Thread by @AliVaez

.@SecPompeo's little performance aimed at accusing Iran for this morning's tanker attacks was stunning in one sense: how many inaccuracies can one jampack into a 4 min speech? Here is a short list:
state.gov/secretary-of-s…

1. "It is the assessment of the USG that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman ...based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks..."

1.1. Maybe. But he presents no evidence whatsoever! It'd have been much more responsible for @SecPompeo to call for an impartial UN investigation. Also, if you believe nonstate actors/spoilers can't manage to conduct sophisticated operations, you didn't deserve to head the CIA...

2. "This is only the latest in a series of attacks instigated by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its surrogates against American and allied interests, and they should be understood in the context of 40 years of unprovoked aggression against freedom-loving nations."

2.1. Should we believe that the US has done nothing to provoke Iran in the past 40 years and that the entire the blame lies with Iran? Also, which freedom loving countries are you referring to? Iraq under Saddam or KSA or UAE?

3. "On April 22nd, Iran promised the world that it would interrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. It is now working to execute on that promise."

3.1 What @SecPompeo fails to say is that Iran promised that if it can't export its own oil due to unjustified unilateral US sanctions, no one else will. Are there any fact checkers left at @StateDept? reuters.com/article/us-oil…

3.2 What brought Iran's strategic patience policy into question was your push to cut Iran's oil exports to zero. Not the "malign" "nefarious" "destabilizing" impulses of Tehran, which sat on its hands, receiving more then 200 Israeli strikes on its assets in Syria...

4 "On May 12th, Iran attacked four commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz."

4.1 Maybe they did, but the countries who have investigated it haven't explicitly blamed Iran. If you have clear evidence, you should present it to the world in ways that are more convincing that Colin Powell's UNSC presentation. edition.cnn.com/2019/06/06/mid…

5. "On May 14th, Iran-backed surrogates attacked by armed drones — struck two strategically important oil pipelines into Saudi Arabia.

On May 19th, a rocket landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad."

5.1 FYI, there is a full fledged war happening between KSA and the Houthis in Yemen. Not every thing the Houthis do is on behalf of Iran. And no one knows who fired the rocket in Baghdad. But again, if you have the evidence, pls present it to the world.

6. "On May 31st, a car bomb in Afghanistan wounded four U.S. service members, killed four Afghan civilians, and wounded bystanders."

6.1 Wow! this is new. So you're now contending that the Taliban, who claimed responsibility for that attack, is an Iranian surrogate too? washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pac…

7. "Iran’s supreme leader rejected Prime Minister Abe’s diplomacy today by saying he has no response to President Trump and will not answer. The supreme leader’s government then insulted Japan by attacking a Japanese oil tanker just outside of Iranian waters"

7.1 That exact reason & your haste in blaming Iran makes one skeptical of your intel & intent. The parties who seem to benefit the most from getting Iran/the US back on the collision course & neutralize Abe's efforts seem to be your regional allies and colleague @AmbJohnBolton.

8. " Iran is lashing out because the regime wants our successful maximum pressure campaign lifted. "

8.1 Which success are you referring to? OK you've hurt the Iranian economy, but you've rendered Iran more, not less, aggressive. You have failed to entice them to negotiate with you, and you have failed to stir an internal uprising. Am I missing something?

9. "Iran should meet diplomacy with diplomacy, not with terror, bloodshed, and extortion."

9.1 You should follow your own advice, Mr. Secretary. The reality is that you left the diplomatic process, adopted a purely coercive policy, moved the goalposts and now trying to extort more concessions or force an Iranian capitulation.

10/10 This rhetoric is almost a mirror image of the Iranian ideologues' discourse. Who writes such nonsense for Pompeo? If you have clear proof, let that evidence speak for itself. Why the exaggeration and the hype, unless you are fulfilling an agenda you've been itching for...