Iran says Pompeo’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ policy failed

Tehran: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh on Wednesday responded to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying his policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran had failed.

“The outgoing @SecPompeo’s frustration is understandable. His “max pressure policy reached a max failure…” Khatibzadeh tweeted.

This comes after Pompeo said the US “maximum pressure” campaign was working and would continue in the coming weeks and months.

“The Maximum Pressure campaign against the Iranian regime continues to be effective. It deprives the regime of funds to carry out its malign activities. Reducing that pressure is a dangerous choice, bound to weaken new regional partnerships for peace and strengthen the regime,” Pompeo tweeted.

Iran and US ties started to decline after the Donald Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, reinstating tough sanctions against Tehran.

Tehran and the six international negotiators in July 2015 reached a historic agreement to resolve the longstanding problem of the Iranian nuclear program.

The agreement, in particular, had envisioned that the arms embargo would be lifted from Iran within five years, the supply of weapons is possible earlier, but only with the permission of the UN Security Council.