Pompeo to outline post-deal strategy on Iran

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is slated to outline the administration’s new strategy toward Iran on Monday morning, weeks after President Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Obama-era nuclear deal.

Pompeo will deliver his remarks at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., at 9 a.m.

“Looking forward to speaking [at Heritage] on Monday, May 21, about the road ahead on [Iran],” Pompeo tweeted over the weekend.

Looking forward to speaking @Heritage on Monday, May 21, about the road ahead on #Iran.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 19, 2018

Administration officials have said the new strategy will encompass “a new security architecture” that extends beyond Tehran’s nuclear program to also include its missile technology, support for terrorism and actions in Syria and Yemen, according to CNN.{mosads}

Pompeo’s comments come as the U.S.’s European allies grow increasingly frustrated over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal, which offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program.

In a remarkable statement from a top European official, European Council President Donald Tusk last week slammed Trump, suggesting Europe could no longer rely on its old ally.

“With friends like that who needs enemies,” Tusk tweeted, referring to the president.

On Sunday, France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, suggested the European Union could provide financial help to European countries that would be hard-hit by U.S. sanctions if they continued doing business with Tehran.

But Iran has expressed doubt over the survival of the deal, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying European support wasn’t enough to keep it tenable now that the U.S. had announced its intentions to withdraw.

Trump had been long critical of the Obama-era deal, which he referred to as the “worst deal ever negotiated.” He cited several flaws in the deal as reasons why he wanted to scrap it, including Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for terrorist groups in the region.