"… As we've said for the detainees in Iran, now is the most appropriate moment to use this humanitarian challenge as a reason to allow these people to return to their families and their loved ones. State Department's working hard to get them back."
-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Press Remarks, March 31, 2020
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP DURING CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE BRIEFING, APRIL 3, 2020
- "In a lot of ways, they're hard hit. They're hit in — with their economy, with their military, and with, obviously, the virus. They're very hard hit…If they want to meet, we'd love to meet and we'd love to settle the whole thing out."
- "I think they love America. I think the Iranians love America. I think they'd love to be free…they love what we stand for."
- "…I put it out very publicly, with respect to Iran. I said if they need help with respect to the virus, we have the greatest medical professionals in the world. We'd love to send them over."
- To see the full remarks to the press, please visit the White House website here.
REMARKS TO THE PRESS BY SECRETARY POMPEO, MARCH 31, 2020
- "You rightfully point out some of these countries continue to build bombs and missiles and nuclear capability, all the while their people are starving. So when they make the claim that, boy, they just don't have the money to feed their people, these are decisions that these people, leaders have often made, not in the best interest of those peoples. It's, indeed, quite sad to see those governments make those decisions which harm their own people."
- "The last thing I'll say is not only do we not sanction any of those, nor does any global entity sanction humanitarian assistance, the United States has worked in every one of those places to provide assistance. We've worked to try and get assistance into North Korea. We've made offers of assistance to Iran. You'll recall when we first began we've worked diligently in Venezuela to get humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people well."
- "We've also made clear that in Iraq in particular we know that those Shia militias who have attacked the Americans are trained, equipped, underwritten, by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it's been President Trump's policy consistently that says that we will respond against all of those who facilitated, trained, equipped, and enabled those attacks on America. That holds as true today as it did two weeks, four weeks, or back in the beginning of January, when we took a strike against Qasem Soleimani."
- To see the full remarks to the press, follow the link: https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-remarks-to-the-press-7/
STATEMENT BY SPOKESPERSON MORGAN ORTAGUS ON FUTHER RESTRICTIONS ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, MARCH 30, 2020
- "The United States is renewing four restrictions on the Iranian regime's nuclear program for an additional 60 days. Iran's continued expansion of nuclear activities is unacceptable. The regime's nuclear extortion is among the greatest threats to international peace and security. As President Trump said earlier this year, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. We will continue to use the full range of our diplomatic and economic tools to constrain Iran's destabilizing proliferation activities. We will continue to closely monitor all developments in Iran's nuclear program and can adjust these restrictions at any time."
COMMENTS ON IRAN IN AN INTERVIEW WITH SECRETARY POMPEO AND SEAN HANNITY, MARCH 30, 2020
- "QUESTION: You're having a problem with Iran. The last time on this program you actually said if they ask for help, you would give it. Tell us what's going on."
- "SECRETARY POMPEO: We have repeatedly offered the people of Iran assistance. We want - this is a humanitarian crisis inside the Islamic Republic of Iran as well. We have offered to provide humanitarian assistance. We have offered to provide assistance, if they don't want to take it from America, to help other countries get their assistance into the country. That offer stood then; that offer stands now. Sadly, the Islamic Republic of Iran's regime, the leadership, has rejected those offers of humanitarian assistance from us here in America. It's really unfortunate for the Iranian people. There will be Iranians who die."
- To read the full interview transcript, follow the link. https://www.state.gov/secretary-michael-r-pompeo-with-sean-hannity-of-the-sean-hannity-show-3/
FROM THE DIPNOTE: THIS WEEK AT STATE, MARCH 27, 2020
- "Khamenei's Lies About the Wuhan Virus Put Lives at Risk In a March 23 statement, Secretary Pompeo highlighted the Supreme Leader Khamenei's fabrications regarding the Wuhan Virus. These lies are dangerous and they put Iranians and people around the world at greater risk."
- "Fact: In February, Iran's chief terror airline, Mahan Air, ran at least 55 flights between Tehran and China, further infecting the Iranian people. At least five foreign countries' first cases of coronavirus were directly imported from Iran, putting millions more lives at risk."
- "Fact: The Iranian regime ignored repeated warnings from its own health officials, and denied its first death from the coronavirus for at least nine days. The regime continues to lie to the Iranian people and the world about the number of cases and deaths, which are unfortunately far higher than the regime admits."
- "For more facts, read the Iran: COVID-19 Disinformation Fact Sheet."
- To see the entire Dipnote: This Week at State, March27, 2020 follow the link: https://www.state.gov/this-week-at-state-march-27-2020/
Notable Tweets:
@realDonaldTrump April 1
Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!
@SecPompeo April 1
Reports that Iranian diplomats were involved in an assassination of a dissident in Turkey are disturbing but fully consistent with their assignments – Iran's "diplomats" are agents of terror and have conducted multiple assassinations and bomb plots in Europe over the past decade.
@statedeptspox April 1
We have repeatedly said that U.S. sanctions do not impede the Iranian regime's response to the COVID-19 crisis. Today @HassanRouhani has confirmed this to be true: "The sanctions have failed to hamper our efforts to fight against the coronavirus outbreak."
@statedeptspox March 30
The U.S. is renewing four nuclear restrictions on #Iran for an additional 60 days. We'll closely monitor developments in Iran's nuclear program and can adjust these restrictions at any time. As President @realDonaldTrump said, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.
@statedeptspox March 30
Stop lying. Stop stealing. If the Iranian regime needs funds to deal with the #coronavirus, it can access billions in @khamenei_ir's tax-free hedge fund. It's not the sanctions. It's the regime.
