WASHINGTON, May 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is scheduled to pay an unannounced visit to Brussels, to discuss “pressing matters” including Iran, media reported, citing a U.S. State Department official.
According to media reports, Pompeo is expected to hold talks with officials from France, Britain and Germany — the three European signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which the United States withdrew in May last year.
Pompeo therefore would cancel his visit to Moscow, media reported, adding, Pompeo’s Tuesday meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi would not be impacted.
Their discussions would touch on arms control issues and “a full range of global challenges,” including the issues of Ukraine, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, a senior state department official said.
It would be the third time for Pompeo to abruptly change his scheduled visit because of the Iran issue recently.
Earlier last week, Pompeo made an unannounced trip to Iraq by cancelling his visit to Germany. He then scrapped his planned trip to Greenland, reportedly due to the escalation of tensions with Iran.
Over the recent weeks, Washington has ratcheted up pressure against Tehran with a series of sanctions, designations and military threats.
In response, Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, on May 8, announced Tehran’s withdrawal from complying with the restrictions posed by the Iran nuclear deal, on the country’s enriched uranium reserves and heavy water supplies.
Rouhani also set a 60-day deadline for the remaining parties to the deal, to fulfil their obligations, particularly in preserving Iran’s interests in the areas of banking and oil.– NNN-XINHUA
