U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Young/Pool

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. financial pressure on Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah is working, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday on a visit to Beirut, calling on Lebanon to stand up to the Shi’ite group which he accused of “criminality, terror and threats”.

“Our pressure on Iran is simple. It’s aimed at cutting off the funding for terrorists and it’s working,” he said in a statement after meeting Lebanese political leaders. “We believe that our work is already constraining Hezbollah’s activities.”