Brian Hook is Trump and Pompeo's #Iran guy at the State Department and here's a short thread on what a shameless liar he is (just like his bosses) 1/
Hook wrote an op-ed in the @WSJ calling on the UN to maintain an arms embargo on Iran. @jarretblanc has a run down on all the BS contained within (see here: ) but I want to focus on these three graphs at the end: 2/ 
Hook claims that if the UN fails to act, Trump "retains the right" to impose the embargo unilaterally. But Hook never mentions where this "right" comes from: the Iran nuclear deal. 3/
The reason he doesn't mention it is because, obviously, Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Therefore, because the US is no longer a participant, it cannot trigger the mechanism — i.e. a "snapback" — Hook is referring to that imposes sanctions on Iran. 4/
Nevertheless, to back up his point, Hook, the shameless liar that he is, quotes Obama explaining in 2015 how it works without ever mentioning that it's within the context of the nuclear deal 5/
Finally, and most shameless of all, Hook charges that Iran deserves the snapback sanctions because, "As of today, Iran has violated the nuclear deal at least five times." 6/
And why has Iran violated the deal? Oh, that's because Trump violated it first by reimposing crushing sanctions on Iran despite the fact that the UN atomic energy watchdog had said Iran was in full compliance with the deal. 7/
We, particularly journalists, must must must must must understand that 98% of what Trump administration officials say is complete bullshit. It's sad that the many in the media continue to allow this shameless lying to fly. 8/
PS: For all the details about this issue, check out this recent memo from @niac niacouncil.org/news/memo-the-… 9/9
