Speaking to a crowd of Iranian Americans at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on July 22, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shared his hope to “one day see Iranians in Iran enjoying the same quality of life that Iranians in America enjoy.”
The Iranian regime’s oppressive behavior to its own people and surrounding countries forces Iranians to conform with the regime’s oppressive ideology, Pompeo said. Iran also destabilizes the entire region by sending billions of dollars to support the Assad regime in Syria, Hizballah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian Territories, Shia militant groups in Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen, the secretary said.
The secretary recently unveiled the administration’s new Iran strategy that includes working with allies to counter the regime’s destabilizing activities in the region, blocking its financing of terrorism and addressing Iran’s proliferation of missiles and other advanced weapons systems that threaten peace and stability.
“I have a message for the people of Iran: the United States hears you.
The United States supports you; the United States is with you,”
~Secretary of State Pompeo
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the secretary noted. “Forty years of kleptocracy. Forty years of the people’s wealth squandered on supporting terrorism. Forty years of ordinary Iranians thrown in jail for peaceful expression of their rights,” he said.
“To the regime, prosperity, security, and freedom for the Iranian people are acceptable casualties in the march to fulfill the revolution,” he said.
Pompeo said America will not remain silent while the Iranian regime oppresses and terrifies its own people. He named specific officials who have amassed personal fortunes through the regime’s systemic and widespread corruption.
While the regime lines its own pockets, Pompeo said, its citizens increasingly protest for jobs, social reform and basic human rights.
“Iranians want to be governed with dignity, accountability, and respect,” he said.
“It’s America’s hope that the next 40 years of Iran’s history will not be marked by repression and fear — but with freedom and fulfillment — for the Iranian people,” the secretary said.
