U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US and its Gulf Arab allies want to show Iran its actions have "a real high cost," stepping up his warnings after Tehran threatened to disrupt Mideast oil supplies.
"The one that we are most focused on today is ... that we deny Iran the financial capacity to continue this bad behavior," Pompeo said during an interview with Sky News Arabia.
"So it's a broad range, a series of sanctions aimed not at the Iranian people, but rather aimed at the single mission of convincing the Iranian regime that its malign behavior is unacceptable and has a real high cost for them," the AP cited him as saying.
Pompeo made a point to mention recent threats by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of all oil traded by sea passes. While in Europe last week, Rouhani said any disruption to Iran's oil exports would result in the whole region's exports being disrupted.
Iran "should know that America is committed to keeping sea lines open, keeping the transit of oil available for the entire world," the US Secretary of State said. "That's the commitment we have had for decades. We continue under that commitment."
Pompeo met Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan while on his short trip to the UAE. He also stopped by the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
