Pompeo explained that Iran is a “truly malign actor” in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, where the mullahs hope to destabilise the countries and reduce freedom, sovereignty and independence so that they can take control via proxy.

He advised that the US needs to strengthen its Middle East coalition, which already includes Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf Arab states and Israel, in order to confront the Iran threat but that the US has already assembled a “global coalition of nations to confront Iran and support the aspirations of the Iranian people”.

One “important” way for the US to address regional stability threats, Pompeo said, is through the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA), which has been nicknamed “Arab NATO”.
Pompeo also expressed hope about a potential end to the Yemeni civil war, where a US-backed Saudi-led military coalition is supporting the legitimate government against Iran-backed Houthi militias.

He said: “We made a big step forward with the [peace] agreement surrounding the port of Hodeidah; we got a real commitment from all the parties. It was most unfortunate that the Houthis made a major break on January 10 to that cease-fire by using an Iranian-designed instrument of war to kill people after those agreements were reached back in December. I know that the Gulf states are committed to achieving that outcome; we are committed here in the United States.”

During Pompeo’s Middle East tour, he announced that a conference on “peace and stability in the Middle East” would be held in Warsaw, Poland, in mid-February. Tellingly, the Iranian Regime criticised the peace conference for being “anti-Iran”, criticised the US and Poland, and even summoned Poland’s Iranian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in protest.

The US wants Iran to alter its behaviour over things like human rights, its nuclear activity and ballistic missile programme, and its sponsorship for terrorism, but as the Iranian Resistance has said time and time again, the Iranian Regime will not change after 40 years in power. The only hope for a democratic Iran is with the overthrow of the mullahs by the Iranian people and their organised Resistance.