Pompeo says America, Israel & Middle East would be 'less secure' if U.S. rejoins Iran nuclear deal

Pompeo, the top U.S. diplomat for President Trump, warned Biden administration not to return to the "crappy" international deal.
Iranian flag next to a Sajil missile in 2008

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said the American, Israel and the Middle East would be "less secure" if the U.S. reenters into the Iran nuclear deal.

"The Iranians understand strength. They understand power. They understand resolve. We demonstrated that. And when we did, the Iranians backed down," Pompeo said during an interview with radio show host John Catsimatadis, according to The Hill newspaper. "We didn't get all the way to where we would've hoped we could get in respect to getting Iran to stand down and enter an agreement that would've actually avoided them having a nuclear weapon, but we made an awful lot of progress."

During Trump's tenure as commander in chief he withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and reimposed sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

President Biden has indicated that if Iran comes back into compliance the U.S. will get back into the deal and would then pursue a "longer and stronger" agreement pertaining to the Iranian nuclear program as well as other issues.

"If this administration unwinds that and goes back to the crappy deal that we had with Iran when President Obama was in office, America will be less secure," Pompeo said, according to the newspaper. "Israel will be less secure. The Middle East will be less secure. And the entire region will be less stable."