Iran is convinced the US will pull out of the nuclear agreement. Israeli analysts do not disagree.  

By: Steve Leibowitz, World Israel News

Iranian officials are saying President Donald Trump’s dismissal of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and his replacement by Mike Pompeo is proof that Washington is planning to quit the nuclear deal between Tehran and the Six World Powers.

In comments carried by Iranian state media, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, “The United States is determined to leave the nuclear deal, and changes at the State Department were made with that goal in mind – or at least it was one of the reasons.”

Araqchi went on to warn, “If the US quits the nuclear deal, we will also quit it. We have told the Europeans that if they can’t keep the US in the deal, Iran will also leave it.”

Trump himself acknowledged that the reason behind Tillerson’s dismissal was his support for the 2015 nuclear deal. The president’s choice for replacement, Mike Pompeo, holds views on the nuclear deal that are much closer to those of Trump. Pompeo has spoken out against the agreement as a congressman as well as during his service as CIA chief.

In January, Trump extended a waiver on nuclear sanctions that were imposed on Iran but made clear that it was the last time he would do so. He also ordered European allies and Congress to work with him to fix “the disastrous flaws,” saying that otherwise, Washington will withdraw in May.

Former AIPAC-Israel Director Lenny Ben David told World Israel News (WIN), “Pompeo is in line with the president on Iran, and his policy will definitely be more aggressive. Pompeo is also on the same page on the issue with Israeli security officials. Tillerson was from the petroleum industry, with no ties or particular understanding of the issues. Most important is that he did not seem to understand the diplomatic tools that were available to him. For example, he did not take calls from ambassadors, including US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.”

Dr. Gerald Steinberg, an expert in US-Israel relations from Bar Ilan University, told WIN, “Pompeo has no illusions on Iran. He is not trigger happy, but he believes he can undo some of the damage done by the Iran deal.”

Both Ben David and Steinberg are upbeat about the Pompeo appointment. “Pompeo has a proven pro-Israel track record in congress, and the CIA. The bottom line is that he fully understands our defense requirements,” Ben-David said.

According to  Steinberg, “Pompeo has real military experience. He is a realist, and his posting could bring a positive change for the entire Middle East. He has shown deep understanding of complexities in the region, including security threats to Israel and the intricate details relating to stalled peace prospects.”

In 2015, when Pompeo was still a congressman, he stood out as an Iran hardliner. At the time, he said, “The accord would not stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and it places Israel at more risk. The theory that post-sanctions Iran will moderate is a joke – they want to annihilate Israel. Ceasing to call for the destruction of Israel should have been a condition of the Iran deal.”

Following his nomination, Pompeo said he looked forward to “rolling back this disastrous deal with the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”

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Trump has ousted Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, replacing him with the CIA’s Mike Pompeo.

By: AP

US President Donald Trump has ousted Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, tweeting in a surprise Tuesday morning the announcement that he will be replaced by CIA director Mike Pompeo.

A White House official said Trump wanted to have a new team in place ahead of upcoming talks with North Korea and various trade talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly.

There had been longstanding rumors throughout most of Tillerson’s tenure of friction between Trump and his secretary of state, a former Exxon Mobile Corp. CEO.

Pompeo is to be replaced at CIA by Gina Haspel, Pompeo’s deputy at the Agency, Trump tweeted. She would be the first woman in that role.

Tillerson had just returned from a shortened trip to Africa hours before Trump’s announcement. Trump offered no explanation for the change.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the US is willing to talk with North Korea, but that its leader, Kim Jong-un, must be open to negotiations.

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The US is boosting aid to Jordan by more than $1 billion, in spite of Trump’s threats to punish countries that don’t agree with US policies.

By: AP

Despite repeated threats to punish countries that do not agree with US policy in the Middle East, the Trump administration is set to boost aid to Jordan by more than $1 billion over the next five years.

President Donald Trump has vowed to cut aid to nations that oppose the US, yet rhetoric appears to have hit reality with Jordan, a critical American partner in the volatile Middle East that has opposed the administration’s Mideast approach.

