MODERATOR: Rules, the usual. On background, attribution as a senior State Department official. [Senior State Department Official] will talk for a few minutes and then will take questions in an orderly fashion, please.
The United States welcomes the signing of the Riyadh Agreement between the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) yesterday in Riyadh. We are hopeful that with this agreement, all parties will work together to end the conflict and to achieve the peace and stability that Yemen’s people deserve.
Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Ambassador James Jeffrey will travel to Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, for meetings with senior Turkish officials and members of the Syrian opposition on November 8-9, 2019.
On November 5, the United States identified five members of the former Maduro regime and took action against them under the authority of Executive Order (E.O.) 13884. These individuals include members of the Venezuelan military, Bolivarian National Guard, intelligence service, and the illegitimate Constituent National Assembly and are associated with corruption, human rights abuses, acts of intimidation, and violence.
Washington – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified five current officials of the Government of Venezuela pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13884, which blocks the property and interests in property of the Government of Venezuela and those who have acted or purported to have acted on its behalf.
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met today with Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir. The Secretary thanked the Minister for Saudi Arabia’s continued partnership with the United States across many regional and bilateral issues.
The United States remains deeply troubled by multiple reports that the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has harassed, imprisoned, or arbitrarily detained family members of Uighur Muslim activists and survivors of Xinjiang internment camps who have made their stories public. In some cases, these abuses occurred shortly after meetings with senior State Department officials.
Forty years ago today, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 50 Americans hostage for 444 days. Today, we honor the victims of this brazen act.
Forty years ago today, heavily-armed followers of Ayatollah Khomeini broke the gates and scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. More than 50 U.S. diplomats were taken hostage by the Iranian regime for 444 days. For almost 15 months, these courageous and resilient Americans and their families did not know if they would live or die. Thankfully, they lived.
Today the United States began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Per the terms of the Agreement, the United States submitted formal notification of its withdrawal to the United Nations. The withdrawal will take effect one year from delivery of the notification.