Pompeo: The Nuclear Agreement Did Not Block All of Iran's Paths to Nuclear Weapons

The US Secretary of State has tweeted, "Contrary to what was presented to the American people, the JCPOA did not block all of Iran's paths to the development of nuclear weapons." Mike Pompeo's latest remarks about the nuclear agreement and the Trump administration's withdrawal from it come in response to a recent post regarding the meetings between John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former US Secretary of State and Iran's Foreign Minister. Pompeo described Kerry's meetings and discussions with Zarif, which he called "engagement with the Iranian regime, the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism," as "unbelievable, unprecedented, and inconsistent with US foreign policy." US administrations have placed the Islamic Republic at the top of their list of state sponsors of terrorism, a charge Tehran has consistently denied. Pompeo stated: "The [nuclear] agreement has failed. Let it go." The US Secretary of State's post came hours after similar comments he made to reporters. On Saturday, September 15, he said, "The former US Secretary of State has been in contact with the world's biggest sponsor of terror and, according to his own words, has been telling them to wait until this administration is over. You cannot find anything like this in US history. A Secretary of State should not behave this way. This behavior is very inappropriate." John Kerry, the US Secretary of State during Barack Obama's second term, who played a key role in advancing the nuclear negotiations with Iran, recently stated that he has had several meetings with Mohammad Javad Zarif since Donald Trump took office. In response to the current US Secretary of State's criticism, John Kerry's spokesperson stated that Mr. Kerry had shared details of his meetings with the Iranian Foreign Minister with Mr. Pompeo. Matt Summers said, "John Kerry, like all former US Secretaries of State, is in contact with his former counterparts around the world and earlier this year had a lengthy phone conversation with Mike Pompeo detailing the views of Iranian officials." The Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear agreement last spring. Trump, both during the election campaign and after winning the election, like almost all members of the Republican Party, was a critic and opponent of the negotiations and the agreement reached with Iran. The Obama administration and Democrats, however, supported the JCPOA. Trump argues that the nuclear agreement is against his national interests and security, and at the same time has not stopped Iran's "malicious" actions in the region and the world or the development of its missile program. Obama, however, stated that the agreement with the Islamic Republic has significantly rolled back Iran's nuclear program and was not meant to end all problems between the United States and the Islamic Republic. Iran denies accusations of interference in the affairs of regional countries and claims its missile program is "defensive" and, while under extensive military sanctions, is unwilling to abandon it. US officials from both parties and also US allies who support the JCPOA have called for an end to Iran's regional actions and ballistic missile program. Following the Trump administration's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, the first round of sanctions was implemented in August, and the second, more severe round of US sanctions is set to return in November.