Jordan, together with another 127 countries, voted in December to condemn the US for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and has criticized the US for withholding millions in funding for so-called Palestinian refugees, many of whom live in Jordan.

Nonetheless, US officials say the administration has decided to give Jordan $1.275 billion annually until 2022. That’s $275 million more per year than the current level.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi signed the aid agreement in Amman on Wednesday.

The announcement appears to represent a victory of sorts for Tillerson and US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, both of whom have been lobbying the administration to continue such assistance on national security grounds, while Trump and ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, have been pressing for aid cuts.

Tillerson’s visit to Jordan is part of a regional tour that also covers Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Kuwait, but not Israel.

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The US Secretary of State is in Europe rallying support to fix the nuclear deal with Iran.

By: AP

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is seeking British and French support for tough new penalties against Iran to prevent a US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Tillerson on Sunday began a nearly weeklong trip to Europe, and a US official said Iran was expected to dominate Tillerson’s talks in London and Paris, the first two stops.

Britain and France are parties to the 2015 Iran deal that President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from this spring unless fixes are made to his liking.

A US official said Tillerson’s intent is “to close the gaps” in the accord that gave Iran billions in sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear program, and to explore more ways to counter Iranian behavior in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Earlier this month, Trump pledged to stop waiving US sanctions unless the Europeans agreed to strengthen its terms by consenting to a side deal that would effectively eliminate provisions that allow Iran to gradually resume its advanced atomic work.

Trump also wants tighter restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran has rejected any renegotiation. Britain, France and the other European party to the accord, Germany, have expressed some willingness to work with the US to prevent the pact’s collapse by discussing measures that would supplement its conditions.

A US withdrawal probably would scrap the agreement, a chief foreign policy achievement for President Barack Obama, by reimposing a broad range of sanctions that isolate Iran from the international financial system.

Iran has said it will no longer be bound by the terms of the deal if that happens.

Tillerson, on his eighth trip to Europe since becoming secretary of state a year ago, planned to meet with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and national security adviser Mark Sedwill on Monday. From London, Tillerson will travel to Paris for talks on many of the same subjects with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

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Whatever Trump may have gotten wrong, his choice of Nikki Haley as ambassador to the UN was a masterstroke.

By: Jeff Jacoby

Among the low points of the Obama administration’s final weeks was its refusal to veto a blatantly anti-Israel resolution in the UN Security Council.

When Nikki Haley attended her first Security Council session a few weeks later as the new ambassador under President Trump, she promptly reversed course. “I am here to emphasize,” she told reporters, “that the United States is determined to stand up to the UN’s anti-Israel bias.”

Haley lived up to that promise last Tuesday, when she vetoed a resolution demanding that the Trump administration rescind its decision recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. She followed up her veto with formal remarks calling the resolution “an embarrassment” to the UN and scolding those who “presume to tell America where to put our embassy.” On Twitter the next day, Haley laid down a marker ahead of the Thursday vote in the General Assembly.

“When we make a decision . . . abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us,” she tweeted. “On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”

Reckless and counterproductive? Hardly. Haley’s performance at the UN has been a joy to behold. The former South Carolina governor, who came to the job with no foreign policy experience, has turned out to be a natural — behind the scenes no less than in the spotlight.

This fall, Haley succeeded in winning unanimous Security Council approval for economic sanctions on North Korea in response to its continuing nuclear belligerence. Displaying a knack for political deal-making, she initially proposed a package of sanctions so severe that Russia and China would doubtless have vetoed them had they been put to a vote. Then she negotiated a compromise — dropping demands for a total oil embargo, but digging in on other restrictions. “That made it possible for both China and Russia to join the consensus,” reported The Nation, a journal far from friendly to the Trump administration. “Haley got a unanimous 15-0 ‘yes’ vote against North Korea, an outcome that sent a message of unity” to Pyongyang.

