DIPLOMAT

Pompeo Blasts ‘Iran’s Terrorism’ in Visits to Israel, Saudi Arabia

During his first official overseas trip as Trump’s secretary of state.

In his first diplomatic foray as U.S. secretary of state this weekend, Mike Pompeo delivered a scathing rebuke of Iran for serving as the “greatest sponsor of terrorism in the world” and reiterated President Trump’s threats to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal. “We are determined to make sure [Iran] never possesses a nuclear weapon,” Pompeo said at a joint news conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. “The Iran deal in its current form does not provide that assurance,” he said, noting that the U.S. is in talks with its European partners to “fix” the deal ahead of Trump’s May 12 deadline. Echoing Trump, he took a jab at the Obama administration for approving the landmark nuclear deal with Iran. “Unlike the prior administration, we will not neglect the vast scope of Iran’s terrorism,” he said. After meeting with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed, Pompeo headed off to Tel Aviv on Sunday, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and warned of Iran’s “ambition to dominate the Middle East.”