WASHINGTON: Newly sworn in US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will head from this week's NATO meeting in Brussels directly on to high level talks in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, his spokeswoman said.
Speaking on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews in front of the secretary's government jet as he arrived from his Supreme Court swearing-in, Heather Nauert said the stops were chosen to reflect their "importance as key allies and partners in the region."
Pompeo picked those three Middle East stops “because of all that is going on,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters.
Iran is likely to be on the agenda on the Middle East leg of his trip. Trump will decide by May 12 whether to restore U.S. economic sanctions on Tehran, which would be a severe blow to the 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six major powers.
Pompeo is to meet with Saudi Arabia's King Salman, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordanian King Abdullah.