Refreshing, unabashed, principled and savvy

Nearly a year into the job, America’s ambassador to the UN comes across as refreshing, unabashed, principled, and savvy. She is one of the most popular officials in a historically unpopular administration. “The breakout star of Trump’s Cabinet,” CNN calls her.

This would be impressive under any circumstance. It’s especially so in the Trump presidency, which has been very rough on the reputations and careers of numerous high-level officials. It’s even more remarkable given Haley’s own history with Trump. She publicly opposed his presidential bid, urged Republicans not to “follow the siren call of the angriest voices,” and endorsed Marco Rubio in the South Carolina primary. After Trump won that primary, he lashed out on Twitter: “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!” (Her response: “Bless your heart.”)

Trump holds grudges, yet he made Haley a prominent diplomatic face of his administration. Trump hates to share the spotlight, but hasn’t impeded Haley’s celebrity. And while the president has publicly rebuked or undercut other Cabinet members, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he hasn’t done so to Haley — not even when she has expressed views and taken stands that are quite different from his.

Which she has. Haley has loudly slammed Russia’s continuing aggression in Ukraine, vowing that sanctions would never be lifted until Crimea is restored to Ukrainian control. Despite Trump’s open embrace of Vladimir Putin, Haley warns bluntly: “We cannot trust Russia. We should never trust Russia.”

Haley vigorously castigates dictatorships for their human rights abuses, something that neither Trump nor Tillerson considers a priority. “For me,” Haley stresses, “human rights are at the heart of the mission of the United Nations.”

On most issues, of course, Haley supports the president, as all ambassadors do. “I don’t go rogue on the president,” she has said. But she has figured out how to distance herself from Trump even when defending him. During the furor over banning travelers from several Muslim nations, Haley publicly justified it as a security measure. But she immediately and more memorably added that it would be “un-American” to “ever ban anyone based on their religion.”

Haley outshines Tillerson

Haley plainly outshines Rex Tillerson, a hapless if well-meaning secretary of state who lacks the political skills that Haley acquired during her meteoric rise from total unknown — she was the bookkeeper for her mother’s clothing business — to governor of South Carolina. Haley has quickly acquired the foreign-policy fluency in which she was totally deficient a year ago. It seems almost inevitable that Trump will ask her at some point to replace Tillerson at the State Department.

Critics treated Haley’s warning that the United States would be “taking names” on the UN’s Jerusalem resolution as an appalling diplomatic gaffe. It wasn’t. The best UN ambassadors have always known that the job calls for the vigorous defense of moral truth. Like Adlai Stevenson, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Jeane Kirkpatrick, Haley is effective in the UN while bluntly decrying the lies and prejudices that sully it. Her first year on the job has been brilliant. Whatever Trump may have gotten wrong, his choice of Nikki Haley was a masterstroke.

This article originally appeared in The Boston Globe. Jeff Jacoby can be reached at jacoby@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeff_jacoby

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US embassy’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is “probably no earlier than three years out,” said the Secretary of State.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that the move of the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv is “not going to be anything that happens right away … it’s probably no earlier than three years out.”

During remarks given on Tuesday at the State Department, Tillerson was asked about the challenges he foresees as a result of the move of the US diplomatic mission from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Tillerson stressed that the move is “not going to be anything that happens right away.”

“The President has been very clear in his direction to me and to the State Department that with this decision, and by the law – by the law of the 1995 law…we will begin taking the actions necessary to move the embassy,” Tillerson stated.

However, “we’ve got to secure a site that’s suitable. We’ve got to develop building plans that gives us the footprint that we believe we need to carry out the full complements of a mission in Israel, in Jerusalem. And then we have to build the building, and then we make the move,” he explained.

Therefore, “there’s nothing going to happen in the next couple of years because it’ll take us that time to get to a stage that we can begin to actually implement the building itself. So it’s probably no earlier than three years out, and that’s pretty ambitious as it is, but the President has said move ahead,” Tillerson said.

The US has reportedly already begun to seek out potential sites for the embassy in Jerusalem, and has already contacted architects for work on the plans for the building.

