On May 1, Fox News host Sandra Smith falsely claimed that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “confirmed” that Iran has “been cheating” on the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal.

The day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented evidence showing that Iran had been dishonest about its pursuit of nuclear weapons -- which was already known -- Smith claimed that Pompeo “confirmed that they have been cheating [on the deal] and they have been cheating for quite some time.” Meanwhile, an on-screen graphic stated, “POMPEO: IRAN HAS BEEN CHEATING ON NUKE DEAL”:

This is simply not true. In the press statement, Pompeo said, “Now that the world knows Iran has lied and is still lying, it is time to revisit the question of whether Iran can be trusted to enrich or control any nuclear material,” but those lies were not violations of the deal nor did he claim they were. And yesterday, Pompeo stood by his testimony from last month in which he stated, “I’ve seen no evidence that they are not in compliance.”

Fox’s irresponsible reporting follows years of the network spreading misinformation about the Iran nuclear deal and encouraging its decertification.