Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed doubts regarding the current Iran-US nuclear negotiations and described what he believes a suitable agreement with the Islamic Republic should entail.
“Thousands of victims of Iran’s terror operations understand that ‘living happily without death’ is unattainable under the current regime. And deceptive deals that concentrate solely on nuclear enrichment will only lead to more despair and death, affecting not just individuals in Iran but people globally, and not the other way around,” Pompeo stated. Published on Friday.
A long-time critic of Iran, Pompeo noted that during the Trump administration, the US was negotiating a deal while Iran was at “the weakest strategic point in decades,” asserting that the president’s “hands aren’t strong.”
Hence, the arrangement permitting Iran to continue its existing rate of nuclear development is “not a deal worth pursuing,” according to the former CIA chief.
Similar to his position Share in 2018, Pompeo contended that any new deal with Tehran should hinge on three fundamental conditions: Iran must dismantle all uranium enrichment sites, cease political, military, and financial backing for its proxies, end assaults on peace agreements with Gulf neighbors, and disband the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
On Saturday, discussions regarding Iran’s nuclear program took place in Rome, facilitated by Omani officials.
Since assuming office, Trump has indicated a desire to prioritize diplomacy with Iran rather than military measures against Tehran. Nonetheless, he cautioned that military intervention would remain an option if diplomatic efforts do not yield results. Pompeo has backed this alternative for Trump.
“Iran’s closest allies, the Chinese Communist Party and Vladimir Putin, are unlikely to assist Iran following such strikes, thereby lowering the risk. Iran might deploy all proxies in response to these attacks,” Pompeo remarked. “However, it is more probable that Ayatollah Khamenei would avoid escalation so long as strikes are limited to military and nuclear targets.”
Former Trump administration officials criticized the more marginalized factions of the GOP and those who still endorse the Iranian deal from the Obama era, asserting in 2018 that Trump faced only two choices: “war or trade.”
“This is propaganda. It’s a misleading choice promoted by those who aim to restrain Tehran’s regime and limit agreements that would allow Iran to develop a complete nuclear weapons program in the long run. Ironically, this outcome would lead to less likelihood of war,” Pompeo argued.
The former CIA chief asserted that numerous strategies exist for the freedom of the US.
He suggested that the current administration can increase pressure and “cripple Iran by promoting terrorism, restructuring the Shiite crescent, and withholding resources necessary for acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
“Our grip on the wealth of the Iranian regime during the first Trump administration was effective. Iran was nearly broken after less than two years of maximum pressure,” he stated. “Ayatollah would have encountered a significant resource deficit if President Biden and his team hadn’t enabled a successor to the Iranian regime before Trump’s second term.”