Congressman Ron DeSantis visited Israel in March and checked out potential sites in Jerusalem for the US embassy, which he believes will be moved from Tel Aviv under the Trump administration.

Another option suggested was that the ambassador would relocate his office to the already existing US consulate in Jerusalem, a move that can be made immediately.

Beyond these technical issues, Tillerson does not “expect that there won’t be any issues other than our ability to just execute on as swift a schedule as we can.”

Tillerson, together with Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, reportedly argued against the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or the moving of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the absence of a peace deal.

According to the report, when President Donald Trump made clear his determination to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, they argued for him to sign a waiver delaying the embassy move by another six months, which he did. However, Trump did announce the US has commenced with preparations to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

While Trump’s statement on Jerusalem was infused with history, religion and sentiment, Tillerson’s comment on the issue was very matter-of-fact.

Tillerson stated after Trump’s announcement that the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “aligns US presence with the reality that Jerusalem is home to Israel’s legislature, Supreme Court, President’s office, and Prime Minister‘s office.” He underscored the US commitment to a diplomatic process in the Middle East, saying Washington “firmly believes there is an opportunity for a lasting peace.”

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The heads of the State Department, defense and CIA all opposed Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo all argued against US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital or the moving of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in the absence of a peace deal, CNN reported Wednesday.

According to the report, when President Donald Trump made clear his determination to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, they argued for him to sign a waiver delaying the embassy move by another six months, which he did. However, Trump did announce the US has commenced with preparations to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Trump’s Mideast peace envoys, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and White House senior policy adviser Jared Kushner, reportedly supported the move, but advised him to delay relocating the embassy .

During his historic announcement at the White House on Wednesday, the president said the US was “finally acknowledge[ing] the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It’s something that has to be done.”

While Trump’s statement was infused with history, religion and sentiment, Tillerson’s comment on the issue was very matter-of-fact.

Tillerson stated after Trump’s announcement that the decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital “aligns US presence with the reality that Jerusalem is home to Israel’s legislature, Supreme Court, President’s office, and Prime Minister‘s office.” He underscored the US commitment to a diplomatic process in the Middle East, saying Washington “firmly believes there is an opportunity for a lasting peace.”

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Donald Trump is reportedly considering replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with someone more in line with the president’s policies on Iran, Qatar and North Korea.

The post WATCH: Would a new secretary of state be tougher on Iran and North Korea? appeared first on World Israel News.

President Donald Trump’s frank discussions about the global effects of Iranian terror sponsorship is leading to a “watershed moment” for US-Iran relations, according to Professor Kiron Skinner.

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The United States is poised to extend sanctions relief to Iran, avoiding imminent action that could implode the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, even as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday accused Tehran of not respecting the entire agreement.

The administration’s next move in its months-long review of its Iran policy was expected later Thursday, when President Donald Trump faced a deadline to decide on extending waivers that allow Iran to conduct much of its international commerce.

The waivers were first issued by the Obama administration and are America’s part of the deal’s central bargain. In exchange for Tehran rolling back its nuclear program, the U.S. and other world powers agreed to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade and financial penalties that had choked the Iranian economy.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, but has yet to pull out of it. The White House is seeking ways to find that Tehran is not complying with the agreement.

“The Trump administration is continuing to review and develop its policy on Iran,” Tillerson said at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London.

Trump has made clear that “we must take into account the totality of Iranian threats, not just its nuclear capabilities,” the top U.S. diplomat said, citing obligations to uphold regional and international security.

“Iran is clearly in defiance of these obligations,” Tillerson said, pointing to its support of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, cyber activity and testing of ballistic missiles.

Iran rejects that it has broken the agreement. And it can point to a U.N. report this week showing that Iran was meeting the conditions on its nuclear program set out in the accord. The July 2015 deal was reached by Iran, the U.S., Britain, France, China, Germany and Russia.

Trump faces a couple of deadlines.

Under U.S. law, the president must certify to Congress every 90 days whether Iran is adhering to the agreement. If the president doesn’t certify compliance, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to re-impose sanctions lifted under the agreement.

