(RepublicanInformer)- Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, is pleading with official in the international community to unify against the country of Iran. The dictatorship has threatened to expel nuclear inspectors from the Unite Nations if the United States doesn’t drop its sanctions that the Trump administration has imposed on them during his stay in the White House.
Officials in the parliament of Iran said recently that the country would eject UN inspectors from the country be February if the U.S. doesn’t drop its sanctions. In response, Pompeo said over the weekend:
“Iran’s expulsion of international inspectors must be met with universal condemnation.”
Where this situation goes in the near future is uncertain at this point. President-elect Joe Biden has said that he would like to re-institute talks with Iran and policies that were in place during the Obama administration.
The Trump administration pulled out of that nuclear deal — which was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — in 2018. The 2015 nuclear deal set limits on Iran’s nuclear activities. It also allowed inspectors from the UN to check up on the country while giving Iran relief from international sanctions.
President Trump, though, felt the agreement was “disastrous” for the U.S. and the world because it didn’t address support of Iran military activity throughout the Middle East. When the U.S. pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration also re-imposed the sanctions on Iran. The U.S. also tried to uphold a global embargo on crude oil that Iran was exporting.
When the U.S. withdrew from the accord, other countries such as China, Russia and those within the European Union said they wanted to remain in it. Iran, though, has threatened to remove itself altogether following America’s withdrawal.
In November, the parliament in Iran passed a law that ramped up enrichment of uranium beyond levels set in the 2015 nuclear deal. Uranium is necessary to make nuclear bombs.
Reuters reported that Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani of Iran’s parliament said:
“According to the law, if the Americans do not lift financial, banking and oil sanctions by February 21, we will definitely expel the IAEA inspectors from the country and will definitely end the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol.”
In response, Pompeo said in his statement that “once again, the Iranian regime is using its nuclear power to extort the international community and threaten regional security.
“Iran’s threat goes much further than violating the JCPOA. Iran has a legal treaty obligation to allow IAEA inspector access pursuant to Iran’s NPT-required safeguards agreement. Violating those obligations would thus go beyond Iran’s past actions inconsistent with its JCPOA nuclear commitments.”
“Nuclear [brinkmanship] will not strengthen Iran’s position, but instead lead to further isolation and pressure.
“This threat follows on the heels of the Iranian regime announcing it has resumed 20% uranium enrichment at Fordow, the fortified, underground facility Iran originally constructed in secret, further breaching its nuclear pact. The world’s top sponsor of terrorism should not be allowed to enrich uranium at any level.”
