The Biden administration has determined that Iran’s threats to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of his former aides are credible and have continued nearly two years since they stepped down.
The State Department told Congress last week that both Pompeo and Brian Hook, the Trump administration’s special representative for Iran, continue to face “serious and credible threats from foreign powers or agents of foreign powers.” Notified. From their work while in government.
The decision, which means Pompeo and Hooke will remain under government protection, was signed by Deputy Secretary of State Brian McKeon on Nov. 8 and sent to Congress on Nov. 9, according to a notice obtained by the Associated Press. rice field.
“I find certain threats going on here regarding former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo,” McKeon wrote. He used the same word to refer to the threat to Hook.
The AP reported in March that the State Department was paying Pompeo and Hook more than $2 million a month to provide 24-hour security. The latest decisions — her eighth for Hooke and her fifth for Pompeo since leaving government in January 2021 — did not indicate the amount for protection.
Although the notice did not specifically identify Iran as the source of the threat, Iranian officials said the Trump administration’s “maximum He has long taken his anger out on Pompeo and Hooke for leading the ‘Limited Pressure’ campaign. and impose unprecedented sanctions.
Additionally, some Iranian officials have accused Iran of green-lighting the US drone strike that killed IRGC chief Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in January 2020.
The Department of State does not comment on specific details of the notice or its protection efforts. But Congress said it has allocated up to $30 million to protect former or retired ministry employees deemed endangered for their service to the government.
“As new requirements arise and threats evolve, we seek the resources we need to ensure mission success.” “The department’s protection is consistent with its authority.”
Hooke declined to comment, and a Pompeo spokesman did not immediately respond to inquiries.
nuclear negotiations
The Biden administration made these decisions to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, despite spending money to protect Pompeo and Hook. As such, it continued to advance indirect negotiations with Iran.
These talks had stalled for months, and the regime was pessimistic for some time that they could resume anytime soon. It said it had raised demands outside the scope of the deal that brought Tehran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for repression.
US sanctions
Meanwhile, Iran has launched a major crackdown on anti-government protests sparked by the death of a woman in custody who was accused of violating a law requiring women to wear headscarves in public.
The US has imposed additional sanctions on Iranian officials for human rights abuses, and on Monday Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan condemned mass arrests, “fake trials” and torture, It reported that the protester had been sentenced to death.
“The eyes of the world are on Iran,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Human rights violations by governments should not go without consequences.”
