Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didn’t hold back in a war of words against Iran’s leaders on Sunday, comparing them to the ‘mafia’ and ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’.
Pompeo was in California giving a speech to a largely Iranian-American audience when he hit out at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
The secretary, who spoke just hours before Donald Trump issued an extraordinary warning to Iran, called Rouhani and Zarif ‘merely polished front men for the ayatollahs’ international con artistry’.
Pompeo also attacked Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and claimed he had a personal hedge fund worth $95billion.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didn’t hold back in a war of words against Iran’s leaders on Sunday, comparing them to the ‘mafia’ and ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’
He went on to claim that the fund was untaxed and used to fund the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
‘The level of corruption and wealth among regime leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than the government,’ Pompeo said.
‘These hypocritical holy men have devised all kinds of crooked schemes to become some of the wealthiest men on Earth while their people suffer.’
Pompeo’s speech was the latest step in a communications offensive launched by the Trump administration meant to instigate unrest in Iran and help pressure the government to end its nuclear program and support of militant groups, US officials familiar with the matter said.
Donald Trump withdrew in May from the 2015 nuclear accord designed to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Tehran has said its nuclear work is just for electricity generation and other peaceful projects.
Pompeo was in California giving a speech to a largely Iranian-American audience when he hit out at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
Pompeo was in California giving a speech to a largely Iranian-American audience when he hit out at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (left) and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (right)
‘The ideologues who forcibly came to power in 1979 and remain in power today are driven by a desire to conform all of Iranian society to the tenants of the Islamic Revolution,’ Pompeo said.
‘The regime is also committed to spreading the Revolution to other countries, by force if necessary.’
‘To the regime, prosperity, security, and freedom for the Iranian people are acceptable casualties in the march to fulfill the Revolution,’ he added.
Pompeo said the US government planned to launch a ‘maximum pressure campaign’ against the Iranian government.
He said the ‘mission’ was to pursue a ‘diplomatic and economic pressure campaign’ that would help the ‘shoots of liberty’ grow back in the country.
Pompeo’s words came just hours before Donald Trump sent a threatening tweet to Rouhani
The offensive is meant to work in concert with severe economic sanctions that Washington plans to reimpose in the coming months, including on Tehran’s oil exports, its principal revenue generator.
Pompeo said the US will work with countries that import Iranian oil ‘to get imports as close to zero as possible’ by November.
Rouhani cautioned Trump on Sunday about pursuing hostile policies against Tehran, saying: ‘War with Iran is the mother of all wars.’
‘You are not in a position to incite the Iranian nation against Iran’s security and interests,’ Rouhani said, in an apparent reference to reports of efforts by Washington to destabilize Iran’s Islamic government.
Trump responded to Rouhani in a tweet late on Sunday, saying: ‘NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!’
‘LONG-IGNORED VOICE OF PEOPLE.’
Protesters against the current Iranian regime stood outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, where Secretary of State Pompeo was speaking on Sunday
Publicly, the Trump administration says its policy with Iran is not ‘regime change,’ but to change Tehran’s behavior so it stops nuclear and missile work, support for proxies in the Middle East and backing of militant groups.
‘While it is ultimately up to the Iranian people to determine the direction of their country, the United States…will support the long-ignored voice of the Iranian people,’ Pompeo said.
Pompeo spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, to a packed house of about 1,000 people. He received frequent applause, although one audience member heckled him over the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
‘If there was only so much freedom of speech in Iran,’ Pompeo quipped after they finished.
Several dozen protesters lined the route to the library, including one group that distributed fliers opposing both Iran’s current government and any US intervention in Iran.
Trump and First Lady Melania are seen returning to DC on Sunday after the weekend. Trump issued the stark threat after he had arrived back at the White House
Meanwhile, Pompeo revealed the US government broadcasting agency was launching a 24/7 Farsi-language channel on TV, radio, digital and social media platforms.
The US government is also taking steps to help Iranians get around internet censorship, he added.
Tensions escalated between the US and Iran after the latter threatened to block international oil tankers from passing through the critical Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for Trump’s looming sanctions.
Rouhani scoffed at Trump’s threat to halt Iranian oil exports and said Iran has a dominant position in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping waterway.
‘Anyone who understands the rudiments of politics doesn’t say ‘we will stop Iran’s oil exports,” Rouhani said, cited by the semi-official ISNA news agency.
‘We have been the guarantor of the regional waterway’s security throughout history.’
On Saturday Khamenei backed Rouhani’s suggestion that Iran may block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are halted.