Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo still has a target on his back.
The State Department released a fresh warning that any attempt to take the life of a current or former U.S. official will trigger “severe consequences.” The warning came after an Arabic-language Twitter account affiliated with the Iranian regime said during the weekend that Pompeo should fear for his life.
“Live in fear, liar” the account tweeted with a photo of Pompeo with crosshairs on his forehead. The tweet indicated that Iran wants Pompeo killed as revenge for the drone strike that killed terror leader Qassem Soleimani.
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Iran is engaged in efforts to assassinate Pompeo and his Iran envoy Brian Hook, who helmed the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran. Pompeo and Hook face “serious and credible” threats on their lives, according to nonpublic reports to Congress, one of which was exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon in January.
The State Department says it is taking these threats seriously.
“Make no mistake: the United States will protect and defend its citizens,” a State Department spokesman told the Free Beacon. “This includes those serving the United States now and those who formerly served.”
As Americans, the official said, “we are united in our resolve against threats and provocations. We are united in the defense of our people. Should Iran attack any of our nationals it will face severe consequences.”
Cameron Khansarinia, policy director at the National Union for Democracy in Iran, an Iranian-American organization that supports democracy, says the Biden administration should take Iran’s threats seriously.
“The Islamic Republic has made its decades-long chants of ‘Death to America’ more specific by calling for the murder of leading American public servants including Secretary Mike Pompeo and Special Representative Brian Hook,” Khansarinia said. “These threats by the dictatorship in Iran are not mere slogans, it is this regime’s strategy. The Biden administration must take these unacceptable threats seriously. In the long term, as a matter of policy and U.S. strategy toward Iran, we must know these threats will not end as long as this dictatorship is in power.”
