Iran Crisis. War? Pompeo warns Iran against attacking U.S. interests
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that threats from Iran had escalated in recent weeks. Mr. Pompeo warned Tehran that any attacks on U.S. interests would prompt a quick response from Washington.
Mike Pompeo has threatened Iran with a “swift and decisive” response to any attack on “US interests or citizens,” including those by “proxies” – leaving lots of leeway for the war he says the U.S. doesn’t want.
“The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response,” Pompeo wrote in a statement warning Iran should not mistake US “restraint” for a “lack of resolve” and criticizing Iran for “an escalating series of threatening actions and statements in recent weeks.”
“The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against U.S. interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive U.S. response,”
“Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve”
“But Iran’s 40 years of killing American soldiers, attacking American facilities, and taking American hostages is a constant reminder that we must defend ourselves” Pompeo said in a statement, which was referencing the 1979 Islamic revolution that transformed Iran from close U.S. ally to sworn foe.
The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and nuclear-capable bombers to the region, saying it had information of plans for Iranian-backed attacks.
The moves have frightened some European allies as well as President Donald Trump’s Democratic rivals, who fear the administration is pushing for war based on hyped-up intelligence.
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