Seeking partners: Pompeo on tour to find global coalition against Iran



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Seeking partners: Pompeo on tour to find global coalition against Iran

By Darlene Superville

Washington: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is touring the Middle East and Asia looking to build a global coalition against Iran, following a week of crisis that saw the United States pull back from the brink of a military strike on Iran.

Pompeo spoke as he left Washington for Saudi Arabia, then United Arab Emirates. The US's Sunni Arab allies are alarmed by Shiite Iran's increasing assertiveness and are working to limit its influence in the region.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media at Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to the media at Andrews Air Force Base on Sunday.Credit:AP



But even as Pompeo delivered his tough talk, he echoed Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in saying the US is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions. Those tensions have been mounting since Trump last year withdrew the US from a global nuclear deal with Iran and began pressuring Tehran with economic sanctions. A fresh round of Iran sanctions is to be announced on Monday in a bid to force the Iranian leadership into talks.


But Iran played down the impact of any new sanctions. They were "just propaganda, as all sanctions ... have been imposed and there are no more sanctions left," state-run news agency IRIB quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying.




But Trump also said over the weekend that he appreciated Iran's decision to not shoot down a manned US spy plane, and he opined about eventually becoming Iran's "best friend" if Tehran ultimately agrees to abandon its drive to build nuclear weapons and he helps the country turn around its crippled economy.

It comes as Iran-aligned Houthi rebels hit the carpark of Saudi Arabia's Abha airport, about 200 kilometres north of the Yemen border, with a drone, killing one person and injuring dozens.

The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi cities in the past month, adding to tensions between US-ally Saudi Arabia and Iran. Riyadh accuses Iran of supplying the Houthis with the weapons, which the Houthis deny.

Then Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, stepped in on Sunday with a blunt warning from Jerusalem, where he was travelling. Bolton said Iran should not "mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness" after Trump called off the military strike. Trump said he backed away from the planned strikes after learning that about 150 people would be killed, but he said the military option remained.


AP, Reuters

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