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Iran immediately rejected the speech.

“Whenever/wherever U.S. interferes, chaos, repression and resentment follow,” the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted on Twitter hours after Mr. Pompeo spoke. “The day Iran mimics U.S. clients & @SecPompeo’s ‘human rights models’ — be it the Shah or current butchers — to become a ‘normal’ country is the day hell freezes over.”

Mr. Pompeo’s assertion of American purpose in the Middle East comes at a moment when Washington’s will to lead has been widely questioned.

The decision to withdraw from Syria has created a diplomatic tangle with Turkey and, since the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis over the Syria announcement, has led to fears among allies that Mr. Trump is not on the same page as his national security team.

While Mr. Obama spoke with the air of the professor he once was, Mr. Pompeo stressed his military background, Christian faith and fondness for plain speaking. “It is a truth that isn’t often spoken in this part of the world, but I’m a military man by training, so I’ll put it bluntly: America is a force for good in the Middle East. Period.”

Mr. Obama’s era was time of disastrous misjudgments, he said. “What did we learn from all this?” he said. “When America retreats, chaos follows. When we neglect our friends, resentment builds. When we partner with enemies, they advance.”

Former Obama officials sprang to defend their legacy.

“Listening to Secretary Pompeo’s speech is like listening to someone from a parallel universe,” said Robert Malley, Mr. Obama’s coordinator for the Middle East. He called the speech “a self-congratulatory, delusional depiction of the Trump administration’s Middle East policy.”

Jeffrey Prescott of National Security Action, a group led by former Obama officials, said it showcased the Trump administration’s obsession with Iran and with Mr. Obama. “Pompeo sees his audience as the region’s autocrats rather than its people,” he said.