News / Foreign Policy

Pence claims Iran using JCPOA ‘additional resources’ to ‘destabilize’ MidEast

Saturday, 18 February 2017 8:53 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 19 February 2017 3:07 AM ]

US Vice President Michael Richard Pence (C) smiles on his way to bilateral talks at the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC) at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich, southern Germany, on February 18, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

US Vice President Mike Pence is repeating the Trump administration’s allegations against Iran and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Addressing the 53rd session of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, the new vice president kept up his boss’s hostile rhetoric, claiming that the nuclear deal between Tehran and the world powers, including the US, has given Iran “additional resources” to “destabilize” the region.

The hawkish Republican also accused Iran of being “the state sponsor of terrorism.”

“Let me be clear again! Under President Trump, the United States will be fully committed to insuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon capable of threatening our countries, our allies in the region, especially Israel,” asserted the former Indiana governor.

US Vice-President Mike Pence (R) gestures as he arrives at the Franz-Josef-Strauss airport to attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany, on February 17, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The peaceful nature of the nuclear program has been emphasized by Tehran time and again, even before the JCPOA was clinched with the world powers in 2015.

Pence’s anti-Iran remarks came days after Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, where he continued the regime's efforts to team up against Tehran.

The Trump administration has been stepping up its anti-Iran rhetoric, referencing a “bad deal” with Tehran and accusing the Islamic Republic of supporting “terrorism.”