Mike Pompeo announces dedicated group to steer US policy towards Iran

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is putting together a dedicated group to steer US policy towards Iran in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement.

The group is expected to be run by the State Department’s director of policy planning, Brian Hook.

Mr Hook was in charge of the failed negotiations with European allies to change portions of the Iran deal before Mr Trump pulled out in May, citing issues with the agreement he said left Iran capable of acts of war.

The Trump administration has reimposed sanctions on Iran since that withdrawal, and has put increased pressure on the Iranian regime to stop what it calls “malign activities” in the region. Those sanctions had eased up after the Iran nuclear agreement was first reached, after being pushed for and negotiated heavily by the administration of former President Barack Obama.

Included in the concerns held by the Trump administration are Iran’s ballistic missiles programme, as well as the country’s support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Shia rebels in Yemen, and anti-Israel groups.

The Trump administration also cites Iran's enrichment of nuclear materials to attain a warhead, but experts have said that the Iran agreement Mr Trump tore up had essentially stopped that enrichment operation.

In an apparent attempt to scare off support for Iran and the nuclear agreement, the Trump administration has also warned customers of Iran’s oil production that they could face US sanctions this November if imports from the country are not significantly reduced. The goal of those warnings is to ultimately see all imports of Iranian oil stop.

Mr Hook will be trusted in his new role to watch over the implementation of the entire administration’s Iran policy, according to State Department officials.

Mr Pompeo and other US officials have denied that the Trump administration is seeking regime change in Iran, and have publicly said that they only want to see a course correction from Iran’s leadership.

The secretary of State had previously created a similar group to work on North Korea policy when he was the director of the CIA.

Associated Press contributed to this report