The former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, came out with a new memoir, which attracted much attention in the US political circles and the local and foreign media.
The book "Never Give an Inch – fighting for the America I Love" provides information about various issues, including the CIA helping Mossad agents flee Iran in February 2018 after these agents stole Iran's secret nuclear archive from Tehran.
Pompeo, who has now become an author, graduated from US Military Academy West and was an officer in the US Army. He graduated from Harvard Law School and was a member of the House of Representatives. In 2017, former President Donald Trump appointed him as CIA Director.
Pompeo strongly defended Saudi Arabia in his book, noting that his diplomatic relationship with the Kingdom annoyed the US media.
Pompeo stressed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a reformer who is "leading the greatest cultural reform in the kingdom's history" and is "a truly historical figure on the world stage."
Pompeo referred to his visit to Riyadh in October 2018 and said the relationship with Saudi Arabia "made the media madder than a vegan in a slaughterhouse."
On Trump dispatching him to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo wrote that he thought the president "was envious" that he was the one that teased the media, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, "who didn't have a grip on reality."
He indicated that Khashoggi's murder was "outrageous and unacceptable," but he disputed that Khashoggi was a "journalist," criticizing the media that turned him into a "Saudi Arabian Bob Woodward."
Pompeo argued that Khashoggi was an "activist."
He recalled that the Trump administration imposed sanctions on 13 Saudi citizens in connection with the Khashoggi case, stressing that the security relationship between Washington and Riyadh is significant.
The former official revealed that the CIA rescued Mossad agents when they were in imminent danger at the personal request of the then-Mossad director Yossi Cohen during the so-called "heist of the century," which included seizing Iran's secret nuclear archive from Tehran.
Pompeo described the operation as "one of the most significant clandestine operations ever conducted."
He recounted hearing from an aide that Cohen "needs to speak with you immediately."
"The call from Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad, arrived shortly after I had stepped off a plane in a European capital. I turned around and went back onboard, where we had communications equipment suitable for a classified conversation with the leader of Israel's intelligence agency," writes Pompeo.
Pompeo described the voice on the other end of the phone as "calm and serious."
"Cohen said to me, 'Mike, we had a team that had just completed a very important mission, and now I'm having a bit of trouble getting some of them out... Can I get your help?'"
Pompeo stated that he didn't ask any questions, regardless of the risks, adding: "We started working and communicated with his team."
"We connected with his team, and within twenty-four hours, we had guided them to safe houses. Within the next two days, they were back in their home countries without the world ever knowing that one of the most significant clandestine operations ever conducted was complete, " says Pompeo.
He did not disclose the name of the 2018 Iranian nuclear archive operation.
Pompeo addressed the issue of his potential run for the 2024 presidential elections but confirmed that he "will figure this out in the next handful of months," adding that Trump's decision to seek the White House again does not have an impact on him.
