Israel’s Iran documents prove Tehran lying: Pompeo

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that documents obtained by Israel show that Tehran has been lying about its nuclear program.

"For many years, the Iranian regime has insisted to the world that its nuclear program was peaceful. The documents obtained by Israel from inside of Iran show beyond any doubt that the Iranian regime was not telling the truth," Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo said he reviewed many of the files himself and officials have been analyzing them, which will continue for many months.

"We assess that the documents we have reviewed are authentic," he added.

Pompeo said the documents show Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program for years.

"Iran sought to develop nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems. Iran hid a vast atomic archive from the world and from the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] — until today," he stressed.

Pompeo said Iran’s nuclear deception is inconsistent with its pledge in the nuclear deal “that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons”.

"Iran has lied and is still lying," Pompeo said.

He added that now is the time to revisit the question of whether Iran can be trusted to enrich or control any nuclear material.

In a statement Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israeli intelligence services had obtained 55,000 pages of Iranian documents revealing how Tehran allegedly lied to the world after signing a landmark deal in 2015 to curb its nuclear program.

His remarks followed a weekend meeting with Pompeo.

President Donald Trump is expected to announce his decision May 12 on whether the U.S. will pull out of the deal.