Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faulted the media Monday for, he alleged, getting distracted from Iran’s crimes by picking up President Trump’s allusion to the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones” while touting the return of Iran sanctions.
“Much has been made about this ‘Game of Thrones’ [meme],” Pompeo said when asked Monday if it was appropriate for Trump to release a poster playing on a slogan from the show. “Qassem Soleimani responded and I haven’t seen any of you comment on that. This is a man who has American blood on his hands. He has killed American soldiers. And that’s not funny.”
Trump last week tweeted an image of himself with the words “Sanctions are coming,” in an echo of “winter is coming,” the motto of one of the major protagonists of “Game of Thrones.”
Soleimani replied “with a Game of Thrones-inspired meme of his own” as Iranian media put it. The language — “I will stand against you” is not derived from the show, although the font and staging is.
[More: HBO caught off guard by Trump’s ‘Game of Thrones’ image]
“The actions that the Islamic Republic of Iran are taking are not about little silly things that people get wrapped up here in Washington D.C., but in very serious matters that impact all of Europe, all of the Middle East and the world, and our young men and women who are in harm’s way today,” Pompeo said.
He fielded the question while touting the renewal of the sanctions that then-President Barack Obama waived as part of the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal, which foreign policy hawks believe backfired by failing to thwart the regime’s long-term nuclear ambitions while giving Iran the money necessary to fund an aggressive foreign policy in the short-term.
“The Iranian regime has a choice: It can either do a 180 degree term from its outlaw course of action and act like a normal country, or it can see its economy crumble,” Pompeo said during a Monday morning press conference. “We hope a new agreement with Iran is possible, but until Iran makes changes… we will be relentless in exerting pressure on the regime.”
