President Donald Trump's administration will dramatically change the United States' policy toward Iranian nuclear enrichment sites following Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's first major policy address.
The Washington Free Beacon confirmed with U.S. officials the administration is moving to shutter every nuclear enrichment site, including heavy water nuclear power plants, in Iran. The facilities were allowed under the nuclear agreement that former President Barack Obama's administration made with Iran.
"Iran must declare to the [International Atomic Energy Agency] a full account of the prior military dimensions of its nuclear program, and permanently and verifiably abandon such work in perpetuity," Pompeo said Monday.
"Iran must stop enrichment and never pursue plutonium reprocessing," the secretary continued. "This includes closing its heavy water reactor."
An unnamed senior administration official told the Free Beacon, "In his refreshingly direct and fact-based speech, Secretary Pompeo formalized President Trump's historic announcement that the United States was leaving the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] two weeks ago.
"Rather than the willful blindness that characterized the old policy of trying to cajole Tehran into pursuing a nuclear weapon slowly, the secretary clarified that our policy is now to prevent them from getting one altogether."
The official added that Pompeo "also made a strong statement of solidarity with the Iranian people, who are the traditional friends of the American people, and who have suffered too long under this autocratic theocracy that is preventing Iran from a secure and prosperous future as a welcomed member of the international community."
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