Asked to comment on the U.S.' assessment of mounting threats from Iran, Secretary Pompeo suggested that "it's important for everyone to understand that this is 40 years of aggression by the Islamic Republic of Iran. So to put it into just three days or five days or seven days takes out of context the threat and the desires of the Islamic Republic of Iran". "The things you've seen us do to attempt to achieve deterrence against the Islamic Republic of Iran from their malign activity is a direct response to eight years of an administration that allowed the terror regime to expand... so we are pushing back. And when you push back, tension does increase".