IRAN/MIKE POMPEO/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration escalated its demands on Iran, putting Tehran on notice that any new nuclear deal would require it to stop enriching all uranium and halt its support for militant groups in the region. The administration’s demands were outlined in a speech on Monday [5-21-18] by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which for the first time spelled out all of the administration’s requirements for a new agreement. They mark a fundamental change from the 2015 agreement between Iran and six world powers that President Donald Trump abandoned this month but which European leaders have sought to preserve. That agreement allowed Iran to enrich uranium under detailed arrangements in return for sanctions relief. In his speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, the secretary of state said the administration wouldn’t try to renegotiate the old Iran deal. Instead, he outlined 12 basic requirements for a new deal, which toughened the nuclear demands and call for a wholesale change to Iran’s military posture in the region. Among the demands, Mr. Pompeo said that Iran must withdraw all of its forces from Syria, end its support for militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, stop sending arms to the Houthi militia in Yemen, release all U.S. citizens, and cease its threats to destroy Israel.”
-Michael R. Gordon, “U.S. Lays Out Demands for New Iran Deal,” The Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2018 12:29 pm