IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to deliver a hard-line speech on Monday [5-21-18], in which he demanded that Iran change just about everything regarding its behavior on the world stage. He insisted that Iran end all nuclear enrichment programs and close its heavy water reactor, saying it did not have the right to such a program. He also appealed directly to the Iranian people, suggesting they should reject the clerical government in Tehran, the capital…Iran’s right to enrich uranium, as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, is debatable. More than a dozen countries in the world enrich uranium, with several doing so solely for civilian purposes, such as energy generation and medical uses. But Mr. Pompeo’s speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation was intended to throw down the gauntlet against Tehran, piling on after President Trump’s withdrawal earlier this month from the Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated with world powers in 2015. While he did not directly threaten the use of military force, Mr. Pompeo said that if Iran restarts its nuclear program ‘we will respond.'”
-Gardiner Harris, “In Speech, Pompeo Piles on Against Iran After Nuclear Deal Withdrawal,” The New York Times online, May 21, 2018