Several years ago, Henry Kissinger famously stated that Iran must decide if it wants to be a country or a cause. On May 21, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo re-articulated this question, offering Iran a sharp choice: to be welcomed back into the community of nations if it abandons its destabilizing security policies or be subjected to an unrelenting US-led pressure campaign if not.
Since US President Donald J. Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, on May 8, critics have challenged his administration to present a credible “Plan B” for what comes next. Pompeo provided such a plan in a speech on May 21. Any viable strategy must begin with a clear statement of objectives and Pompeo’s speech precisely stated US demands on Tehran: abandon its support to violent non-state groups, halt its ballistic missile development, and shut down its uranium enrichment program, among other steps.
Get the entire perspective over at the New Atlanticist.
Image: “The [Iran nuclear deal] put the world at risk because of its fatal flaws,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the Heritage Foundation in Washington on May 21. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)