Briefing Skipper: North Korea, China, Iran, India, Yemen
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Monday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finished up her track of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Monday, and "She’ll have a series of high- level meetings focused ...
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department's daily presser so you don't have to. These are the highlights of Monday's briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finished up her track of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Monday, and "She'll have a series of high- level meetings focused on regional security as well tomorrow, including, I'd expect, substantial discussions of both North Korea and Iran," Crowley said. Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary James Steinberg will be in Washington Tuesday, attending a special NSC meeting on the North Korean ship sinking crisis at the White House. "We're going to make clear that there will be consequences," for North Korea, Crowley said, declining to say what consequences those might be. Yes, Clinton said she supports South Korea's drive to seek a "condemnation" from the UN, but State's not going further than that until consultations in Beijing and Seoul are completed. China will have to come out with its stance on the issue sooner or later and their stalling time is about up, Crowley hinted. "The Chinese said that they wanted to make sure that there was a careful, scientific, fact-driven analysis of the sinking of the ship, and we think that South Korea, supported by the international community, including the United States, have passed that test," he said. Steinberg also joined President Obama's bilateral meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday. Hariri met separately with Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman and Middle East Special Envoy George Mitchell. For a full readout of Hariri's first day in Washington, read this. So Iran actually did submit a letter about the "Turkey of a deal" it announced last week. U.S., France, and Russia all got copies Monday. "We are consulting with our partners and expect to respond to the IAEA very soon," Crowley said, who was quick to point out that even if the deal is good, it's not good enough to stave off sanctions. "Our concerns about Iran go beyond just issues regarding the Tehran research reactor," he said. Deputy Secretary Jack Lew left Mali for Nigeria Monday. While in Mali he met with President Amadou Toure and went to the closing ceremony of the Flintlock 10 military partners exercise. After meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, he'll go to Paris for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's ministerial-level conference. Undersecretary Bill Burns met with a wide range of senior Indian officials today, including his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Minister of State Shankarrao Chavan, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, all about the U.S.- India Strategic Dialogue from June 1 to 4. The U.S. is also sending a team to India to help investigate the crash of Air India Express flight 812. The U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen confirms that two U.S. citizens were kidnapped in Yemen."The kidnapping has been claimed by a tribal group and is not believed to be terrorism-related," Crowley said. The U.S. embassies in Kinston, Jamaica and Bangkok, Thailand, are operating on a limited basis due to the ongoing violence in both capitals.
In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Monday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finished up her track of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Monday, and "She’ll have a series of high- level meetings focused on regional security as well tomorrow, including, I’d expect, substantial discussions of both North Korea and Iran," Crowley said. Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary James Steinberg will be in Washington Tuesday, attending a special NSC meeting on the North Korean ship sinking crisis at the White House.
- "We’re going to make clear that there will be consequences," for North Korea, Crowley said, declining to say what consequences those might be. Yes, Clinton said she supports South Korea’s drive to seek a "condemnation" from the UN, but State’s not going further than that until consultations in Beijing and Seoul are completed.
- China will have to come out with its stance on the issue sooner or later and their stalling time is about up, Crowley hinted. "The Chinese said that they wanted to make sure that there was a careful, scientific, fact-driven analysis of the sinking of the ship, and we think that South Korea, supported by the international community, including the United States, have passed that test," he said.
- Steinberg also joined President Obama’s bilateral meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday. Hariri met separately with Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman and Middle East Special Envoy George Mitchell. For a full readout of Hariri’s first day in Washington, read this.
- So Iran actually did submit a letter about the "Turkey of a deal" it announced last week. U.S., France, and Russia all got copies Monday. "We are consulting with our partners and expect to respond to the IAEA very soon," Crowley said, who was quick to point out that even if the deal is good, it’s not good enough to stave off sanctions. "Our concerns about Iran go beyond just issues regarding the Tehran research reactor," he said.
- Deputy Secretary Jack Lew left Mali for Nigeria Monday. While in Mali he met with President Amadou Toure and went to the closing ceremony of the Flintlock 10 military partners exercise. After meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, he’ll go to Paris for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s ministerial-level conference.
- Undersecretary Bill Burns met with a wide range of senior Indian officials today, including his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Minister of State Shankarrao Chavan, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, all about the U.S.- India Strategic Dialogue from June 1 to 4. The U.S. is also sending a team to India to help investigate the crash of Air India Express flight 812.
- The U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen confirms that two U.S. citizens were kidnapped in Yemen."The kidnapping has been claimed by a tribal group and is not believed to be terrorism-related," Crowley said.
- The U.S. embassies in Kinston, Jamaica and Bangkok, Thailand, are operating on a limited basis due to the ongoing violence in both capitals.
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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