Briefing Skipper: Iran, Honduras, India, Hyderabad
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of Friday’s press briefing by Deputy Department Spokesman Robert Wood. Following today’s meeting of the P5+1 countries on Iran, not a lot of good news to report. "Iran has not engaged in an intensified ...
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of Friday’s press briefing by Deputy Department Spokesman Robert Wood.
- Following today’s meeting of the P5+1 countries on Iran, not a lot of good news to report. "Iran has not engaged in an intensified dialogue and in particular has refused to have a new meeting, before the end of October, to discuss nuclear issue," Wood said, "Iran has not responded positively to the IAEA-proposed agreement for the provision of nuclear fuel for its Tehran research reactor." The P5+1 countries will meet again "soon" to discuss what to do next, Wood said.
- Wood said no decision had been made on when to move to the "pressure track" and what the sanctions might be, but he said the P5+1 countries have "been of one mind" on the issue and the "window is not going to be open forever." "We’re not at that point yet. But we will certainly let you know if and when we reach that point."
- The State Department welcomed the decision by Honduran de factor regime leader Roberto Micheletti to temporarily step down until the Honduran elections are over. "This will allow some breathing space for the process in Honduras to go forward. And so the announcement will also allow for the people of Honduras to focus on the elections."
- Wood wouldn’t say that the Obama administration will announce support for India’s permanent membership on the UN Security Council when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to Washington next week (which isn’t likely). "We’ll just have to see how that goes."
- No direct comment on the alleged killing of Afghan civilians in a raid on the village of Hyderabad. "We certainly recognize that it’s important to make sure that the civilian population is protected," said Wood, "But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure… that we counter this violent extremism as best we can, because that’s a major cancer in Afghan society."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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