US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on Australia and other nations to help execute the Trump administration’s tough new campaign to ensure Iran “has no path to a nuclear weapon – not now, not ever”.
Pompeo, in his first major foreign policy speech since becoming secretary of state, on Monday used fiery language to outline America’s strategy after US President Donald Trump earlier this month defied the wishes of Australia, France, Great Britain and other allies and pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.
He said the US was ready impose the “strongest sanctions in history” against Iran and listed 12 demands the regime must follow, including providing the International Atomic Energy Agency with unqualified access to all sites throughout Iran.
“In the strategy we laid out today, we want the support of our most important allies and partners in the region and around the globe,” Pompeo said in his address to the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC.
“Certainly our European friends, but much more than that.
“I want the Australians, the Bahrainis, the Egyptians, the Indians, the Japanese, the Jordanians, the Kuwaitis, the Omanis, the Qataris, the Saudi Arabians, South Korea, the UAE, and many, many others worldwide to join in this effort against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“I know that those countries share the same goals.”
Read the article by Peter Mitchell, AAP US Correspondent in The Australian.