Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Listen, every time we're meeting with our counterparts in Israel, the state of Iran is always something that's at the top of the list and the things we discuss. And that's because the regime in Iran continually threatens Israel, threatens the United States.
The United States, whenever it comes to any region in the world where there are tensions, asks for people to observe the rule of law, respect for human rights, respect for international norms. We ask people to maintain peace and security and direct dialogue.
Whether it is Iraq, whether it is Yemen, whether it is Lebanon, whether it is Syria, I mean North Africa, you could go through the list of countries where Iran as the largest state sponsor of terrorism uses these proxies... to foment chaos in the Middle East.
The United States will not tolerate the P.R.C.'s (People's Republic of China) violations of our sovereignty and intimidation of our people, just as we have not tolerated the P.R.C.'s unfair trade practices, theft of American jobs and other egregious behavior.
What would be most productive is for Chairman Kim and his staff and for President Trump and all his staff to continue upon the path that was laid out for us both in Vietnam and at the DMZ, and that is a diplomatic resolution and the end of North Korea's nuclear weapons.
We can pursue peaceful diplomacy with the Iranian regime while also continuing our maximum economic pressure campaign, while also defending ourselves... To say that it's a war with Iran or nothing is just a fundamental misunderstanding of how foreign policy actually works.
Take a lesson from President Obama, and don't go around Congress. When given the opportunity to work with lawmakers on the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate agreement, Obama chose to forgo the hard fight of treaty ratification and instead ruled by executive order. And now the United States is party to neither pact.
I thought that I knew the world pretty well. I mean this is what I do for a living, I've been in government or in the Navy Reserves for 13 years. I've got an undergraduate degree and a master's degree focused on that stuff so I would put myself on the what I thought was the more well educated end of the spectrum on these things.
A decade ago, I lived in Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh, as the treasury attache to our embassy there, and I was, of course, on the ground in the Middle East whenever the Arab Spring started, and it's fast-forward a decade later, nine years later. It's hard to believe that I am still working on this issue. You know, here in the State Department.