Last Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a meeting with a group of “community leaders” during which he said that the US was not seeking to impose regime change in Iran through direct military intervention.



Though the US has been threatening Iran pretty regularly for years, and particularly since President Trump took office, Pompeo claimed that he was “careful not to use the language of regime change” because they didn’t intend to force the issue militarily if it didn’t happen on its own from sanctions and US pressure.



That said, Pompeo said that the administration would’ve handed the 2009 Green Movement “differently” from the Obama Administration, without specifying how. He also joked with the audience about a possible Iran coup, saying even if the US was planning one, they wouldn’t admit it.



The “community leaders” also asked about the administration’s ties to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), a terror organization in Iran, which the US de-listed in 2012. Pompeo insisted that he and Trump had never spoken at MEK rallies, though John Bolton had.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz