The United States is not "afraid to tackle" Iranian officials with sanctions at the "highest level" of its government, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday as he compared them to a "mafia,” promising unspecified backing for Iranians unhappy with their regime.
Following the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord, Pompeo on May 21 unveiled a "new strategy" intended to force Iran to yield to a dozen stringent demands.
"We weren't afraid to tackle the regime at its highest level," Pompeo said in a speech in California to a largely Iranian-American audience, referring to sanctions leveled in January against Sadeq Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary.
Pompeo also confirmed that Washington wants all countries to reduce their imports of Iranian oil "as close to zero as possible" by November 4, part of US efforts to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
"There's more to come," Pompeo said.
US President Donald Trump on May 8 decided to restore all the sanctions that had been lifted as part of a multi-national agreement, signed on to by former president Barack Obama's administration, in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
"We are asking every nation, every nation who is sick and tired of the Islamic Republic's destructive behavior to join our pressure campaign. This especially goes for our allies in the Middle East and Europe, people who have themselves been terrorized by the violent regime's activity for decades," said Pompeo.
"Regime leaders -- especially those at the top of the IRGC and the Quds Force like Qasem Soleimani -- must be made to feel painful consequences of their bad decision making," the top US diplomat said, referring to Iran's special forces and Revolutionary Guards.
He dismissed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who negotiated the nuclear deal, as "merely polished front men for the ayatollahs' international con artistry."
Iran "is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government," Pompeo said, citing what he called Iranian leaders' vast wealth and corruption.
Pompeo said senior Iranian leaders had benefited from embezzlement, sweetheart deals and other ill-gotten gains.
Iran's ayatollahs, he said, were "hypocritical holy men" who "seem more concerned with riches than religion."
He spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, to a packed house of about 1,000 people.
Pompeo's remarks were aimed in part at Iranian-Americans and Iranians living in the US He assured them that the Trump administration shared their dreams for the people of Iran. He also expressed support for those Iranians who have protested their government's actions and called its response "brutal."
"The specific grievances differ. But all those voicing dissatisfaction share one thing: they have been ill-treated by a Revolutionary regime. Iranians want to be governed with dignity, accountability and respect," he said.
