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Pompeo Lays Out Demands for Iran

The Iranian foreign ministry condemned a U.S. vow to implement the “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran for its weapons development and activities in the Middle East, saying such a move would be illegal (ISNA) and amount to bullying.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced twelve demands for Iran (VOA), which include ceasing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons development and support for armed groups in the Middle East, as well as allowing international inspectors “unqualified access” to all sites, in a Monday speech on U.S. conditions for a new nuclear deal. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the United States has yet to demonstrate (CBS) how its exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement would make the region safer.

ANALYSIS

“The speech heralds an unabashed embrace of go-it-alone maximalism that is not only likely to come up short on Iran, but will also backfire across an array of U.S. interests and allies in an unpredictable fashion,” Suzanne Maloney writes for the Brookings Institution.

“The lure of continuity and the need to be praised by polite society could have easily tied Pompeo to the Washington consensus. But instead, in his maiden speech as secretary of state, he identified the problem: a regime that is bent on extending its imperial frontiers, developing nuclear arms, and abusing its citizens,” CFR’s Ray Takeyh and Mark Dubowitz write for Foreign Policy.

“Applying economic pressure on Iran would also require diplomacy with two countries that are already causing significant challenges for the United States: Russia and Turkey,” Peter Harrell writes for Foreign Affairs.