Pompeo sends a warning to Iran in his first major policy speech as secretary of state

Associated Press

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the US will "crush" Iranian proxies around the world and impose the "the strongest sanctions in history" on the regime.
• In his first major policy speech as secretary of state, Pompeo unveiled the Trump administration's new strategy toward the Iranian regime almost two weeks after President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
• In total, Pompeo said Iran must comply with 12 points, all of which the regime will most likely reject.

In his first major policy speech as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo said Monday that the US will "crush" Iranian proxies around the world, and impose the "the strongest sanctions in history" on the regime.

"These will indeed end up being the strongest sanctions in history when we are complete," Pompeo said at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank. "We will track down Iranian operatives and their Hezbollah proxies operating around the world, and we will crush them."

"After our sanctions come in force, [the Iranian regime] will be battling to keep its economy alive," Pompeo said. "Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home, or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad - it will not have the resources to do both."

Pompeo unveiled the Trump administration's new strategy toward the Iranian regime almost two weeks after President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

In total, Pompeo said if Iran complies on 12 points, all of which the regime will most likely reject, then the US will lift the sanctions and re-establish trade, according to The Washington Post and CNN.

Pompeo also said that if the regime restarts "their nuclear program, it will mean bigger problems - bigger problems than they've ever had before."

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there's "no credible" evidence that Iran has violated the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, despite recent claims from the Israeli government, which Trump cited during his withdrawal announcement two weeks ago.

"The Iranian regime should know that this is just the beginning," Pompeo said.