Rex Tillerson facing high-stakes diplomacy over Iran and North Korea — if he can keep his job 12/28/2017 1:26:00 PM Rex Tillerson has to try to rally international support for President Trumps more aggressive posture toward Iran and North Korea Washington Examiner, Dec 28, 2017  - A pair of rogue regimes with a longing for nuclear weapons promise to dominate Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s second year atop Foggy Bottom. Tillerson, in following President Trump’s distaste for former President Barack Obama’s decision-making, declared in 2017 an end to the era of “strategic patience” with Iran and North Korea. As the nation’s top diplomat, he has to try to rally international support for Trump’s more aggressive posture. Diplomacy doesn’t stop at home, though. Tillerson has to persuade Congress to support his vision for reorganizing the State Department, while maintaining his position in the administration, which has seemed precarious at times. Iran fro...

U.S. Leaders Praise President Trump’s New Way Forward With the recent decertifying of the Iranian regime by the U.S., thus stating that Iran is not in compliance with the JCPOA, current and former leaders throughout the country have come out in favor of the Trump administration’s action, as well as supporting the Iranian resistance, which is represented by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), led by President-elect Maryam Rajavi. During a National Press Club luncheon, former U.S. Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, praised President Trump for his change of policy, as well as condemning the actions of the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). President Trump has also designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). “If you’re not part of the dictatorship, and you’re not acceptable to the dictator, you can’t run, and therefore to pretend that the elections actually offer any serious choice to the Iranian people is simp...

Tillerson Warns Against Doing Business With Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned global companies that they do business with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “at their own risk,” remarks that will add to investment uncertainty in a country eager to reap the economic benefits of a 2015 nuclear accord. Rex Tillerson Photographer: Alex Brandon/AFP via Getty Images Tillerson, visiting Saudi Arabia to help inaugurate an alliance against Iran between the kingdom and Iraq, called on governments to join a U.S. sanctions regime against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a hard-line military and political force. “Both of our countries believe that those who conduct business with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, any of their entities -- European companies or other companies around the globe – really do so at great risk,” Tillerson said at a briefing with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. The Revolutionary Guards “foment instability in t...

Tillerson lands in Riyadh at start of Gulf, South Asia tour 10/21/2017 6:22:52 PM U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gathers his things to board his plane to depart for a several day Mideast trip, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 RIYADH (Reuters) OCT, 21, 2017  - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Riyadh on Saturday to attend a landmark meeting between officials from Saudi Arabia and Iraq aimed at improving relations between the two countries and countering Iran’s growing regional influence. The chief U.S. diplomat flew into King Salman Air Base a little more than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a strategy to contain Iran and compel Tehran to agree to close what he charged are flaws in the multinational 2015 deal designed to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. Tillerson’s only official meeting on Saturday was a working dinner with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. He was stopping in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a...