IRAN
In recent days there has been an escalation in the security situation with Iran. In a written statement on May 9 Secretary of State Pompeo accused Iran of an escalating series of threatening actions and statements toward the United States over the past month. The Secretary said that Washington is not seeking to go to war with Iran but after that country’s “40 years of killing American soldiers, attacking American facilities, and taking American hostages is a constant reminder that we must defend ourselves.”
Should Iran use a proxy against US interests or citizens the Secretary said the answer will be “swift and decisive.” He added that America’s patience should not be mistaken for a lack of resolve.
This week is the one year anniversary of Washington’s new Iran strategy. Special Representative Hook said: “By nearly every measure, the regime is weaker today than when we took office two years ago. Its proxies are underfunded and demoralized. Unless the regime demonstrates a change in behavior, the pressure on Tehran will mount.”
Referencing the anniversary Secretary Pompeo said Iran chose this date to announce that “it intends to expand its nuclear program is in defiance of international norms and a blatant attempt to hold the world hostage. Its threat to renew nuclear work that could shorten the time to develop a nuclear weapon underscores the continuing challenge the Iranian regime poses to peace and security worldwide.”
Pompeo added that the United States is committed to denying the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon and Washington will continue to impose maximum pressure on the regime until it abandons its destabilizing ambitions.
CHINA
As talks with China ended Beijing said there are three remaining areas of disagreement with the US on trade. Washington’s response was to impose further sanctions on China until it allows “trade to be open, fair, free, [and] transparent.”
Pompeo, in response to a question from a reporter, said that “We want trade deals not to be national security deals under a patina of commerce. China is a different nation. When it goes to Africa and offers infrastructure, it is almost always the case that it has a national security element to it. We don’t compete that way. The United Kingdom doesn’t compete that way. And we want to make sure those nations, when they choose China, know that there may be some cheap deal or something that appears cheap, but we want to make sure they know that that threat is real and that if China loans you money, they may well foreclose.”
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While in London Secretary Pompeo participated in talks with his British counterpart, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, concerning London’s consideration of allowing Huawei 5G to operate in Great Britain.
Pompeo said that he had “great confidence” that the United Kingdom will never take an action that will break the special relationship it has with the United States. “With respect to 5G,” he added, “we’re continuing to have technical discussions. We’re making our views very well known. From America’s perspective, each country has a sovereign right to make its own decision about how to deal with the challenge.”
The United States, Pompeo pointed out, has an obligation to ensure that “places where we will operate, places where American information is, places where we have our national security at risk, that they operate inside trusted networks, and we will – that’s what we’ll do.”
ARCTICIn a May 6 speech in Finland Secretary of State Pompeo has strong for China and Russia concerning their Arctic policies. The Secretary stated that Washington had a deep understanding of what Russia was doing in the region. ”It’s visible; you can see it.” He added that the US “national security team makes sure that we do the work to track their actions here as well. We want every nation to have the opportunity to participate in the great things that can be here in the Arctic region. We want fair and open markets, we want free transit, we want the rule of law… What we don’t want is countries like Russia using military power to deny passage for ships that have a right to pass, and to ban things that are inconsistent with international law. If there are good neighbors here in the Arctic region and if Russia becomes one of them, we would welcome that.”
DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.
Illustration: Pixabay