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U.S. to redouble its diplomatic and commercial pressure on Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that the United States will ‘redouble its diplomatic and commercial efforts to put real pressure on Iran.’ The American top diplomat, who embarked on a week-long Middle East tour, said during a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart in Amman, that the US-coalition in the region that has sought to eradicate the Islamic State, is also committed to thwart the Islamic Republic’s aggressive behavior that endangers stability and security. “The most significant threat to the region is Daesh (Islamic State) and the Islamist Revolution, and the revolutionary efforts in the region. There is, I won’t speak for Foreign Minister Safadi, but there is enormous agreement on the risk that that poses to Jordan and to other countries in the neighborhood and that battle continues. Our President’s decision to withdraw our folks from Syria in no way impacts our capacity to deliver on that. And you’ll see in the coming days and weeks, we are redoubling not only our diplomatic but our commercial efforts to put real pressure on Iran to achieve what it is we set out for them back in May. And these are simple asks we ask of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to behave like a normal nation and the coalition is just as committed to it today as it was yesterday,” Pompeo said. The comments by Secretary Pompeo came just one day after Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami vowed to confront the United States and Israel, which he alleged, ‘endanger Iran’s national security.’ In addition to the threat voiced by Iranian Defense Minister, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani claimed that the United States had “failed in its strategy in Syria” and called on the United States not only to leave Syria, but also to leave the whole Middle East.