Pompeo told to Iran:
1) withdraw from Syria, leave Iraq and Lebanon and Yemen alone
2) don't build nuclear weapons
---and US will lift all sanctions, restore diplomatic relations and Iran will become a normal country.
Pompeo said: "be a normal country like Norway."
But it seems like Iran doesnt want to be like Norway, it wants to be like Persian Empire.
Iran is a country with the second longest imperial history in the world after China.
Iran makes enormous economic sacrifices for achieving its dream of obtaining nuclear/ICBM capability and ruling the Middle East.
Iran does it because of both 1) Khomeini's Islamic ideology 2) and Iran's glorious past and desire to restore Iran as a Great Power one more time.
Today Iran rules 4 Arab states in the Middle East with combined population of 100mln people:
1) Today Iraq is balancing between the status of a satellite state and a vassal state of Iran. Ministry of Intelligence of Iran has penetrated all segments of Iraq's society and Iran has its agents from the bottoms of Iraq's society to the tops of Iraq's Parliament, Government, Military and the Office of the Prime Minister. Iran unofficially occupies Iraq with its Shia Militias that are directly controled by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC. Probably, democratic institutions left by Americans will not survive in the future and Iran will try to turn Iraq into a Shia theocracy.
2) Syria's Bashar Assad is isolated from Turkey, USA, Europe and the Arab World and fully relies on Iran for his survival. Iran deployes military bases on Syrian soil and Syria has a net debt of 30bln$ to Iran and for this debt Assad will give all natural resources and sovereignty of Syria to Iran. Syria is now a vassal state of Iran.
3) Hezbollah is the dominant force in Lebanon with an armed strength of 100.000 troops. Hezbollah is 100% loyal to Iran.
4) Houthis control most of Yemen and deploy Iranian weapons in the Straight of Bab-el-Mandeb. Houthis are close allies of Iran and some like Prince Turki al Faisal even claim that the Houthis movement has its roots in Iran's Intelligence services.
5) Other targets of Iran's expansion in the future can include Jordan with its Islamic opposition, Saudi Arabia with its 5mln Shias, Bahrain with its majority Shia population and other countries of the Persian Gulf.
Iran tries to expand and wants to rule the Middle East because of Islam and because of its desire to make Iran the center of the Muslim world.
Can Iran become a Great Power?
1) By 2050 Iran will have a population of 100mln people. That is more than any country in the European continent except Russia and any country in the region of Middle East and North Africa except Egypt.
2) Today the total number of troops in the militaries of the countries of the
Axis of Resistance (Iran and its sphere of influence) is 1,2mln troops (Iran's 650K+Iraq's 150K+Syria's 150K + Hezbollah's 100K + Houthis 100K). Axis of Resistance can become an Islamic military block under Iran's control- something like Islamic Warsaw Pact in the Middle East with a combined armed strength of 1,2mln troops.
3) Iran can join the elite club of nuclear and ICBM powers in this decade
4) Iran's military industry will become fully developed and Iran will be among few countries of the world that are capable of producing any type of weapons and with Souroush-1 and Souroush-2 Iran will be in the elite club of space powers
5) Iran will dominate the Middle East and will have imperial sphere of influence in Iraq/Syria/Lebanon/Yemen and possibly in other countries of the region in the future. Combined population of the Iran dominated
Axis of Resistance is 190mln people today and will be 250mln people by 2050.
6) Iran already deploys military assets in the Straight of Hormuz (20% of world oil) and the Straight of Bab-el-Mandeb (12%-15% of world maritime trade)
7) By 2040 Iran will become a major transit country of the New Silk Road developed by China with major railway line of the New Silk road passing through Iranian territory
8) Economies of South Asian countries like Pakistan and India are growing 5% a year and in the future they will need more energy for their development and it is logical that they will get most of their gas from Iran. This will turn Iran into a major gas supplier to 2bln people in South Asia and South Asian countries will be fully dependent on Iran for their energy by 2050
Combination of these 8 points will turn Iran into an influential power in the future.
Some quotes about Iran:
1) Zbigniew Brzezinski: "Iran is a nation with an impressive imperial history, and its people have a sense of national pride." (from the article with Robert Gates "Don't Attack Iran")
2) Henry Kissinger: "A magnificent culture, a powerful bureaucratic apparatus, and several incarnations of the Persian Empire have made Iran feel unique, not as one of many." (from the book "World Order")
3) George W. Bush: "We respect Iran. We respect the great history of Iran. But we want Iran to be a democratic country." (from an interview with VOA)
4) Vladimir Putin about Iran: