President Trump plans to implement “unprecedented” sanctions pressure on Iran in order to force the regime to negotiate an end to its regional aggression, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.
“These will indeed end up being the strongest sanctions in history when we are complete,” Pompeo said Monday at the Heritage Foundation.
That would outstrip even the “maximum pressure” brought to bear on North Korea in a last-ditch effort to stop the tiny communist regime from acquiring the ability to deliver nuclear weapons to the United States. Pompeo, who denounced the 2015 nuclear deal for enabling Iran’s regional aggression, called for a new deal every bit as ambitious as the effort to convince North Korea to surrender its nuclear weapons.
“We’re not asking anything other than that Iranian behavior be consistent with global norms,” he said.
Pompeo invoked the June 12 summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a model for the Iranian regime.
“Our willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to diplomacy to help solve the greatest challenges, even with our staunchest adversaries,” he said. “But that willingness, that willingness has been accompanied by a painful pressure campaign that reflects our commitment to resolve this challenge forever.”
The demanded reforms encompass 12 areas of foreign policy, starting with “permanently and verifiably abandon[ing]” its nuclear weapons program “in perpetuity.” More broadly, the regime must “end its threatening behavior” toward Israel and Saudi Arabia, release Western citizens detained in the country, withdraw from Syria — where the Iranians have partnered with Russia to prop up Bashar Assad’s regime — and cut support for proxy forces such as Lebanese Hezbollah. Such demands require a “fundamental strategic shift” by Iranian leaders, but Pompeo thinks that can be achieved through the weight of sanctions.
“The regime has been fighting all over the Middle East for many years,” he said. “After our sanctions come in force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive. 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.”
As in the case of North Korea, Pompeo offered the hope of friendly relations with the United States if the regime acquiesces to these demands.
“In exchange for major changes in Iran, the United States is prepared to take actions which will benefit the Iranian people,” he said. “Once this is achieved, we’re prepared to end the principle components of every one our sanctions against the regime. We’re happy, at that point, to reestablish full diplomatic and commercial relationships with Iran … but relief from our efforts will come only when we see tangible demonstrated and sustained shifts in Tehran’s policies.”
Pompeo’s speech was clearly directed toward the Iranian people, not just the leaders. Broadcast with a Farsi translation, he tried to stoke frustration with Iranian political leaders and hinted at a possible end to the regime.
“Ali Khameini has been supreme leader since 1989; he will not live forever,” Pompeo said. “Nor will the Iranian people abide the rigid rules of tyrants forever. … Now is the time for the supreme leader and the Iranian regime to summon the courage to do something historically beneficial for its own people, for this ancient and proud nation.”
