Washington, May 13
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Brussels on Monday to discuss “pressing matters”, including Iran, a State Department official said on Sunday.
As a result, the top US diplomat is scrapping a stop expected on Monday in Moscow.
But he would still head to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the official added just before Pompeo left Washington.
An EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting is scheduled in Brussels on Monday, but the State Department did not offer specific details of Pompeo’s revised agenda.
It simply said talks would be held with officials from France, the UK and Germany--the three European signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Iran announced on May 8, one year after the US withdrew from the deal, that it was suspending some of its commitments under the agreement.
President Hassan Rouhani issued an ultimatum to the Europeans, threatening that Iran would go further if they failed to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance US President Donald Trump’s renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.
The European powers rejected that ultimatum.
The US has continued to build pressure on Iran, with Pompeo accusing Tehran of planning “imminent” attacks. AFP
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/30c1Imp
via Today’s News Headlines
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