In remarks to the UN Security Council, Secretary Pompeo stated that "when we collectively 'call upon' Iran to cease its ballistic missile activity, we must agree to stop it now. But Iran is as defiant of the world's insistence as ever... Iran's pace of missile activity, including missile launches and tests, did not diminish since the JCPOA. In fact, Iran's missile testing and missile proliferation is growing". He went on to say that "we risk escalation of conflict in the region if we fail to restore deterrence", and urged that "the Council should not lift the arms embargo in 2020 on Iran". "Iran", Pompeo added, "is harbouring al-Qaeda, supporting Taliban militants in Afghanistan, arming terrorists in Lebanon, facilitating illicit trade in Somali charcoal benefiting al-Shabaab, and training and equipping Shiite militias in Iraq... it is also stoking conflict in Syria and Yemen". "Relief from our efforts", Pompeo concluded, "will come only when we see tangible, demonstrated and sustained shifts in Tehran's policies". In a subsequent press availability, Pomepo underscored that "to the extent that there are violations of our sanctions, we intend to enforce them with great rigour against any part who is a participant in those violations", and pledged that the U.S. will "work with a coalition to build out a set of responses that deliver deterrence against Iran and its continued proliferation of ballistic missiles and ballistic missile systems that have the potential to carry nuclear warheads".