Mike Pompeo doubles down: Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, and Iran, must go

Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Iranian military backers will have to relinquish their hold on the war-torn country, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo reiterated the hard-line position, years after former President Barack Obama first said that Assad must “step aside,” during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the State Department’s budget. It’s the latest expression of commitment to shaping the outcome of the Syrian civil war from a Trump administration that has, at times, looked eager to exit the conflict.