Pompeo seeks to deter Iran from holding commercial ships

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, accused Iran of being the "first sponsor of terrorism in the world" and said it was ready to detain commercial ships. Britain announced yesterday that it would join a US-led naval security mission in the Arabian Gulf to protect merchant ships Strait of Hormuz.

"The Iranian regime must be deterred in order to achieve stability and protect ourselves from the danger of its capture of commercial vessels," Pompeo said in a statement to the US State Department.

The US Secretary of State: «We seek to develop a comprehensive program, to ensure that Iran does not ignite the conflict in the region, which is not wanted by our country».

In an interview with Sky News, Mike Pompeo said his country had asked more than 60 countries to help secure shipping lines in the Strait of Hormuz. "We are seeking a comprehensive program that will prevent Iran from committing any act that could ignite a conflict in the region," he said.

This comes hours after statements by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday that his country would withdraw from the nuclear agreement in 2015, if necessary, which means full withdrawal from it.

At a press conference, Zarif claimed that the United States was isolated from the world, claiming that Washington wanted to deprive Iran of its rights.

He pointed out that America is not interested in diplomacy with Iran to resolve the nuclear dispute, despite calls for dialogue, he said.

In the same context, an Iranian official said that Tehran would take a third step to reduce its commitments to the nuclear agreement within a month if the European parties did not meet their obligations. He added that Iran has reduced its commitments to the nuclear agreement by keeping more than 130 tons of heavy water, Of enriched uranium.

For its part, Britain announced yesterday that it will join a US-led maritime security mission in the Arabian Gulf to protect commercial vessels crossing the Straits of Hormuz.

"We look forward to working with the United States and others to find an international solution to the problems in the Gulf of Hormuz," said Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

British Foreign Secretary Dominique Rapp said his country would remain committed to working with Iran to maintain a nuclear deal in 2015.

A British security source said the new mission would focus on protecting the security of international navigation.

Weeks ago, the US Central Command said it was developing a multinational naval operation to increase surveillance and security in the main waterways of the Middle East and ensure freedom of navigation.

The US Central Command, in a statement on its homepage on Twitter, confirmed that the purpose of the operation, called "Operation Sentry," is to promote maritime stability, ensure safe passage, reduce tensions in international waters throughout the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Bab Mandab and the Gulf of Oman.

German Foreign Minister Haikou Mas said Wednesday that Germany would not join a US-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

He added that Berlin prefers a European mission, but warned at the same time of the difficulty of making progress in this regard. "At the moment, the British prefer to join an American mission," Mas told reporters. We will not do that. "

"We want a European mission," he said, adding that this was on the table but would take time to persuade the EU to do so.

The US embassy in Berlin said Tuesday that the United States had asked Germany to join France and Britain on a mission to protect the Strait of Hormuz traffic and to "counter Iranian attacks." Germany rejected the request.

In the past period, international shipping has witnessed an unprecedented escalation from the Iranian side, where several commercial vessels have been targeted, other than the downing of a US marlin aircraft.

As the escalation continued, a news agency affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards intelligence agency threatened to target international shipping, especially the British.

After a day of threats, Britain announced on July 19 that Iran had kidnapped two of its oil tankers as they crossed the Strait of Hormuz into international waters, one flying the flag of Britain and one flag of Liberia.