‘Deeply Concerned’ About Iran, Mike Pompeo Promises The U.S. And President Donald Trump Will Stand With Israel

Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a joint press conference today. Pompeo promised the U.S. will stand with Israel against Iran, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Pompeo is touring the Middle East, briefing U.S. allies about President Donald Trump’s threat to quit the Iran nuclear deal. President Trump has criticized the Iran deal via Twitter countless times over the years, BBC noted.

Haaretz, an Israeli outlet, released a report today, explaining what pulling out of the Iran deal might mean for the United States and the world. The President has until May 12 to make up his mind. This week, French President Emmanuel Macron offered Trump a new deal meant to help U.S. and Europe jointly tackle Iran – they would not only block the country’s nuclear activity but also address Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Paraphrasing a statement from Michael Makovsky, former Pentagon official and president and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Haaretz wrote Trump’s refusal to withdraw would weaken the United States’s standing globally, and with Iran. According to the same outlet, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, threatened the country would ramp up its nuclear program, asserting that Iran is ready for “surprising actions.”

Pulling out from the deal would help America and Israel act militarily against Iran, Haaretz added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a known and vocal opponent of the Iran deal, has echoed U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump’s sentiments about Iran, at a press conference held today.

Pompeo and Netanyahu had a “very productive, very focused conversations on our common interests and how to defend our common values,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.

“I want to thank again President Trump for his historic decision on recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.” Pompeo agreed, adding that the POTUS has “a comprehensive Iran plan,” Radio Farda reported.

U.S. Secretary of State added that his country has been “deeply concerned” about Iran’s threats to Israel. According to the L.A. Times, Netanyahu stated that he believes “the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons, and specifically the attempt of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons” to be the greatest threat to the United States, Iran, and the world.

Israeli Prime Minister praised Donald Trump’s “leadership on stopping Iran’s aggression,” but also warned that Iran is trying to “gobble up one country after the other” and “must be stopped.”

Neither Netanyahu nor Pompeo has mentioned Russia, but they have discussed the Russia-backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, calling his regime “barbaric.” Apart from being backed by Russia, Assad’s regime is also propped up by Iran.