump’s administration announced the restoration of sanctions after he withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal last May.

Iran in turmoil

Gunmen attacked a military parade in Iran’s southern city of Ahvaz on Saturday, killing at least 24 people and injuring 53, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported on its website.

Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and civilians, including a child and a journalist, were among those killed, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the deputy governor of Khuzestan, Hossein Hosseinzadeh, who said at least 60 people were injured.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that Iran would respond “swiftly and decisively” to the attack, which he blamed on “regional terror sponsors and their US masters.”

The national resistance of al-Ahvaz, which is a general body that includes a number of groups, accepts responsibility. This operation was part of our legitimate resistance and no ordinary civilian was targeted, said a spokesperson for the Arab Freedom Movement of al-Ahvaz.

Protests against the government and its handling of the economy have erupted across many provinces as the currency falls, inflation rises, businesses fail and the pain of the sanction is felt by Iran’s citizens.

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