US to force sweeping change on Iran

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TEHRAN CHARGES U.S. DEMANDS INTENT ON REGIME CHANGE

WASHINGTON, May 21, (Agencies): The United States on Monday issued a steep list of demands to be included in a nuclear treaty with Iran to replace the deal scuttled by President Donald Trump and threatened “the strongest sanctions in history” if Iran doesn’t change course.

Drawing sharp contrasts with the 2015 deal, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a stronger pact should require that Iran stop enrichment of uranium, which was allowed within strict limitations under the previous deal. Iran would also have to walk away from core pillars of its foreign policy, including its involvement in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Afghanistan. “This list may seem long to some, but it is simply a reflection of the massive scope of Iranian malign behavior,” Pompeo said. “America did not create this need for changed behavior. Iran did.”

Pompeo vowed that Trump’s approach would ensure “Iran has no possible path to a nuclear weapon, ever.” As he called for a better agreement to constrain Iran’s activities, he said the US would “apply unprecedented financial pressure” to bring Tehran back to the table. “These will end up being the strongest sanctions in history by the time we are complete,” Pompeo said at the conservative Heritage Foundation in his first major policy speech since taking over as top diplomat. Pompeo’s remarks on Iran strategy showed that the United State was after regime change in the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.

“America wants to pressure Iran to surrender and accept their illegal demands … his remarks showed that America is surely after regime change in Iran,” the official said in reaction to Pompeo’s remarks, in which he said the US would impose the “strongest sanctions in history” against the Iranian leadership. At the same time, Pompeo offered Iran a series of dramatic potential US concessions if it agrees to make “major changes.”

Under a new agreement, the US would be willing to lift all sanctions, restore full diplomatic and commercial ties with Iran, and even support the modernization of its economy, Pompeo said. “It is America’s hope that our labors toward peace and security will bear fruit for the long-suffering people of Iran,” Pompeo said.

Unlikely
Still, Pompeo’s list of 12 requirements included many that Iran is highly unlikely to consider. He said Iran must allow nuclear inspectors “unqualified access to all sites throughout the country,” Pompeo said, alluding to military sites that were off-limits under the 2015 deal except under specific circumstances.

To that end, he also said Iran must declare all previous efforts to build a nuclear weapon, reopening an issue that the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency has already deemed a closed matter. Pompeo also demanded that Iran cease from a range of activities throughout the Middle East that have long drawn the ire of the US and its allies. He said Iran must end support for Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen, “withdraw all forces” from Syria, halt support for its ally Hezbollah and stop threatening Israel.

Iran must also “release all US citizens” missing in Iran or being held on “spurious charges,” he said. Taken together, the demands would constitute a wholesale transformation by Iran’s government, and they hardened the perception that what Trump’s administration really seeks is a change in the Iranian regime. A longtime Iran hawk, Pompeo has spoken positively about regime change in the past, but in his confirmation hearing last month he sought to soften that stance.

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