Referring to nationwide protests in Iran following the government’s decision to raise gas prices, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to Twitter to declare that “as I said to the people of Iran almost a year and a half ago: The U.S. is with you”. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson subsequently responded saying that “such hypocritical remarks contain no sympathy... [Pompeo] is sympathising with the people who are under pressure of the U.S.’s economic terrorism. He had already explicitly said that the people of Iran must be kept hungry until they give in to ‘our demands’”.