Kellyanne Conway addresses Iran tensions, Trump vs 'squad,' Mueller hearing
Counselor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway talks to 'America's Newsroom' about Iran's claims of disrupting a CIA 'spy ring,' Trump's battle with Democrat congresswomen and the special counsel being questioned on Capitol Hill.
Amid escalating tensions with Iran, Kellyanne Conway said Monday that the message from the White House is clear -- the country's “maligned” behavior cannot continue.
Conway told “America’s Newsroom" co-anchors Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith, “The president’s been very, very clear -- even in his tweets this morning -- how he feels about the developments.”
Iran said it has arrested 17 Iranian nations allegedly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to spy on the country’s nuclear and military sites. They also said that some of those arrested had already been sentenced to death.
The arrests took place over the past few months. Those taken into custody worked on “sensitive sites” in the country’s military and nuclear facilities, an Iranian intelligence official told a press conference in Tehran.
All of this comes following Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday. The country's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they had seized the “Stena Impero” for "violating international regulations."
"The ship was seized under false and illegal pretenses and the Iranians should release it and its crew immediately," British Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman told reporters on Monday.
In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the responsibility to free the tanker “falls to the United Kingdom,” but that “This is the kind of behavior we've seen out of Iran for 40 years.”
“I think the whole world is wakening up to the threat,” Pompeo said. He also echoed the president and Conway’s words, saying: “I would urge everyone who’s reading that story that the Iranian regime has a long history of lying.”
NEW FOOTAGE BY IRAN PURPORTEDLY SHOWS COMMANDOS RAPPELLING ONTO UK-FLAGGED OIL TANKER
The president tweeted on Monday morning that Iran’s claim was completely false: “The Report of Iran capturing CIA spies is totally false. Zero truth. Just more lies and propaganda (like their shot down drone) put out by a Religious Regime that is Badly Failing and has no idea what to do.
“Their Economy is dead, and will get much worse. Iran is a total mess!” he exclaimed.
“Iran has a history of lying and the president flatly denies their claims that they’ve disrupted a CIA ring,” said Conway.
Conway said that Iran is not happy that the president pulled out of the nuclear deal, and that they could no longer rely on “pallets of cash” from a “bad deal.”
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Conway told Hemmer and Smith, “The last administration was much friendlier toward and much more accommodating of Iran and its maligned behavior.”
“From day one this president has been very clear and resolute in taking action and pulling us out of that nuclear deal. And, making very clear that we will defend our friends in the region—most explicitly, our best ally Israel. That can’t make Iran happy...”
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