Tag Archives: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

U.S. warns Iran against space launches, ballistic missiles

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference during the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States issued a pre-emptive warning to Iran on Thursday against pursuing three planned space rocket launches, which it said would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution related to its ballistic missile activity.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran had announced plans to launch in the coming months three rockets, called Space Launch Vehicles (SLV), which he said incorporate ballistic missile technology.

“The United States will not stand by and watch the Iranian regime’s destructive policies place international stability and security at risk,” Pompeo said in a statement.

“We advise the regime to reconsider these provocative launches and cease all activities related to ballistic missiles in order to avoid deeper economic and diplomatic isolation.”

Pompeo said such rocket launches would violate United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. It calls upon Iran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology. It stops short of explicitly barring such activity.

U.S. President Donald Trump decided in May to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Pompeo said Iran has launched ballistic missiles numerous times since the U.N. resolution was adopted. He said it test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads on Dec. 1.

“The United States has continuously cautioned that ballistic missile and SLV launches by the Iranian regime have a destabilizing effect on the region and beyond,” Pompeo said. “France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and many nations from around the world have also expressed deep concern.”

In July 2017, Iran launched a rocket it said could deliver a satellite into space, an act the U.S. State Department called provocative. Earlier that month, the United States slapped new economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program.

Iran says its space program is peaceful, but Western experts suspect it may be a cover for developing military missile technologies.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Mexico vows to meet migrant ‘challenge’ as caravan hits border

Honduran migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., storm a border checkpoint to cross into Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

By Daina Beth Solomon and Delphine Schrank

MEXICO CITY/CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexico’s government on Friday vowed to meet the challenge of a caravan of Central American migrants heading north that has angered U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to shut down the U.S-Mexico border to halt its passage.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met in Mexico City and discussed the caravan of several thousand people, which set off from Honduras last weekend, and is now at Mexico’s border with Guatemala.

“It’s a challenge that Mexico is facing, and that’s how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo,” Videgaray told a news conference alongside his U.S. counterpart.

On Friday afternoon, hundreds of the migrants poured through Guatemala’s frontier posts toward the closed Mexican border on a bridge spanning the Suchiate River that bisects the two countries, Mexican television footage showed.

Mexico’s government has sought assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help process migrants claiming refugee status at the border, which could allow it to disperse the train of people and placate Trump.

Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border. Pompeo thanked Mexico for its efforts to address the migrant flow, including calling in the United Nations for assistance.

Several thousand Honduran migrants seeking to escape violence and poverty moved through Guatemala on the way to Mexico, with some hoping to enter the United States.

Earlier on Friday, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.

“We haven’t had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, that’s why we’ve sought the support of the United Nations,” Videgaray told Mexican television.

A Honduran migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., yells as others wait to cross into Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

A Honduran migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., yells as others wait to cross into Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

POLICE ON BORDER

Dozens of police in riot gear were deployed along the river bank in the town of Ciudad Hidalgo on Mexico’s border with Guatemala as hundreds of migrants prepared to cross over from the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman on the other side.

Mexico says the migrants will be processed and that those without a legitimate case to travel onwards or stay in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin.

UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said the agency is reinforcing capacity in southern Mexico to offer counseling, legal assistance and humanitarian aid to asylum-seekers.

“UNHCR is concerned that the mobilization of such a large number of people in a single group will overwhelm the capacities that exist in the region,” he told a news conference.

A caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to deploy the military and close the southern U.S. border if Mexico did not halt the latest procession.

Such a move by Trump would cause chaos on the border, one of the world’s busiest, and badly disrupt trade.

However, by the end of Thursday, the U.S. president was also thanking Mexico for its efforts to contain the caravan.

In contrast to the earlier caravan, which moved deeper into the interior of Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government has focused on the new group right on its southern border with Guatemala.

(Reporting by Veronica Gomez, Julia Love and Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City; Additional reporting by Delphine Schrank in Ciudad Hidalgo and Tom Miles in Geneva and Edgard Garrido in Tecun Uman; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Alistair Bell)

Trump reluctant to abandon Riyadh over journalist disappearance, wants to see evidence

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan meets with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey November 17, 2018. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

By Leah Millis, Tulay Karadeniz and Steve Holland

ANKARA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not want to abandon close ally Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist and government critic, and he needed to see evidence to prove Turkish claims he was killed by Saudi agents.

