U.S. Secretary of State: Iran is the Source of Instability in the Entire Region

Mike Pompeo, the new U.S. Secretary of State, who has traveled to the Middle East to garner support from U.S. allies for potential new sanctions against Iran, called Iran the source of instability in the entire region during his visit to Riyadh on Sunday and emphasized the need for unity among Gulf countries. Pompeo's trip to the Middle East comes shortly after his appointment as Secretary of State, and he is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel in this trip aimed at rallying support for potential new sanctions against Iran. On Sunday, April 28, in the first phase of this trip, Pompeo met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and King Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. Pompeo stated in Riyadh that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal unless an agreement is reached with U.S. European partners to amend the JCPOA to ensure that the Islamic Republic will never acquire nuclear weapons. Less than two weeks later, on May 13, President Donald Trump's deadline regarding the JCPOA will expire, and Trump expects U.S. European allies to guarantee the permanent lifting of some restrictions on Iran in the JCPOA, ensure that Iran will never achieve nuclear weapons, and allow inspections by the agency of all Iranian facilities. Additionally, the U.S. President, who has viewed Iran's missile program and its 'destructive and destabilizing' activities in the region as violations of the spirit of the JCPOA from the outset, expects that the amendment of the JCPOA will also include Iran's missile program. Since the announcement of Trump's deadline, the three European powers involved in the nuclear deal, namely Britain, France, and Germany, have emphasized the need to maintain and adhere to the JCPOA while stating that they share U.S. concerns regarding other Iranian actions and have even proposed new sanctions regarding Iran's missile program and its presence in Syria to the European Union in the hope of encouraging the U.S. to remain in the JCPOA. On Sunday, Brian Hook, the senior advisor to the Secretary of State, who accompanied Pompeo on his trip to Riyadh, stated that the U.S. is asking its European allies and others to impose sanctions on Tehran with the aim of stopping Iran's missile program. In Hook's remarks to reporters, it was emphasized that Iran is 'a threat to peace and stability in the world.' In this context, the U.S. Secretary of State also said on Sunday at a joint press conference with his Saudi counterpart that Iran is engaged in destabilizing the entire region and supports terrorist groups and militias that act on its behalf. He described Iran as a supplier of weapons to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and criticized Iran's support for the 'murderous regime' of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The U.S. Secretary of State also referred to tensions between Gulf countries and Qatar and spoke of the need for unity among these countries. Saudi Arabia and three of its regional allies, namely Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, cut ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and being close to Iran, and conditioned the restoration of relations with Doha on Qatar complying with their demands in this regard. Qatar denies the accusations made by these countries, and the U.S., which initially welcomed the actions of the four Arab countries at the beginning of this dispute, has repeatedly called for resolving the differences between these countries and Qatar over the past year.