Iran Calls Pompeo’s Bluff on Seeking Peace

Date: 20 December 2020 - 21:12

News ID: ۸۵۶۹۰

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran has dismissed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s claims about U.S. intentions to pursue peace in dealing with the Iranian people, saying Washington’s true nature is plotting coups, waging wars and killing people.
"The outgoing Mr. #WeLiedCheatedStole is obsessing with Iran again. Reality: U.S. regimes have long plotted coups & waged wars against Iranians and their neighbors. Countless have been killed. And most vulnerable Americans abused as cannon fodder. This is his regime’s true nature,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted late Saturday.
Pompeo claimed Friday that the United States had always sought peace with the people of Iran, calling it Washington’s "true nature”. He also accused the Islamic Republic of "oppressing its nation and seeking conflict and violence against the West over the past 41 years”.
In his tweet, Khatibzadeh touched on Pompeo’s lecture at Texas A&M University in April 2019, recounting how he came to defy his honor code stating that "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
"I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. It was like we had entire training courses...it reminds you of the glory of the American experiment,” Pompeo boasted.
Pompeo is on record in November 2018 to have threatened the Iranian people with starvation unless the Iranian leadership accepted U.S. demands.
He was also the one who enunciated 12 impossible demands which many in the U.S. and Europe admitted were steep even by their standards.
At the time, Pompeo said the U.S. would continue to put more pressure on Iran until Tehran fulfilled the 12 demands. He and other leaders in the Trump administration have nothing to celebrate as they are being railroaded out of office, but the hatred and grudge which they sowed in the hearts of the Iranian people toward the U.S. is to remain for ages to come.
In an interview with Iranian daily newspaper Hamshahri published Sunday, Khatibzadeh said there is a "striking contrast” between U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s comments and outgoing President Donald Trump’s acts, but Iran must wait and see how the incoming administration will act.
"Iran’s position is clear: Whenever the U.S. returns to its commitments in practice, we will reverse all measures we have taken in scaling down our obligations” under the 2015 nuclear deal.
"What is important to us is action. There is a striking contrast between Mr. Biden’s comments and the performance of the current U.S. government. But we should wait and see how the next U.S. administration will act,” Khatibzadeh said.
The spokesman said the "maximum pressure” policy adopted by the United States against Iran under Trump led to "maximum failure” for Washington.
"Whoever is at the helm in the White House has no other option than correcting this path,” he said.
The spokesman hit out at the United States for unilaterally pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the landmark nuclear deal with Iran is officially called.
"The JCPOA remains part of a binding UN resolution and all members of the world body are required to abide by it, but the U.S., as a signatory to the deal, stopped being a party to the agreement,” he said.
"The Europeans, too, have seriously failed to deliver on their commitments by failing to fulfill their obligations with regards to lifting the sanctions,” he added.
Iran, Khatibzadeh said, should rely on its domestic capacities to meet its needs because reliance on foreign resources will never ensure the country’s long-term interests.
He also said Tehran welcomes negotiations within the regional countries, but the issue of discussing the JCPOA with them is out of question, after the Saudi foreign minister suggested the Persian Gulf Arab states should have a say in possible discussions on the accord.