Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Iranian people have a deep desire for democracy, which Americans should support, but warned against throwing money at the current regime in Tehran, Fox News reported.
Pompeo was one of several bipartisan speakers at the Free World Summit of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on Saturday, on which the former head of the US State Department under former President Donald Trump warned against financial incentives under the current nuclear deal. He said the recent election of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in Iran is just the latest evidence that Tehran is willing to use foreign money to “inflict terror” on its own people and the Middle East.
Pompeo has for years accused the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of perpetrating outrageous human rights violations as well as terrorism against his own people. Pompeo and Trump both opposed a restart of the 2015 US-Iran nuclear deal that the Biden administration is currently trying to work out.
“We cannot shower the ayatollah with money and economic benefits in the hope that it will not cause terror,” Pompeo said at the conference in Washington. “This thinking is foolish, dangerous and backward.”
“The program of sanctions and pressure from the Trump administration must remain the model for engagement with Iran if we are to ensure the safety of the American people and a better life for the Iranian people,” added Pompeo.
Pompeo has long been a critic of the hard-line religious government in Tehran. In January, just a week before Trump’s term of office ended, Pompeo posted a photo of Khamenei, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with the caption: “Let’s talk about Iran. The men in these photos threaten America “and Israel almost every day.”
With Pompeo, Senators Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas; Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey; Robert Menendez, also a Democrat from New Jersey; and California Republican Kevin McCarthy, minority leader in the House, attended the conference.
“We must continue to support the Iranian people in every possible way in their fight for a freer and more democratic Iran,” said Pompeo to the participants at the summit. “American civil society can do so much good to achieve this goal. Your organization is actively committed to this work – keep it up. “
Theater news On Sunday representatives from Pompeo and Iranian diplomats in Washington were asked for further comments.
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