Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears on Capitol Hill April 21 to support Republicans’ bill to maintain maximum pressure on Iran.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday (April 21) in a “private” appearance to support Republicans’ efforts to maintain the Maximum Pressure on Iran Act.
The bill, called the Maximum Pressure Act, was introduced by Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Okla.) and currently has the support of 83 House members.
The bill opposes the Biden administration’s re-entry into the Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump (R-Texas) withdrew from in 2018 and which was signed under the Obama-Biden years.
Pompeo said Wednesday that even though he has left politics, he still feels that he must continue to speak out on issues such as the dangers of the Iranian government and preventing Tehran from achieving a nuclear weapon.
“I came here as a private citizen. As a private citizen, I’m very concerned about Iran (ever) not having nuclear weapons, and when I saw this (Republican) bill put pen to paper, I talked to Congressman Banks about it. I said at the time that I wanted to be a part of making sure this bill succeeded.” He said.
Pompeo served as a Republican congressman from Kansas from 2011 to 2017 and was a member of the Republican Study Committee before entering Trump’s cabinet.
Pompeo’s close support for Israel, which the U.S. never had before, was also a key legacy at the State Department when he was secretary of state and introduced sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.
“We have built a tremendous coalition, and Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the Arabs from all the Gulf states understand this, that Iran is the central bad actor creating instability in the Middle East, (so) these Gulf states are with us in pushing back against Iran.” Pompeo said Wednesday.
The Biden administration plans to return to the Iran nuclear deal, and White House officials met this week in Vienna with signatories to the Iran nuclear deal to discuss ways the U.S. and Iran can take steps to return to compliance.
Signatories to the Iran nuclear deal include Germany, France, Britain, the European Union, China, Russia and Iran.
The Biden administration has said they are prepared to lift sanctions that are inconsistent with the deal and then negotiate a “longer and stronger” agreement, starting with joint compliance, to address a range of other malicious activities by Iran that the United States has identified.
But Republican lawmakers have attacked the Biden administration’s move to lift Iran sanctions.
“We’ve seen Biden take a soft approach on Iran.” Banks told the press on Wednesday.
“That’s why we’re here today, to communicate to the Biden administration that we will work to maintain sanctions on Iran and to show our adversary (Iran) that if Biden lifts them temporarily, we will reimpose them later as well.” He added.
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