The next certification deadline is Oct. 15.

But first Trump must decide to extend sanctions relief to Iran under a separate clock.

Administration officials say Trump was ready to do so and that no serious alternatives have been presented — with the caveat that Trump could still change his mind.

The bigger question they and people outside government are pointing to is the one in a month’s time. Several officials and people close to the matter have described Trump as determined to “decertify” Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal at that point — a finding that would jeopardize the entire agreement.

The officials weren’t authorized to discuss such internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tillerson said talks continue with the president and his senior advisers, but “no decision has been made.”

Trump, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said he is inclined not to certify Iranian compliance after having twice found it compliant at earlier deadlines.

Iran deal opponents inside and outside the administration argue that Tehran’s full compliance is unproven, particularly on allowing nuclear inspections at military sites. They argue that at the very least Iran is violating the spirit of the agreement with its ballistic missile tests. Those, however, aren’t specifically covered in the nuclear agreement.

Whatever step taken by the Trump administration on Thursday, it will set the stage for talks on the agreement’s future with European allies and others during next week’s U.N. General Assembly.

Standing beside Tillerson, Britain’s Johnson compared the tensions over North Korea’s nuclear advance with the relative certitude that the Iran deal has provided.

Johnson said there are two sides to the deal: The Islamic Republic behaving itself, and the U.S. and the others ensuring Iran enjoys economic benefits.

Iran, with its young population, “could be won over to a new way of thinking,” Johnson said, adding that he has pushed that argument with Tillerson and other Americans.

By: AP/Bradley Klapper contributed to this report

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The US is reportedly considering a more hawkish approach to the Islamic Republic in response to Iranian belligerence over the past year.

The Trump administration is considering a more aggressive response to Iranian-backed forces operating in Iraq and Syria, according to a report in Reuters that referenced six anonymous current and former US officials.

The proposal, which is primarily geared towards pressuring Iran to cease its ballistic missile programs and support for Shiite militias in the region, was said to have been discussed and presented to US President Donald Trump at a meeting of the National Security Council last Friday. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster were all present at the meeting.

The Trump administration also reportedly intends to coordinate such responses with US allies.

“Whatever we end up with, we want to implement with allies to the greatest extent possible,” an official was quoted as telling Reuters.

Any cyber espionage and nuclear proliferation will also be monitored, the official added. The plan would also allow for more aggressive interceptions of Iranian arm shipments to terrorist groups in the Middle East such as Hamas.

Reuters said that according to four of the six officials, the national security council still views defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the main priority. As a result, the plan does not yet recommend an escalation of US military responses to the Iranian backed Shiite militias operating in Syria and Iraq out of concern that it could detract from efforts to defeat ISIS.

The reportedly new approach by the US in reining in increased Iranian aggression follows a number of tense encounters between US and Iranian vessels this year.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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The Trump administration supports allowing Israel to keep an additional $75 million in aid, in contradiction to earlier reports to the contrary.

In September 2016, Israel signed a memorandum of understanding, according to which the US, under the Obama administration, pledged $38 billion in military aid over the next 10 years (2019-2028) and Israel promised to no longer seek additional funds from Congress.

Notwithstanding the terms of the MOU, Congress allocated to Israel an additional $75 million.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the State Department, led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, wants to force Israel to return the $75 million in aid.

Previous articles by the Beacon have described the situation as “open war” between the State Department and the Trump administration “on a range of key issues, including the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Iran portfolio, and other matters.”

Reports that followed the Beacon story, however, say the opposite is true. The Jerusalem Post, for instance, says it has learned that “the Trump administration will support Congress’s effort to provide Israel with more aid than was guaranteed in a formal defense package.”

A senior State Department official, according to the Post, said the Beacon report was incorrect, explaining that “the administration is committed to ensuring that Israel receives the assistance that has been appropriated by Congress” as well as doing its best to make certain that the $75 million in additional aid is delivered.

“Israel is a valued ally. The Administration is committed to ensuring that Israel receives the assistance that has been appropriated by Congress,” an official told Arutz-7, adding that the Beacon report was erroneous.

