• Pompeo Statement On Iran Regime Portrays Close Coordination With Europe
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on May 8, listing the U.S. administration’s successes in putting pressure on Iran Regime and insisting that Washington remains committed to block Iran’s “paths to a nuclear weapon”.
Pompeo did not shy away from describing U.S. policy as a “maximum pressure” approach to Iran, highlighting efforts to block Tehran’s oil sales and implementing other sanctions.
The secretary of state also portrayed a picture of close cooperation with European allies in countering Iran. He had displayed the same approach earlier in a joint press conference with his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt.
• European powers reject Iran Regime ‘ultimatums’ on nuclear deal
European powers said Thursday that they still backed the nuclear deal with Iran Regime, but rejected any “ultimatums” from Tehran to keep it alive.
“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments” under a 2015 deal, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said in a statement.
• US official urges GCC unity to combat ‘threat posed by Iran Regime’
The chairman of the US house for foreign affairs committee has called for Gulf countries to work together to contain what he describes as the “threat posed by Iran Regime”.
Eliot Engel said on Wednesday: “The United States and its Gulf partners share economic opportunities, anti-terrorism concerns and can be working together to counter the threat posed by Iran,”.
• U.S. Warns European Businesses Against Using Iran-EU Trade Mechanism
The United States on May 8 warned European banks, investors and businesses against engaging with the so-called special purpose vehicle called INSTEX, a Europe-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran Regime and circumvent U.S. sanctions.
Tim Morrison, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense told a conference: “If you are a bank, an investor, an insurer or other business in Europe you should know that getting involved in the … Special Purpose Vehicle is a very poor business decision,”
He has also called Iran Regime’s move to scale back some curbs to its program “nothing less than nuclear blackmail of Europe”.
Morrison also said the United States is planning to impose further sanctions on Iran ‘very soon’.
• Brian Hook: US not seeking war with Iran, but ready to respond to any attacks
The United States is not seeking a war with Iran but said it stands ready to respond if Tehran mounts any attack on America, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook told Al Arabiya on Wednesday.
He said, referring to the movement of USS Abraham Lincoln and some bombers to the region: “We received some credible threats that suggested that Iran was going to take offensive actions against American interests and our allies and partners in the region and so we put in place defensive measures,”.
He said: “My message to the Iranian regime is to start investing in your own people and end this policy of exporting revolution and destabilizing the Middle East,”.
• Pompeo: Iran nuclear announcement ‘intentionally ambiguous’
Iran Regime’s announcement that it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal was “intentionally ambiguous”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to London on Wednesday.
“I think it was intentionally ambiguous… We’ll have to wait and see what Iran’s actions actually are” before deciding the US response, Pompeo said after a meeting with British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt.
• UK says Iran Regime will face consequences if it breaks nuclear deal
Britain said Iran would face consequences if it backed away from its nuclear deal, following Tehran’s announcement on Wednesday that it was scaling back curbs to its nuclear program that had been agreed under a 2015 deal with world powers.
junior foreign office minister Mark Field told Britain’s parliament: “Should Iran cease meeting its nuclear commitments, there would, of course, be consequences,”.
• US warns Tehran: Iranian Regime attack would be met with ‘unrelenting force’
The chief of U.S. Central Command put Iranian leaders on notice Wednesday, warning: “If a fight is to be had … it won’t be a fair fight.”
“First, it sends a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on U.S. interests will be met with unrelenting force,” said McKenzie, speaking at a Foundation for Defense of Democracies conference in D.C. “If a fight is to be had, we will be fully prepared to respond and defend our interests. And it won’t be a fair fight.”
• White House blames China for Iranian missile threat
China bears significant blame for Iran’s success in developing a dangerous new array of ballistic missiles, a top White House adviser said the same day the administration imposed significant new sanctions on the Middle Eastern regime.
Tim Morrison, the National Security Council’s senior director for weapons of mass destruction, asked allies to join the United States in rebuking Beijing for protecting an arms dealer who has made Iran’s weapons programs possible.
“We call on all governments that maintain ties with Beijing to make this a priority,” Morrison said Wednesday. “For U.S. allies, especially those in the Gulf that face the threat of Iranian missiles every day, this should be a priority in the relations with China.”