Middle East
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting on November 19, 2020. Photo: Twitter
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss Iran’s “malign influence” during a high-profile visit to Israel, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
“@SecPompeo met with @netanyahu in Israel today to discuss Iran’s malign influence and the historic Abraham Accords. America’s commitment to Israel’s security has never been stronger,” tweeted Cale Brown, the State Department’s deputy spokesperson.
Israel regularly strikes Iranian militia groups and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in neighbouring Syria.
Israeli warplanes killed 10 in Wednesday airstrikes against “military targets” belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, according to a statement from the Israeli army.
The strikes followed the discovery of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, which Israel’s armed forces attributed to the Quds Force.
“This was another attempt led by Iranian Quds forces. The actual planting of the IEDs was by Syrian locals but the guidance, instruction and control was by Iranian Quds forces," AFP quoted army spokesman Jonathan Conricus as saying.
The meeting comes a day after Washington imposed yet another round of sanctions on Iranian and Iran-related groups and individuals, including Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi and a charitable network linked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
In a Wednesday statement titled “The Importance of Sanctions on Iran,” Pompeo described Washington’s “maximum pressure campaign” against Tehran as “extremely effective.”
“Sanctions are part of the pressures creating a new Middle East, bringing together countries that suffer the consequences of Iran’s violence and seek a region more peaceful and stable than before,” Pompeo wrote.
“Throughout the coming weeks and months, we will impose new sanctions on Iran, including using our nuclear, counterterrorism, and human rights authorities, each reflecting the wide range of malign behavior that continues to emanate from the Iranian regime,” he said.
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