Mike Pompeo on his trip is expected to discuss increasing pressure on Iran.
Washington:
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Tuesday a seven-country tour of US allies, congratulating President-elect Joe Biden despite Donald Trump’s refusal to concede.
Pompeo said he will depart for Paris on Friday and then head to Istanbul and the former Soviet republic of Georgia before visiting Jerusalem and three key allies from the Persian Gulf: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The trip will discuss “Trump’s historic efforts to forge peace and cooperation throughout the Middle East,” Pompeo told reporters.
The journey will likely be uncomfortable, as Trump has denied that he lost last week’s election and his administration has refused to begin the transition to Biden, who will take office on January 20.
France, which like many European nations had strained relations with Trump, was quick to express its hope to work with Biden, who shares French priorities in the fight against climate change, cooperation against the Covid-19 pandemic and diplomacy with Iran.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, all friends of Trump, also congratulated Biden.
The Democrat has pledged to prioritize human rights and democracy, calling for a reassessment of the relationship with Saudi Arabia and support for the Turkish opposition.
Pompeo on his trip is expected to discuss increasing pressure on Iran in the remaining two months of the Trump administration, which in 2018 shot out of a multinational denuclearization deal with Tehran and imposed punitive unilateral sanctions.
Israel and the Gulf Arabs have seen growing relations as they share the Trump administration’s hostility toward Iran.
In September, both the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said they would recognize the Jewish state, and Trump had pressured Saudi Arabia to do the same. Sudan has also said it will normalize relations with Israel.
While Pompeo has been a frequent visitor to the Middle East, it will be his first solo trip to Paris; His only other trip was when he joined Trump for the 2018 ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Pompeo has mocked the late Democratic Secretary of State John Kerry for his frequent trips to Paris, telling a conservative group earlier this year that he was not interested in “fine dining” and “cocktails.”
Pompeo will also be the first secretary of state since Kerry to visit Georgia.
Like the United States, Georgia recently held elections that were contested, and the opposition said the vote was rigged and organized protests.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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