Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reacted to an opinion piece penned by President Joe Biden for the Washington Post, saying only Iran’s Supreme Leader agrees with you.
In a tweet on Sunday, Pompeo rejected Biden’s claim that the Middle East is “more stable and secure” now than during the presidency of Donald Trump.
“You've got to be kidding me,” he said, adding that former chief of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) General Kenneth F. McKenzie or any Israeli, Emirati, Afghan or Saudi citizen can testify that Biden is wrong.
Both former and current CENTCOM commanders called Iran the most destabilizing force in the Middle East.
“Only the Ayatollah agrees,” Pompeo said, referring to Ali Khamenei who usually tries to portray the region as more stable and tranquil than it truly is.
The US President said that when he took office Washington was “isolated and alone” at the United Nations Security Councill on the issue of Iran, as his predecessor had withdrawn from the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA.
But the president also made a series of claims not exactly reflecting reality.
While there is more Western diplomatic coordination in dealings with Iran, the country has almost reached a nuclear threshold stage during Biden’s presidency and is violating more US oil export sanctions. Iran has now sufficient enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb.
Moreover, Biden’s claims about more stability in the Middle East also leave room for questions, as the US troops have been targeted at least 29 times since October 2021 without any military response, on the backdrop of dozens of Iran-backed Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia in 2021 and 2022, with the aggression expanding to the UAE. Iran also continues its terror activities in the region, as recent events in Turkey showed and pro-Iran groups such as the Hezbollah and Hamas maintain a highly aggressive posture toward Israel.