By Staff Writer
US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday that Iran would be “held accountable” for its reckless behaviour in the Middle East.
His comments at an extended press briefing at the Pentagon came as several senior American officials issued new warnings about the Iranian Regime’s aggressive foreign policy, including their support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen and their threats about closing the Strait of Hormuz, and the destabilizing effect it has on the region.
Mattis confirmed that Iran had been “put on notice” and that the US and its allies would not tolerate the Regime’s “continued mischief” in the Gulf.
He said: “[Iran is the] single biggest destabilizing element in the Middle East region.”
Robbing the Iranian people
Meanwhile, at an event in Washington organised by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies think tank, US special representative for Iran Brian Hook said that the Regime’s policy of creating chaos and destabilising its neighbours, came at the expense of the Iranian people as their money is stolen to fund the Iranian military and its proxy groups.
He advised that the vast sums that Iran spends on Hezbollah and other proxy groups is in the billions of dollars every year, which the Iranian people have been bringing up in their ongoing protests over recent months.
These protests have been going on since last December, but they have only intensified since the US sanctions against Iran came into place earlier this month. This is believed to be because the sanctions have put more pressure on the Iranian economy, but it is also because the Regime now has less money to fund their internal security forces who crack down on the Iranian people.
Hook said: “The regime’s economic mismanagement has put the country in a tailspin. The rial’s value has collapsed in the past year. A third of the Iranian youth are unemployed. A third of Iranians now live in poverty. Regime leaders should feel painful consequences of their violence, bad decision making and corruption.”
At the same event, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said that Iran continued to be the number one source of instability in the Middle East.
Regime change
The Iranian people in their ongoing anti-regime uprising are no longer satisfied with reform from within the regime, recognising quite rightly that the Regime is incapable of change. The people are loudly calling for an end to mullahs’ rule and for a free Iran, with respect for democracy and human rights.