By: World Israel News Staff

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Relying on an Obama-era agreement capping Israeli aid, the US Department of State is reportedly ready to demand that Israel return tens of millions of dollars.

Among former US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy goals was limiting the amount of aid the US provided to Israel, a goal that he accomplished via a heavily controversial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Jewish state that barred Israel from requesting additional financial aid from Congress. While Congressmen such as Lindsey Graham fought to stop the MOU when it was first advanced, Obama eventually succeeded in pushing it through.

Notwithstanding the terms of the MOU, Congress last year defied Obama’s efforts and allocated to Israel an additional $75 million. It appears now that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and a cadre of career State Department employees are aggressively pursuing a plan to force Israel to return $75 million in aid, according to a recent report by the Washington Free Beacon.

Among the opponents of this effort are key members of Congress, who question the constitutionality of Obama’s MOU, which they contend encroaches on Congress’ constitutional right to apportion US aid dollars to allies. According to the Washington Free Beacon, quoting a senior Congressional aide, Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) “strongly warned the State Department” last week “that such action would be unwise and invite unwanted conflict with Israel.”

With the State Department brandishing Obama’s MOU on one side and Congress defending constitutional separation of powers on the other, a clash seems imminent between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Insiders who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon explained, “The State Department-led effort is an attempt to undermine Congress and derail the White House’s strong working relationship with Israel.”

Previous reports by the Washington Free Beacon also described the situation as “open war” between the State Department and the Trump administration, “on a range of key issues, including the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Iran portfolio, and other matters.”

By: World Israel News

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US Secretary of State laments that some 80 percent of the world’s population lives “with persecution or limits on their ability to worship.”

By: AP

The Trump administration denounced the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group on Tuesday for carrying out “genocide” against Christians and other religious minorities in areas under its control in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the group is “clearly responsible for genocide” against Christians and Yazidis in Iraq and Shiite Muslims in Syria. His comments were made as the State Department released its annual report on international religious freedom.

Tillerson said he was making the pronouncement to “remove any ambiguity” about previous genocide assertions made by his predecessor, John Kerry, who in March 2016, determined that genocide was occurring in ISIS-held areas but was criticized by lawmakers and religious groups for not declaring genocide was taking place earlier.

The administration’s genocide determination does not carry with it any legal obligation for the US or others.

“ISIS has and continues to target members of multiple religions and ethnicities for rape, kidnapping, enslavement and death,” Tillerson told reporters in presenting the report.

“ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims in areas it controlled. ISIS is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups, and in some cases against Sunni Muslims, Kurds and other minorities,” Tillerson said. “The protection of these groups — and others who are targets of violent extremism — remains a human-rights priority for the Trump administration.”

Preserving Millennia-Old  Communities

Michael Kozak, the acting Assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor, said the administration is concentrating on trying to alleviate repressive conditions to reduce the need for people to flee their homes. He noted that many who have fled would prefer to return to their homes than move abroad. And, he noted that in Iraq and Syria specifically, it was preferable not to disturb millennia-old religious minorities.

“We don’t want to uproot communities that have been there for thousands of years and take them elsewhere,” he said.

In addition to the Islamic State, Tillerson and the report called out Bahrain, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey for persecuting, stigmatizing or otherwise restricting the rights of religious minorities.

“Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent,” Tillerson said, noting that some 80 percent of the world’s population live “with persecution or limits on their ability to worship.”

“We cannot ignore these conditions,” he said.

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Trump declared the U.S. nuclear arsenal “far stronger and more powerful than ever before,” even as his top diplomat was working to calm the North Korea crisis and insisting there wasn’t “any imminent threat.”

In a series of early-morning tweets Wednesday, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his threat from a day earlier by reposting a video of him warning that Pyongyang would be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it made more threats to the U.S. Then he said that his first order as president had been to “renovate and modernize” the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

“Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!” Trump tweeted.

