The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underlined that “responsibility for how the Government of Lebanon will be formed and shaped falls to the Lebanese people to demand Lebanese sovereignty, Lebanese prosperity, Lebanese freedom from influence, from outside entities. We have a designated terrorist organisation there, Hizbollah… I know that the people of Lebanon understand the risk that that presents to their freedom, their capacity to deliver for themselves. This is not an American proposition; it is the – a proposition of the Lebanese people”. “We do stand ready to do the things that the world can do to assist the Lebanese people of getting their economy righted, getting their government righted”, he added. On Iraq, Pompeo noted that “the Iraqi people want a sovereign, independent Iraq... we’re continuing our counterterrorism campaign in Iraq, and stand ready as the Iraqi government asks us to, to support the Iraqi people in ensuring that the influence from those who don’t want a sovereign, free, and independent Iraq don’t have their way inside of that country”.