WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration paused or scrutinized much of Trump-era foreign policy on Wednesday when America’s new top diplomat took over from the State Department.
The government at least temporarily posted some major arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, while newly-installed Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he is urgently looking at a terrorist designation against the Yemeni Houthi rebels that his predecessor recently issued . leave the office.
On his first full day of work, Blinken said the government has begun a comprehensive review of the US-Russia relationship and is investigating the details of a US-Taliban peace deal signed nearly a year ago. However, he said the government had asked Trump’s special envoy to Afghanistan, former United Nations ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, to stay on duty for the sake of continuity.
Hours after his ceremonial but coronavirus-restricted access to the State Department’s main lobby, Blinken said the government is ready to return to commitments made under the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, of which former President Donald Trump withdrew, but only if Iran returns to full compliance with the accord.
In his remarks against a demoralized diplomatic corps that has often been denigrated or ignored over the past four years, Blinken pledged to rebuild the ranks of the Foreign Service and rely on his expertise as the Biden administration tries to restore America’s global reputation. He said the world is watching America conduct a foreign policy after Trump’s “America First” doctrine that alienated many American allies.
Blinken spoke to the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Israel on Wednesday, after phone calls on Tuesday evening with his counterparts in Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.
Blinken appeared in the press briefing room, rarely used during the Trump administration, and pledged to respect and be accessible to journalists and to restore the State Department’s daily press conferences early next week.
On policy issues, Blinken said he was particularly concerned about the designation “foreign terrorist organization” for Iranian-backed Houthis, which former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced just 10 days before the end of the Trump administration. Many fear that this move, accompanied by tough US sanctions, will unnecessarily aggravate what is already one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Of all the steps Trump and Pompeo took in their waning days, “that is the priority in my book,” Blinken said of the designation. “We’re taking a very urgent and very close look at that.” The Treasury Department has already moved to suspend some of the sanctions associated with the designation, but aid agencies say mass famines could ensue if not all lifted.
The pause in arms sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, announced just days after the November 6 elections, which Trump lost to current President Joe Biden, is also linked to Yemen. Critics fear that the two Arab nations could use advanced American weapons to continue the Saudi-led war in Yemen at a significant risk of civilian casualties. The department billed the temporary suspension, including a halt to a $ 23 billion transfer of stealth F-35 fighters to the UAE, as “a routine administrative act” for a new government.
Blinken said the sales are under review to determine if they meet US national security goals.
On Afghanistan, Blinken said the Biden administration wanted to take a detailed look at the peace deal between the Trump administration and the Taliban in February 2020 to try to free US troops from the country after nearly 20 years of war. “We need to understand exactly what’s in the agreement,” before deciding how to proceed, he said. Khalilzad, the US’s chief negotiator, has been asked to remain in his job so that he can “continue the essential work he is doing.”
On Iran, Blinken echoed comments that Biden has made earlier and that he himself made to lawmakers during his hearing last week. Blinken said the government is ready to ease the sanctions that the Trump administration has re-imposed on Iran, as long as Iran returns to full compliance with the 2015 deal. At the time, Blinken said the government would try to override the terms of the deal. strengthen and lengthen. But, he said, “we are a long way from that point.”
Biden has vowed to reverse Trump’s approach, which had alienated many traditional American allies who saw it as a harsh one-sided approach that left no room for negotiation. Blinken said that after four years, the United States would again work with allies on the basis of reciprocity, rather than purely transactional.
“The world is now watching us closely,” said Blinken. ‘They want to know if we can heal our nation. They want to see if we will lead the way with the strength of our example and if we will uphold diplomacy with our allies and partners to face the great challenges of our time – such as the pandemic, climate change, crisis, threats to democracies, struggles for racial justice and the danger to our security and global stability posed by our rivals and opponents. “
Blinken, a 58-year-old confidant of Biden, was confirmed as the 71st secretary of state by the Senate on Tuesday in a vote of 78-22. The position is the highest cabinet post, with the secretary fourth in line of presidential succession. A former deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, Blinken promised that US global leadership is back and that the State Department will be “at the center” of it.
Blinken inherited a highly demoralized and depleted State Department workforce. Neither of his two direct predecessors under Trump, Rex Tillerson of Pompeo, strongly resisted repeated attempts to suppress the agency. These were only thwarted by the intervention of Congress.
Blinken said he would promote and protect the foreign service, which had been sidelined during the Trump era, and that after four years of atrophy, the State Department will once again take a leading role in America’s relations with the world.