Commenting on threats coming from Iran, Secretary of State Pompeo indicated that “this threat from Iran, remains. We’ve had some luck in disrupting some of the tactical things that were in front of us… but make sure we’re still on high alert, we’re still making sure we have the right resources in play”. He went on to stress that “what the President says is really important, and the President has said that he is prepared at the right time, when the Iranians conclude that it’s in their best interests to negotiate, we stand ready to take their call”. In a separate interview, Pompeo asserted that  U.S. “sanctions have certainly had their intended effect. They have put constraints on the leadership in Iran’s ability to foment terror”. Asked whether Iran might be retaliating because sanctions were proving effective, he opined that “there is a long history of Iranian terror that long predates our sanctions efforts. So this isn’t just about our sanctions”. Pompeo returned to this theme in a third interview that day, stating that “it is true that when you push back, tensions rise”.