US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday accused Iran of being a “malign influence” in the Middle East, arguing that confronting Tehran is a must for peace and stability in the region.
“You can’t achieve peace and stability in the Middle East without confronting Iran, it’s just not possible,” Pompeo told a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second day of a US-sponsored Mideast conference now underway in the Polish capital Warsaw.
“THE THREE H’S”
“They’re a malign influence in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Syria, in Iraq, the three H’s: the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah. These are real threats; there are others as well. But you can’t get peace in the Middle East without pushing back against Iran,” he added. The two-day US-sponsored conference started Thursday with representatives from several Arab and Western states. The meeting is ostensibly aimed at discussing peace and security in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism, and missile development and proliferation.
NETANYAHU: THE COMMON THREAT OF IRANIAN REGIME
For his part, Netanyahu called the conference a “historic turning point”. “In a room of some 60 foreign ministers and representatives of dozens of governments, an Israeli prime minister and the foreign ministers of the leading Arab countries stood together and spoke with unusual force, clarity, and unity against the common threat of the Iranian regime,” Netanyahu said.
“I think this marks a change, an important understanding of what threatens our future, what we have to do to secure it, and the possibilities of cooperation that extend beyond security to every realm of life for the peoples of the Middle East,” he added.