Tipsheet

Pompeo Wrecks MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell for Portraying America as the Real Threat to Iranian Culture

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  January 07, 2020 12:00 PM

During a press conference at the State Department Tuesday morning, Secretary Mike Pompeo pushed back on assertions from MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that the United States is a threat to Iranian culture. 

"Every action we take will be consistent with international rule of law. The American people can rest assured that is the case," Pompeo said. "Let me tell you who's done damage to the Persian culture. It's not the United States of America. It's the Ayatollah. If you want to look at who has denied religious freedom, if you want to know who has denied the Persian culture's rich and steeped in history and intellect and they've denied the capacity for that culture to continue. If you go back and look at the holidays around Cyrus and Nowruz they have not permitted people to celebrate. They have not allowed people that they have killed, that Qassem Soleimani killed, they have not allowed them to go mourn their family members. The real risk to Persian culture does not come from the United States of America. There is no mistake about that." 

Pompeo reiterated his statement on Twitter. 

Over the weekend, President Trump tweeted a warning to the Iranain regime against retaliation for Soleimani's death, which he backed up to reporters on Air Force One.