Immediately following the U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Europeans for not being supportive enough of the action, stating, “Frankly, the Europeans haven’t been as helpful as I wish that they could be. The Brits, the French, the Germans all need to understand that what we did, what the Americans did, saved lives in Europe as well.”
Mr. Pompeo went on to praise the countries he consulted with that were supportive to the U.S. cause: Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
In an abrupt about-face, the European Union signed on with the U.S. to impose economic pressure on Iran by signing the Financial Action Task Force, which blacklists Iran by significantly reducing the number of international banks and businesses willing to have economic ties to them.
Already, U.S. sanctions on Iran have driven the nation deep into recession – their GDP has fallen over 15 percent since being posed in 2018. Oil exports have plummeted over 70 percent, currency has devalued to record lows, and inflation has skyrocketed over 40 percent.
Pompeo on the Attack
Last February, Mr. Pompeo said, “Things are much worse for the Iranian people with the U.S. sanctions, and we are convinced that will lead the Iranian people to rise up and change the behavior of the regime.”
On his trip to Saudi Arabia last week, Pompeo stated, “The pressure campaign continues. It’s not just an economic pressure campaign, it’s diplomatic pressures, isolation through diplomacy, as well.”
Responding to the U.S.-led sanctions crippling his country’s economy, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made it clear Tehran will not re-start negotiations with the U.S. until it abandons the “maximum pressure” tactics. He said the only door toward a more peaceful relationship would be a return to 2015’s Iran nuclear deal, which Trump broke away from shortly after taking office.
President Rouhani added, “It makes no difference who will be the next (American) administration… Iran will never negotiate under pressure.”
TRENDPOST: Mr. Pompeo has made it clear that the U.S. imposed sanctions with purpose of making the general population – the everyday people – suffer terribly, so they would overthrow the government.
Never mentioned in the media or by Congress is the overt illegality and immorality of foreign entanglements against a nation that poses no threat to the American homeland and the dire implications its actions have on the innocent civilians of the nations they attack.
While in Saudi Arabia, Pompeo visited the Prince Sultan Air Base, home to 2,500 U.S. troops assigned to Saudi Arabia specifically to counter potential Iranian threats in the region.
Justifying the increase of U.S. troops in the country, Mr. Pompeo stated it was because the Iranians destroyed a key Saudi oil refinery last September: “No reasonable person has any doubt about where these missiles came from.”
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: In fact, no evidence has been provided to support Pompeo’s accusations. Furthermore, Yemeni Houthis claimed responsibility for this drone attack, stating it was in response to the devastating bombing of Yemen by U.S.-backed Saudis, which killed over 100,000 Yemenis and, according to the United Nations, created the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth.
