(AGENPARL) - Roma, 17 Luglio 2023 - (AGENPARL) – lun 17 luglio 2023 Department Press Briefing Index
Monday, July 17, 2023
2:24 p.m. EDT
Briefer: Spokesperson Matthew Miller
~DEPARTMENT~
~NORTH KOREA / CHINA / RUSSIA~
~SOUTH KOREA~
~PAKISTAN~
~ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES~
~IRAN~
~TÜRKIYE~
~IRAN~
~KOSOVO / SERBIA~
~CHINA~
~AFGHANISTAN~
~UKRAINE / RUSSIA~
~TÜRKIYE / RUSSIA~
~BANGLADESH~
~CHINA~
~THAILAND~
~LEBANON~
7/17/2023
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DEPARTMENT PRESS BRIEFING
DPB # 74
MONDAY, JULY 17, 2023
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Briefer: Matthew Miller, Spokesperson
2:24 p.m. EDT
MR MILLER: I don’t know about the main act. I will do my best. Matt, want to start? Anything
further, or I free to go?
QUESTION: Well, I’m just curious, because when the Secretary said by the end of the summer
you won’t have confirmed ambassadors in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, or Lebanon. But I don’t think,
unless I’m wrong – and please correct me if I’m wrong – that there has been anyone even
nominated to replace Tom Nides.
MR MILLER: The point he was making is that we have -QUESTION: Oh, I get the point.
MR MILLER: We had no -QUESTION: I mean, you can’t complain if you don’t have -MR MILLER: We – if – if we had a nominee today -QUESTION: Maybe. But you don’t -MR MILLER: — that nominee would still face the same blanket hold after that nominee went
through the Senate, the regular process.
QUESTION: But – fine. But has -MR MILLER: Still saying the blanket hold -QUESTION: Has the – has the administration – has the White House nominated anyone?
MR MILLER: We have not yet nominated, but if you look at the number of -QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
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MR MILLER: Let me finish. If you look at the – if you look at the situation as it exists currently,
all the nominees that start today are still backlogged based on what’s happening in the floor.
There’s a – there is a huge backlog.
QUESTION: Okay. Okay. I’m not debating that point. I’m just wondering if – are there – have
there been people nominated for those four – for those four posts?
MR MILLER: We have – I don’t have the full -QUESTION: I think at least one of them has been.
MR MILLER: Yeah, I think -QUESTION: But – but certainly no one for Israel.
MR MILLER: That’s right. Well, the ambassador for Israel just stepped down in the last two
weeks, so the point -QUESTION: Yeah. Well, yeah. But you’re complaining about something that’s going to happen
later this summer but you don’t even have anyone in the pipeline.
MR MILLER: I would be more than happy to withdraw the complaint if the Senate decides to
start moving on our ambassadees expeditious – our ambassadors expeditiously and we can
count on the ambassador to nominate -QUESTION: Okay.
MR MILLER: — nominee to Israel to be moved through unanimous consent, as these typically
have been.
QUESTION: All right, I was just hoping you were going to make some news about who would be
– who would be nominated.
MR MILLER: I don’t think I – I don’t – I don’t think I should -QUESTION: Or as the new deputy – or as the new deputy secretary.
MR MILLER: I don’t think I should do that.
QUESTION: Did Ambassador Nides leave? Is he already – I’m sorry, but just to clarify on
Ambassador Nides, did he already leave his post?
MR MILLER: I believe he’s – I believe he’s finished his tenure, yes.
Go ahead.
7/17/2023
QUESTION: Thank you. I just wanted to follow up because we received a statement from
Senator Paul, Rand Paul, in response to Blinken’s letter and comments. And he’s placing the
blame with Chairman Menendez, saying if – saying the committee will only return to expedited
procedure when Chairman Menendez signs COVID-19 document requests. Is that something
that the State Department would encourage Menendez to do? Is that something that you –
Blinken or officials have spoken to senators? Can you just speak to that?
MR MILLER: So I won’t get into what is an internal Senate issue. I will say with – from our
perspective, we have already provided documents to Senator Paul that are responsive to his
requests. We have made clear that we see this as an ongoing process. We will continue to
provide documents that are responsive to his requests. But he is asking us for documents that
are not State Department documents and documents that we cannot provide because they’re
not in our possession but yet continues to use that as an excuse to hold up State Department
nominees, as the Secretary pointed out – pointed out, who have never been held to this
standard before. The vast majority of career ambassadors have been confirmed through
unanimous consent.