It wasn’t immediately clear what evidence the president had, if any, to support his claim about the nuclear force. The White House wouldn’t say, other than to point to an executive order Trump signed in his first days in office commissioning a review to ensure the U.S. nuclear deterrent is “modern, robust, flexible, resilient, ready” and tailored for 21st century threats.

The White House has not detailed any findings from that evaluation. A modernization effort started by former President Barack Obama is in the early stages, but the force is essentially unchanged from the way Trump inherited it on Jan. 20.

Stephen Schwartz, an independent analyst of nuclear weapons issues, called the boast “patently absurd.” He wrote on Twitter that “literally nothing has happened in the last 201 days to increase the overall power of the US nuclear arsenal.”

Tillerson: Americans Should Have ‘No Concerns’

Only hours before Trump’s tweets, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged calm and said Americans should have “no concerns” despite the exchange of threats between the president and North Korea. Aboard his plane as he flew home from Asia, Tillerson insisted the developments didn’t suggest the U.S. was moving closer to a military option for dealing with the crisis.

“Americans should sleep well at night,” Tillerson said. He added: “Nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.”

The mixed messages from Tillerson and Trump put the onus on the North Koreans to decide how to interpret the latest missives from the U.S.

In more tranquil terms than Trump, Tillerson sought to explain the thinking behind Trump’s warning. He said the president was trying to send a strong and clear message to North Korea’s leader so that there wouldn’t be “any miscalculation.”

“What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un would understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language,” Tillerson said. “I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime on the U.S.’s unquestionable ability to defend itself.” He said the U.S. “will defend itself and its allies.”

North Korea Feeling the Pressure?

The comments put Tillerson once again in the role of translating the president’s aggressive rhetoric into more diplomatic terms, and of working to minimize the chances of public panic. In fact, Tillerson argued that North Korea’s escalating threats indicated it was feeling the pressure from a successful U.S. strategy.

Tillerson spoke to reporters as he returned from Malaysia to Washington, stopping along the way in Guam. Hours earlier, North Korea’s army had said in a statement it was exploring plans for attacking the tiny U.S. territory, which houses U.S. military bases and is a common refueling stop for U.S. government aircraft traversing the Pacific Ocean.

Tillerson said he never considered re-routing his trip from Malaysia so as to avoid stopping in Guam. Though he insisted there was no imminent threat, he noted that even if there were, “the North Korean missile capability can point in many directions, so Guam is not the only place that would be under threat.”

Though it’s extremely unlikely the North would risk annihilation by pre-emptively attacking American citizens, the escalating rhetoric has heightened concern that a miscalculation could spiral out of control and lead to military conflict — a concern especially acute in Guam, residents of the territory said.

Trump Has ‘Basically Drawn a Red Line’

At least one prominent lawmaker felt Trump wasn’t bluffing with his threat. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican on the Armed Services Committee, told CBS’ “This Morning” that Trump had “basically drawn a red line” by saying Pyongyang can’t ever have a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the U.S.

“He’s not going to let that happen,” Graham said. “He’s not going to contain the threat. He’s going to stop the threat.”

Tillerson, who spent the past days in Asia working on the North Korea conflict, said he didn’t believe a new diplomatic strategy was needed. To the contrary, he said the latest threat from the North suggested the current strategy was working. After months of frustration over China’s reluctance to pressure Pyongyang economically, the U.S. on Saturday secured a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to authorize sweeping new sanctions that target one-third of the North’s exports.

“The pressure is starting to show,” Tillerson said. “I think that’s why the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang is beginning to become louder and more threatening. Whether we’ve got them backed into a corner or not is difficult to say, but diplomatically, you never like to have someone in a corner without a way for them to get out.”

To that end, Tillerson said there was still an off-ramp available to Pyongyang: a return to negotiations with the U.S., a step that Tillerson has previously said can happen only if Kim Jong Un’s government gives up its nuclear aspirations, starting with an extended pause in missile tests.

“Talks,” Tillerson said when asked if North Korea had a way out. “Talks, with the right expectation of what those talks will be about.”

By: AP

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