Pompeo Accuses Iran of ‘Assassination Operations’ in Europe

Allegation 'Unlikely to Be True' Say Experts

Jason Ditz 

Posted onMay 22, 2018CategoriesNewsTagsIran, Pompeo

As the Trump Administration continues to ratchet up tension with Iran, they are looking for more things to accuse Iran of to justify more sanctions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decided to claim that Iran is engaged in active “assassination operations” in the heart of Europe.

Mike Pompeo

Such a claim would be extremely convenient for Pompeo’s push to get the European Union to ditch the Iran nuclear deal. What is less convenient, however, is that there is no evidence any such thing has happened.

European officials have made no allegations and indeed, there hasn’t been a single allegation of an Iranian government assassination in Europe since 1991-92. Even State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert had nothing to back up the claim, saying only that Pompeo must have “access to information I do not.”

But neither Europe nor analysts are giving Pompeo’s claims any credence. Iraj Mesdaghi, an Iranian exile, added it was “unlikely to be true,” and that there was no evidence to back up the claims. Pompeo has not followed up the universal doubt with anything new.

Spurious allegations are a questionable strategy for Pompeo to take, as it makes the Trump Administration look even less reasonable than they already do in trying to build a coalition against Iran.

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/05/22/pompeo-accuses-iran-of-assassination-operations-in-europe/