“President Trump withdrew from the deal for a simple reason: it failed to guarantee the safety of the American people”

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at the Heritage Foundation about the Trump Administration’s position vis-à-vis Iran and minced no words in offering the tough, hard-nosed perspective the administration espouses in dealing with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. “Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?”

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump defied efforts by European allies and announced Washington’s withdrawal from a landmark multinational pact, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed with Iran in 2015 and a decision to impose harsh sanctions on Tehran. “(It’s a) smokescreen of ‘We want to handle this diplomatically’, but I think this is all about paving a path towards confronting Iran militarily – whether that’s through covert action or an overt escalation in the region.”

Pompeo’s comments were welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the demands amounted to “the only policy that could ultimately guarantee the security of the Middle East”. Among Pompeo's demands: Iran allowing a full account and verification of its nuclear program and the permanent and verifiable abandonment of it; an end to enrichment; access for the International Atomic Energy Agency into all weapons sites across Iran; the end of ballistic missile proliferation, the release of all detained US citizens; and the end of its support to militant groups including Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran sets seven conditions to stay in the JCPOA Iran deal after the U.S. withdrew. One of these conditions is that European banks should safeguard trade with Iran.