So we are happy to continue to engage in a legitimate process with Senator Paul. I will let
Senator Menendez speak to internal Senate issues, but he shouldn’t be holding our nominees
hostage, because all that does is hurt our national security.
Go ahead, Janne.
QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. The UN Security Council failed to announce last week a
statement condemning the North Korea’s ballistic missile launch violations due to opposition
from China and Russia. As long as China and Russia protect North Korea in the UN Security
Council, North Korea will not stop its provocations. What solution does the United States have
to convince China and Russia?
MR MILLER: Well, I will just say, as you pointed out, you’re right; all of the members of the UN
Security Council except Russia and China voted to condemn the DPRK’s continued violation of
UN Security Council resolutions, expressing concern about continued launches, and calling for
progress for dialogue. We hope the UN Security Council will continue to come together to
address the DPRK’s actions.
And I will say that this is an issue that the Secretary raised in his meetings when we were in
China. It’s an issue we continue to raise with China, and we would hope that China and Russia
would urge the DPRK to come to the table.
QUESTION: Second question. South Korean President Yoon made a surprise visit to Ukraine
and met with President Zelenskyy, and President Yoon promised to help Ukraine with military
supplies and reconstruction. How can the U.S. evaluate this?
MR MILLER: We welcomed the visit and we welcomed the president’s expression of support.
We always think it’s important when other foreign leaders can make the trip to Ukraine to
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speak firsthand with President Zelenskyy and other members of the Ukrainian Government to
see the destruction that has been inflicted on that country by Russia, and we encourage every
country in the world to join us in supporting Ukraine.
QUESTION: China?
MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. My first question is about Pakistan just had its Corps
Commanders’ Conference held today in which they urged Afghanistan to take care of the
terrorist sanctuaries there which are coming and doing activities in Pakistan. And this – in one
week this is the second time that Pakistan military has openly told Afghanistan to take some
action, otherwise they are going to take some action against them. Your comments about that?
MR MILLER: So I don’t have any comment specifically on that, but I will say we have made very
clear that we believe the Taliban has the responsibility to prevent the – Afghanistan from being
used as a safe haven for launching terrorist attacks.
QUESTION: Okay. And my second question is about President Modi and the UAE president had
a meeting a few days ago, and they decided to do their trade of over $8 billion and change it
into their local currencies. We have seen a big twist in the dollarization value decrease over
there. Is the U.S. paying any attention to that or doing any steps on that?
MR MILLER: We are, but I don’t have any comment on it.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR MILLER: Said.
QUESTION: Thank you. A couple questions on the Palestinian-Israel issue. Peace Now reports
that since the beginning of January, the Israelis have approved something like 13,000 new
housing settlement units and so on. I mean, I sound like a broken record, but what could this
administration do to sort of deter the Israelis instead of rewarding them? I mean, we see that
the president of Israel is coming, maybe the prime minister of Israel is coming, so -MR MILLER: I will say, as I have said before, that we have been absolutely clear on this issue.
The United States opposes such unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult
to achieve and are an obstacle to peace. That includes settlement activity. We have made this
clear publicly – made it clear in conversation with you a number of times – and we make it clear
in our conversations with Israeli Government officials.
QUESTION: Another question on a journalist, a Palestinian journalist that has been arrested by
the Palestinian Authority for conducting his job. I know that the PA – you’re the benefactor of
the PA in many ways, so do you have any comment on the brutality of the Palestinian Authority
in terms of dealing with Palestinian journalists?
7/17/2023
MR MILLER: I don’t have any comment on this specific case. I would say that broadly speaking,
the United States supports press freedom and the protection of all journalists in carrying out
their work.
QUESTION: Yeah. Are you aware of the arrest of Akil Awawdeh?
MR MILLER: Seen the reports.
QUESTION: A follow-up on Israel?
MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Yes. Since the president’s visiting tomorrow and it’s been announced today that
Prime Minister Netanyahu has been invited to come to the U.S. to meet with President Biden,
you’ve expressed these concerns over and over, often in response to Said questions, but in
response to many different actions that the Israeli Government has taken, you’re expressing
concerns about the policies of this government, but we now see an invitation being extended.