Trump said he was waiting for a full report on what had happened to Jamal Khashoggi from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whom he has sent to Saudia Arabia and Turkey to meet with officials over the incident.

Turkish officials have said they believe Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a prominent critic of the authoritarian kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and his body removed. The Saudis have denied the allegations.

Turkish sources have told Reuters the authorities have an audio recording indicating Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. He has not been seen since entering the building.

Trump, who has forged closer ties with Saudi Arabia and the 33-year-old crown prince, said the United States has asked Turkey for any audio or video evidence it may have related to Khashoggi’s fate.

Asked in a Fox Business Network interview if Washington could abandon Riyadh, Trump said: “I do not want to do that.”

The U.S. leader reiterated his hopes that Saudi leaders were not involved in his disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident.

“We have asked for it, if it exists…I’m not sure yet that it exists, probably does, possibly does,” he later told reporters when asked about audio or video evidence.

U.S. media outlets have reported that Riyadh, despite its earlier denials of involvement, will acknowledge he was killed in a botched interrogation. Trump has speculated without providing evidence that “rogue killers” could be responsible.

Turkey’s pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper on Wednesday published what it said were details from audio recordings that purported to document Khashoggi’s torture and interrogation.

Khashoggi was killed within minutes and his torturers severed his fingers during the interrogation, the newspaper said. His killers later beheaded and dismembered him, it said.

The New York Times cited a senior Turkish official confirming the details published by Yeni Safak. Two Turkish government officials contacted by Reuters declined to confirm the report.

How the crown prince emerges from the crisis is a test of how the West will deal with Saudi Arabia in the future.

Trump has appeared unwilling to distance himself too much from the Saudis, citing Riyadh’s role in countering Iranian influence in the region – and tens of billions of dollars in potential arms deals.

Other Western nations, although expressing concern about the incident, face a similar delicate situation in their dealings with the world’s top oil exporter.

IMPORTANT TIES

Pompeo meanwhile said Riyadh should be given a few more days to complete its own probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance. He met Turkey’s president and foreign minister to discuss the matter, a day after Trump gave Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt.

“They’re going to do an investigation, and when the investigation comes out we’ll evaluate it,” Pompeo told reporters traveling with him.

A State Department spokeswoman said Pompeo had not heard any audio recording purporting to indicate Khashoggi was killed.

Pompeo also said the United States must be mindful of important business and government ties with Saudi Arabia as it considers any steps once the facts have been determined.

Saudi officials arrive to the residence of Saudi Arabia's Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi in Istanbul, Turkey October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Saudi officials arrive to the residence of Saudi Arabia’s Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi in Istanbul, Turkey October 17, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Khashoggi vanished during a visit to the consulate on Oct. 2 to collect marriage documents.

Turkish investigators entered the Saudi consul’s residence on Wednesday after delays. Their search included the roof and garage, and employed a drone to surveil the premises. The consul-general had left Turkey for Riyadh on Tuesday.

A pro-government Turkish daily published preliminary evidence last week from investigators who it said had identified a 15-member Saudi intelligence team that arrived in Istanbul on diplomatic passports hours before Khashoggi disappeared.

A New York Times report, citing witnesses and other records, linked four suspects to Prince Mohammed’s security detail.

One name matches a LinkedIn profile for a forensic expert who has worked at the interior ministry for 20 years. Another is identified in a diplomatic directory from 2007 as a first secretary at the Saudi Embassy in London. Others resemble officers in the Saudi Army and Air Force.

After his meetings with the king and crown prince on Tuesday, Pompeo said Saudi Arabia has committed to conducting a full investigation.

Asked whether they said Khashoggi was alive or dead, Pompeo said: “They didn’t talk about any of the facts.”

DESERTED CONFERENCE

Prince Mohammed has painted himself as the face of a new, vibrant Saudi Arabia, diversifying its economy away from reliance on oil and making some social changes.

But there has been criticism of some of his moves, including Riyadh’s involvement in the Yemen war, the arrest of women activists, and a diplomatic row with Canada.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plans to attend an investment conference in Riyadh next week, even as IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and top executives from Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and Glencore joined a growing list of executives who have pulled out.

Saudi Arabia, an ally in U.S. efforts to combat Iranian influence in the region, has said it would retaliate against any pressure or economic sanctions.

(Additional reporting by Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Ali Kucukgocmen and Daren Butler in Istanbul and Gulsen Solaker and Orhan Coskun in Ankara; Writing by Stephen Kalin and David Dolan; Editing by William Maclean and Angus MacSwan)