The story: Eight days before the end of US President Donald Trump’s tenure, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Iran of hosting al-Qaeda and said it is time to “crush the Iran-al Qaeda axis.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected the accusation, saying on Twitter that Pompeo “is pathetically ending his disastrous career with more warmongering lies.”

The coverage: Iran’s official news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying, “Mr. Pompeo, be angry and die from this anger...