Pompeo compares Iran's leaders to 'mafia'

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a press briefing at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., July 20, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Iran "is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government," citing what he described as vast wealth and corruption among the country's leaders.

Speaking to a California audience composed mostly of Iranian-Americans, Pompeo said that while the Iranian people must determine the country's direction, Washington "will support the long-ignored voice of the Iranian people."

He added that the U.S. government was launching a 24/7 Farsi-language channel on TV, radio, digital and social media formats to reach Iranians in Iran and around the globe, he said.

(Reporting by Warren Strobel in Washington and Dana Feldman in Simi Valley, Calif.; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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