“We have been very clear with the Iranian regime that we will not hesitate to use military force when our interests are threatened. I think they understand that. I think they understand that very clearly,” said Brian Hook, the State Department special representative on Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n Remains of Iranian Qiam ballistic missiles seen at the Iranian Materiel Display at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2018. The Department of Defense established the Iranian Materiel Display in December 2017 to present evidence that Iran is arming dangerous groups with advanced weapons, spreading instability and conflict in the region. The IMD contains materiel associated with Iranian proliferation into Yemen, Afghanistan and Bahrain. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando). Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n Speaking at a press conference at\u00a0Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., Hook was asked about possible next steps the administration could take against Iran in its \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign against the country.<\/span><\/p>\n “I think right now, while we have the military option on the table, our preference is to use all of the tools that are at our disposal diplomatically,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Hook spoke at an event held to display pieces of what he said were Iranian weapons and military equipment \u2014 many handed over to the\u00a0U.S. by Saudi Arabia\u00a0\u2014 deployed by Tehran to militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n The most scrutinized of the accusations is that Iran has been supplying the weapons to the Houthis in Yemen, now in its fourth\u00a0year of a civil war against a Saudi-led campaign, after Houthi rebels took over the nation’s capital in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n Such an act by Iran, if true, would be in violation of United Nations resolutions. Iran has denied the allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n Reuters, who viewed the weapons on display ahead of the press conference, was told that the administration wants\u00a0\u201cthere to be no doubt across the world<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0that this is a priority for the United States and that it\u2019s in international interest to address it,\u201d according to Katie Wheelbarger, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n The Pentagon pointed to what it said were Iranian corporate logos on arms fragments as a way to prove that the arms came from Iran. It could not say when the weapons were given to the Houthis, and there was no immediate way to independently verify where the weapons were made or used, Reuters reported.<\/span><\/p>\n Hook pressed back on criticisms that the display\u00a0\u2014 the second within a year\u00a0\u2014 was a political stunt by the Trump administration that could increase tensions in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is simply putting out in broad daylight Iran\u2019s missiles and small arms and rockets and UAVs and drones. … It\u2019s very important for nations to see with their own eyes that this is a grave and escalating threat,\u201d Hook said.<\/span><\/p>\n Outgoing\u00a0U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley<\/a> held a similar event in the same location last November.<\/span><\/p>\n Hook also denied that the timing of the event was an attempt to shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia, which has come under intense scrutiny\u00a0over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and\u00a0skepticism that\u00a0Riyadh is actively trying to limit civilian deaths in Yemen.<\/span><\/p>\n The Senate\u00a0on Wednesday advanced a resolution<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0that would end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen\u2019s civil war in\u00a0a sharp rebuke to\u00a0President Trump<\/a>, who has failed to\u00a0condemn the nation for Khashoggi’s\u00a0killing in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere isn\u2019t anything tied to what\u2019s happening in Saudi Arabia,\u201d Hook\u00a0said. \u201cOf course it\u2019s related. Many of the missiles here were interdicted by Saudi Arabia which illustrates just how much of a threat it\u2019s under.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, he\u00a0repeated other administration officials’ defense of Riyadh, saying that “abandoning Yemen right now would do immense damage to U.S. national security interests and to those of our partners in the Middle East.”<\/span><\/p>\n Defense Secretary\u00a0James Mattis<\/a>\u00a0and Secretary of State\u00a0Mike Pompeo<\/a>\u00a0were on Capitol Hill on Wednesday ahead of the Senate vote to attempt to head off momentum for the resolution. The two argued that withdrawing U.S. support from the war would undermine efforts to improve Saudi targeting and broker peace.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Remains](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Iranain-missile-fragments1.jpg\")
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