Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contended that “in spite of the Iranian leadership demanding that more money be given to them [to fight the COVID-19 pandemic], they are using the resources that they have to continue funding Hizbollah in Lebanon and threatening the state of Israel, funding Iraqi terrorist Shiite groups, all the things that they have done historically – continuing to build out their capabilities even while the people inside of their own country are suffering”. “And so they’ve said that it’s been our sanctions that have harmed them”, Pompeo added. “Frankly, the Iranian regime is the group responsible for all the hardship that exists inside of Iran, and in fact it is the Iranian people who are demanding a change in the nature of that regime”.