US extends security to Pompeo and former Trump officials after threats from Iran
Misty Severi
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The Biden administration has extended government protection to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, along with another former State Department official following continued threats from Iran.
The State Department claimed last week that the threats against Pompeo and Brian Hook, a former special envoy to Iran, remained credible. Hook and Pompeo served as the United States’ public faces of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
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“I hereby determine that the specific threat with respect to former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo persists,” acting Deputy Secretary of State John Bass wrote in a notification to Congress that was obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The notifications do not identify Iran specifically as the source of the threats, according to the outlet, but Iranian officials have long smeared and threatened Pompeo and Hook for their actions under Trump, including designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a “foreign terrorist organization.”
The threats also stem from the 2020 assassination of Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, which Iran blames both men for. Iran has vowed revenge for the assassination.
The notifications, dated Jan. 5, marked the 10th time the State Department extended protection to Hook since he left his post after Trump left office, and the seventh time it was extended to Pompeo. Pompeo had already qualified for government protection for several months after he left office, due to being a former Cabinet member.
Despite the threats, the Biden administration has pushed forward with talks with Iran that aimed to salvage a nuclear deal. However, the talks have stalled in recent months after Iran made demands that extended beyond the deal, according to the outlet.
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Pompeo warned the Biden administration last month that there was “no hope” in attempting to cooperate with the current Iranian regime because of its brutality.