Without naming President Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blasted the United States during his U.N. General Assembly address on Tuesday, suggesting Mr. Trump had "xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition," among other criticisms. In response, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Rouhani's comments "outrageous" and said Mr. Trump will not be meeting with Iran.
"There's not going to be a meeting. President Trump has said when the Iranians are prepared to talk about fundamentally changing their behavior, then he is of course prepared to talk to them," Pompeo told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell during a live interview on Wednesday. "Those statements yesterday indicate that they're not in that place and it is outrageous for him to say such a thing. For a Holocaust-denying country that is threatening Israel to compare the United States or its leader to Nazis is among the most outrageous things I have heard. And I will tell you, in diplomacy you hear a lot of them. The most outrageous things I have ever heard."
Earlier that day, Mr. Trump had told the U.N. General Assembly that "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction." "Iran's leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far behind," Mr. Trump said.
On Monday, foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran agreed to a "Special Purpose Vehicle" to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports. They said it will "assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate business with Iran," after Mr. Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions.
Asked about those nations' back channel to continue economic relationships with Iran, Pompeo said: "To continue to create mechanisms to fund the world's largest state sponsor of terror is disastrous policy and I hope they will reconsider it."
"But most importantly, European businesses are voting with their checkbooks. They are leaving Iran in droves. These sanctions will be effective, they are effective, and come November 4, they'll be even more effective," Pompeo said.
Pompeo said Iran's economy is "collapsing," noting that Iran's currency "trades at over 150,000 rial to the dollar."
"There are two reasons for that. One is certainly the pressure that's put in place. But most importantly, it's the… total chaos created by the Islamic Republic of Iran's government. They treat their people horribly. They spend billions of dollars committing terror acts around the world and they don't take care of their people," Pompeo said. "You see the protests, you see the anger on the streets of Tehran and in the rural areas. That's a result of terrible government and the Iranian people aren't going to stand for it, and the American people are going to stand with the Iranian people."
O'Donnell also asked Pompeo about Russian meddling in the U.S. election, and he said he's confident the U.S. midterm elections in November will be safe.
Mike Pompeo calls Iranian president's comparison of Trump to Nazis "outrageous"
/ CBS News
Without naming President Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blasted the United States during his U.N. General Assembly address on Tuesday, suggesting Mr. Trump had "xenophobic tendencies resembling a Nazi disposition," among other criticisms. In response, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Rouhani's comments "outrageous" and said Mr. Trump will not be meeting with Iran.
"There's not going to be a meeting. President Trump has said when the Iranians are prepared to talk about fundamentally changing their behavior, then he is of course prepared to talk to them," Pompeo told "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell during a live interview on Wednesday. "Those statements yesterday indicate that they're not in that place and it is outrageous for him to say such a thing. For a Holocaust-denying country that is threatening Israel to compare the United States or its leader to Nazis is among the most outrageous things I have heard. And I will tell you, in diplomacy you hear a lot of them. The most outrageous things I have ever heard."
Earlier that day, Mr. Trump had told the U.N. General Assembly that "Iran's leaders sow chaos, death and destruction." "Iran's leaders plunder the nation's resources to enrich themselves and to spread mayhem across the Middle East and far behind," Mr. Trump said.
On Monday, foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran agreed to a "Special Purpose Vehicle" to establish a financial facility in the European Union to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports. They said it will "assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate business with Iran," after Mr. Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions.
Asked about those nations' back channel to continue economic relationships with Iran, Pompeo said: "To continue to create mechanisms to fund the world's largest state sponsor of terror is disastrous policy and I hope they will reconsider it."
"But most importantly, European businesses are voting with their checkbooks. They are leaving Iran in droves. These sanctions will be effective, they are effective, and come November 4, they'll be even more effective," Pompeo said.
Pompeo said Iran's economy is "collapsing," noting that Iran's currency "trades at over 150,000 rial to the dollar."
"There are two reasons for that. One is certainly the pressure that's put in place. But most importantly, it's the… total chaos created by the Islamic Republic of Iran's government. They treat their people horribly. They spend billions of dollars committing terror acts around the world and they don't take care of their people," Pompeo said. "You see the protests, you see the anger on the streets of Tehran and in the rural areas. That's a result of terrible government and the Iranian people aren't going to stand for it, and the American people are going to stand with the Iranian people."
O'Donnell also asked Pompeo about Russian meddling in the U.S. election, and he said he's confident the U.S. midterm elections in November will be safe.
In:- United Nations General Assembly
- Donald Trump
- Mike Pompeo
- Hassan Rouhani
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