U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said on his first day in office that the “world looks” as President Joe Biden’s administration changes course from a “America first” approach. former President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a small welcome ceremony Wednesday, a day after it was ratified by the U.S. Senate, Blinken promised to rebuild U.S. foreign service standards and confidence, which saw harassment during Trump’s presidency.
“The world is looking at us hard right now. They want to see if we can heal our country, ”said Blinken.
“They want to see if we can lead with the power of our example and set a base price for diplomacy with our friends and partners to meet the great challenges of our time.”
Since joining, Blinken, the most confirmed Biden cabinet member to date, has made several calls to his peers in neighboring countries and relatives, including Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea.
At a press conference later on Wednesday, Blinken said the desire for the US to be back as a trusted alliance was “almost visible”.
“What I have already learned from these talks is a strong, strong desire for the United States to be back in the room. Back at the table. Working with them on many, many common challenges we face, ”he said.
Blinken, deputy secretary of state in the administration of former President Barack Obama, is known to have a more interventionist view than Biden, for which he has been a long-time advisor.
Houthi designation
Also Wednesday, Blinken unveiled several Trump administration policies that he said he intends to conduct a review, including the recent designation of Houthi Yemen rebels as a “foreign terrorist organization”.
Aid agencies and the United Nations have warned that the sanctions attached to that designation would hamper the delivery of aid to Yemeni civilians in Houthi-controlled areas and reduce the humanitarian crisis that was already hard in the war-torn country.
Blinken said the Houthis had committed “an act of aggression” in the takeover of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and have committed “human rights abuses and other crimes”.
But he added that the US-backed coalition fighting the rebels, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, “has also added to the extent of the The worst humanitarian crisis in the world today ”.
Biden had previously promised to “reassess” Washington’s relationship with Riyadh and end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Blinken also reaffirmed a commitment to building on treaty agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, which had been breached by the Trump administration, but said it would first review “any possible commitments. be made to secure these agreements ”.
Russia, China
On the US-Taliban pact reached under Trump, Blinken said the administration is working to “make sure we fully understand the promises the Taliban have made, as well as promises whatever we did ”.
He said Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad will remain the U.S. Special Representative for the Afghanistan Settlement.
Blinken said the U.S. would continue to oppose Russia on the treatment of a protester against Alexey Navalny and his supporters, as well as claiming he took part in the 2020 elections and reports of Russian voltages on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
He said the US would also continue to take a hard line on China, trying to strengthen “cooperative” aspects of the relationship, which he called “arguably the most important.” our most important relationship in the world “.
Iran deals
One of the strongest U.S. foreign policy issues facing the Biden administration is the relationship between the U.S. and Iran, which sank to new heights during the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy against the Iranian government.
Iran has said it would not return to the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal if the U.S. lifts sanctions from the Trump era. The former U.S. president in 2018 withdrew from the treaty unilaterally, which saw Iran agree to ban their nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Biden’s administration has said Tehran must make the first move by coming back to the agreement before any progress can be made.
Blinken on Wednesday gave little sign that there would be rapid progress in the ban.
“We’re a long way from that time.” Iran is out of compliance for a number of reasons, ”he said. “And it would take some time if he made that decision to do so until he returns to compliance and time for us then to assess whether he is fulfilling his responsibilities.”