Iran faces 'strongest' US penalties

Washington: Secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Monday threatened to impose the "strongest sanctions in history" against Iran if it did not accept a sweeping series of US demands, including effectively giving up its nuclear ambitions, curtailing its ballistic missile programme and ending its expansionist behaviour.

Weeks after the US pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo spelled out a hardline approach towards the Islamic Republic, potentially setting Washington and Tehran on a deeper confrontation course.

"The sting of sanctions will only grow more painful if the regime does not change course from the unacceptable and unproductive path it has chosen for itself and the people of Iran," Pompeo said in his first major foreign policy speech since becoming secretary of state.

"These will be the strongest sanctions in history by the time we are done," he added.

Pompeo took aim at Iran's policy of expanding its influence in the Middle East through support for proxy armed groups in countries such as Syria and Yemen.

He warned that the US would "crush" Iranian operatives and allies abroad and told Tehran to withdraw all forces under its command from the Syrian civil war where they back President Bashar al-Assad.

Iran is unlikely to accede to the US demands. Tension between the two countries has grown notably since President Trump this month withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Pompeo warned that the administration would hold companies doing prohibited business in Iran to account.

"Our demands on Iran are not unreasonable: give up your programme," Pompeo said, "Should they choose to go back, should they begin to enrich, we are fully prepared to respond to that as well," he said, declining to elaborate.

The speech did not explicitly call for regime change but Pompeo repeatedly urged the Iranian people not to put up with their leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"At the end of the day the Iranian people will get to make a choice about their leadership. If they make the decision quickly, that would be wonderful, if they choose not to do so we will stay hard at this until we achieve the outcomes I set forward," said Pompeo. Reuters