We’ve got the president coming. I guess what’s your response to the – I think a lot of people
would see that and say you’re not following up these concerns with any sort of tangible action.
MR MILLER: I would say I think that the characterization oversimplifies our relationship with
this government. As is true for a number of our allies, there are things with which we agree
with Israel, things with which we disagree. We make clear in all of our engagements with Israel
that our commitment to their security is ironclad. At the same time, we make – we raise
concerns that we have with them.
We also have priorities that we’re working on with respect to the Government of Israel. As you
know, Secretary Blinken traveled to Saudi Arabia recently, where he pressed for normalization
with Saudi Arabia. We’ve launched an extensive effort to deepen and broaden normalization
with other countries in the region.
So yes, we do have concerns with certain actions the Government of Israel takes, but we have
other issues on which we have shared priorities and we work together. So our relationship with
them is one where we have some things we agree on and work together, and other places
where we have concerns and we press them privately and publicly.
QUESTION: But one of those issues that you are in touch with them on is the Israelis getting
access to the Visa Waiver Program. There’s been some reporting out of Israel; Israeli officials
seem to be sort of suggesting that they’re going to be able to move forward on that, that there
might be a pilot program to see whether Palestinian Americans can travel in the same way as
other Americans in Israel. Could – is there any update you can give us on Israel’s chances of
getting into that program soon?
MR MILLER: I am not going to comment on those reports or prognosticate on their chances
other than to say that we continue to be in discussions with Israel about this matter. We
continue to work with them toward fulfilling the Visa Waiver Program requirements, including
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extending reciprocal privileges to all U.S. citizens and nationals, including Palestinian
Americans, to travel to and through Israel. It’s an important issue. It’s one we’ve been engaged
with them on for some time, but I don’t have an update on the status.
QUESTION: Moving to China?
MR MILLER: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you, Matt. Last week, Iraq has signed a deal with Tehran that exchanged gas
for oil, and that – this has likely violated your sanctions on Iran. Any reactions to that?
MR MILLER: I don’t. We continue to monitor that issue.
QUESTION: Okay, and one last question. This week, the Iraqi prime minister visited Syria and
met with Bashar al-Assad, and also they discussed about different issues in the region. As the
Syrian Bashar al-Assad coming back to the regional arena, do you have a clear policy towards
the Kurdish issue in Syria? How do you want to resolve the Kurdish issue in Syria at this stage?
MR MILLER: Let me take that one back.
QUESTION: China?
MR MILLER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled that we might have
to wait till October to seeing the Turkish parliament ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Based on your recent conversations that you have with the Turkish Government, are you
optimistic that this might move forward faster and get it done earlier, before October?
MR MILLER: I won’t speak to timelines. I will say that we were – we are optimistic that
Sweden’s accession into NATO will be approved. We appreciate Prime Minister Erdogan’s work
on this matter – president, excuse me; I knew as it came out of my mouth that it was wrong.
We appreciate President Erdogan’s work on this matter, but I don’t have any timeline other
than to say that we hope it’s approved as soon as possible.
Go ahead, Guita.
QUESTION: Thanks. Do you have any updates on the work of the Office of the Special Envoy
for Iran in gaining the release of the dual-national Americans imprisoned in Iran?
MR MILLER: I do not. It’s an issue on which that office continues to be engaged. We are
working to return – we are working to secure the return of those American citizens, but I don’t
have any update.
QUESTION: Has the needle moved at all since past communications?
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MR MILLER: I just don’t have any update other than to say it continues to be an important
priority for us.
QUESTION: Okay. Again in Iran now, the police or the government has started a new
crackdown for hijab. Since the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death is approaching, any
comments on that?
MR MILLER: I will say that we are concerned by the reports that Iran’s so-called morality police
are cracking – again cracking down to enforce mandatory hijab. It seems the regime has
learned nothing from the recent protests. And we believe that women and girls everywhere
should be allowed to wear what they want.
Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Me?
MR MILLER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has stated that Kosovo police is the
extension of the KLA, which was the militia during the war in the ’90s. So if the Kosovo police –
president of Serbia told me in the interview for the public today – I’m quoting – he said, “If the
Kosovo police is the successor of the KLA, then the legal fact is, the KLA and all the groups that