US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed Iran for funding Iraqi Shi’ite militias, Hamas and Hezbollah in an interview on Friday with NPR.
The American administration is working to convince Iran that its model of using proxies, terrorist campaigns, assassinations in Europe and an assassination attempt “right here in Washington” is “not tolerable,” he said.
The top US diplomat said that the previous administration of former president Barack Obama had enabled Iran’s regime through the 2015 Iran deal – and by giving them “billions and billions of dollars” – to underwrite aggressive actions. He pointed also to the humiliation of US sailors.
The US says that Iranian money has been underwriting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Iraqi-based Shi’ite militias. Now the Trump administration is trying to stop those funding channels by pressuring Tehran through sanctions. Pompeo praised his team and the president for working to pressure Iran from day one of coming into office.
“We’ve built out a coalition that is working together – Gulf states, Israel, many European countries – to deliver.”
Iran has been pressured by a recent US airstrike which killed IRGC general Qasem Soleimani and also fired ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq.