The editorial below, written by Omar Ghobash, assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Christopher Hodges, deputy assistant secretary of state for press and public diplomacy and assistance coordination in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, describes ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 7 June, 2021 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: international cooperation, international security, ISIS, Terrorism
ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Initial reports indicate that the attacks killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the Coalition, including one American service member and several American contractors. We express our condolences to the loved ones of the civilian ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 February, 2021 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Iraq, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
The United States condemns the terrorist attacks this past weekend in Azaz, al-Bab, and Afrin that resulted in the deaths of at least 20 civilians, including children. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of civilians killed and wish a quick recovery to those wounded in these despicable and senseless acts of violence. The ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 February, 2021 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Syria, Terrorism
The United States strongly condemns the latest attack on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We are gathering more information, but it appears to have been an attempt to target civilians. Such attacks contravene international law and undermine all efforts to promote peace and stability. As we work to de-escalate tensions in the region through principled diplomacy, including ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 25 January, 2021 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: Saudi Arabia, Terrorism
DANIEL B. SMITH, ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE We condemn in the strongest possible terms today’s terrorist attacks in Baghdad. The dual bombings killed at least 32 people and injured many more. They were vicious acts of mass murder and a sobering reminder of the terrorism that continues to threaten the lives of innocent Iraqis. We extend our deepest condolences to the families ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 January, 2021 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Iraq, Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Wang Xiyue, for that very kind introduction and those remarkable words, words that were your own. We’re blessed to have you here today. Look, as a lot – as you said, a lot of people worked really hard to get you home. America never gives ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 13 January, 2021 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Iran, Office of the Spokesperson, Sanctions, Terrorism
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE The State Department has designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism for repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists. The Trump Administration has been focused from the start on denying the Castro regime the resources it uses to oppress its people ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 11 January, 2021 | Topics: Key Documents, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Cuba, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Today, the Department of State has designated the Saraya al-Mukhtar group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224 for posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Saraya al-Mukhtar is an Iran-backed ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 December, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism, Terrorist Designation, The Secretary of State
Iran’s regime has conducted assassinations and sponsored terrorism throughout its 40-year history, targeting Iranian dissidents and foreign officials worldwide. The violence dates back to 1979, soon after the regime seized power. Iranian students attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tehran,
taking American diplomats and embassy employees hostage in a gross violation of international norms. Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days. Since then, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: international security, Iran, Terrorism
The Department of State has designated Ashraf al-Qizani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(a)(ii)(B) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. Ashraf al-Qizani, also known as Abu ‘Ubaydah al-Kafi, serves as the emir of Jund al-Khilafah in Tunisia (JAK-T), an ISIS affiliate in Tunisia. Al-Qizani became the emir of JAK-T after the death ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 11 December, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: Bureau of Counterterrorism, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Counterterrorism, Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism, The Global Coalition, To Defeat ISIS, Tunisia
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish. Today, the United States – a nation founded by those fleeing religious persecution, as the recent Commission on Unalienable Rights report noted – once again took action to defend those who simply ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 7 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: Religious Freedon, Terrorism
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has prioritized funding the Iranian regime’s terrorist proxies and security forces over paying health care workers fighting COVID-19. Khamenei, in March, pledged to pull 1 billion euros from Iran’s National Development Fund to fight COVID-19, yet Iran’s Health Ministry
has received only 27 percent of those funds and cannot pay health care workers’ salaries, IranWire reports, citing local news ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 16 November, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: COVID-19, Iran, Terrorism
European nations are increasingly recognizing the threat of Hizballah and blocking the Iran-backed terrorist organization from raising money or conducting other activities within their borders. U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo commended Estonia’s October 22 ban on Hizballah members and affiliates entering the country. Estonia joins a host of nations that refuse to distinguish ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 10 November, 2020 | Topics: History, News | Tags: international cooperation, international security, Iran, Terrorism
MORGAN ORTAGUS, DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack near a crowded traffic circle in al Bab yesterday, which according to initial reports killed more than 20 innocent people and injured scores more. We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of all the victims of this senseless tragedy. We are deeply troubled ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 7 October, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News | Tags: Syria, Terrorism
Peace talks underway between Afghanistan’s political leaders and the Taliban represent a historic opportunity for peace after 40 years of war, a senior U.S. official says. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, told the U.S. Institute of Peace September 24 that the peace negotiations that began September 12 in Doha, Qatar, “require ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 29 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: international security, Terrorism
The Trump Administration has made clear that the United States will do whatever it takes to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and anti-Semitism, from spreading death and mayhem throughout the Middle East and the world. Rather than wait for the day that Iran threatens the world with ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 September, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Security, Stabilization, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
It was hoped that the Iran nuclear deal would “moderate” the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, but that didn’t happen. Instead, in the two years and 10 months before President Trump pulled the United States from the agreement on May 8, 2018, Iran’s leaders used revenues from the deal to
increase the regime’s military spending and terrorist financing . “During this nuclear deal ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: international security, Iran, Sanctions, Terrorism
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Today, we remember and honor the nearly 3,000 people who were killed in the terrorist attacks in our country 19 years ago on September 11. We have made great strides to defeat al-Qa’ida and other terrorist groups that seek to do us harm, and our efforts to protect our ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 11 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Key Officials, News | Tags: Bureau of Counterterrorism, Counterterrorism, New York, Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
In September 2001, after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York, the Maasai people of Kenya tried to send 14 cows to the people of America. Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, who had come up with the idea, explained: “To heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own.” The cows, sacred ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 September, 2020 | Topics: News | Tags: civil society, international cooperation, Terrorism
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Today, the Department of State imposed sanctions on five entities under section 3(a)(ii) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13846 for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran. The Department of State also imposed sanctions under section 5(a)(vii) of E.O. 13846 on three ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 3 September, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Iran, Office of the Spokesperson, Oil, Petroleum, Sanctions, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
The U.S. is taking action against the Iranian regime’s weapons programs to stop it from spreading violence across the Middle East and beyond. U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo recently announced new sanctions blocking trade with Iran in certain metals that support the regime’s weapons programs. The U.S. has also moved to extend the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 31 August, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: international security, Iran, Sanctions, Terrorism, United Nations
Freedom of religion is under attack in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, due to authoritarian regimes determined to control expressions of faith. Dictators in the countries, or their proxies, have burned churches and harassed or teargassed worshipers, U.S. Agency for International Development Acting Administrator John Barsa told an August 20 discussion on religious freedom in the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 26 August, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: Cuba, freedom of religion, Nicaragua, Terrorism, venezuela
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE On this third annual International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, the United States stands with the victims of terrorism and their families. The pain and suffering caused by terrorism is a heavy burden that the American people know all too well. We honor the strength and resilience of terrorism victims ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 August, 2020 | Topics: History, Key Documents, Key Officials, News | Tags: and Labor, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Friday, August 21 marks the annual Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. To both remember and honor these victims, today the U.S. Department of State is announcing visa restrictions on 14 Iranian individuals for their involvement in gross violations of human rights on behalf of the Iranian regime, the world’s leading ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 August, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: Human Rights, Iran, Office of the Spokesperson, Terrorism, The Secretary of State
Pompeo: U.S. ‘undaunted in our pursuit of bringing terrorists to justice’ (June 25) The United States is working with countries around the world to combat terrorism through multilateral engagement and international organizations. “No administration has forged closer ties in our hemisphere and alliances working on important problems like counterterrorism,” said Secretary of State Michael ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 25 June, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, Iran, Secretary Pompeo, Terrorism, venezuela
Attacks in Syria (June 23) We extend our deepest sympathies to the families of innocent civilians killed and those wounded in Syria today in the terrorist attack in Tel Halaf and the airstrike in Kobane. There must be sustained focus by all on the critical need for a lasting political resolution to the conflict ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 23 June, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: Syria, Terrorism, Terrorist Attack in Syria
Iran struggles with economy broken by regime failures (May 20) The Iranian regime is struggling to avoid economic disaster after the regime’s years of economic mismanagement and terrorist financing. More than 7 million Iranians have lost their jobs or been furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis, regime spokesman Ali Rabiei recently acknowledged, according to Voice ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 May, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: Coronavirus, economic security, good governance, Iran, Iran Policy, Terrorism
Iranian regime profits from Maduro’s stolen gold (May 11) Mahan Air, Iran’s largest commercial airline, has been flying to Venezuela and leaving with tons of gold bars that the Maduro regime has stolen from the Venezuelan people, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said. “These flights must stop, and countries should do their part to ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 11 May, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: corruption, Iran Sanctions, Terrorism, venezuela
Terrorist Attack in Afrin, Syria (April 28) The United States condemns the act of terror carried out today in Afrin, Syria, claiming the lives of dozens of people shopping in the central market as they prepared to break the Ramadan fast. Initial reports indicate many victims were civilians, including children. Such cowardly acts of evil ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 28 April, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Countering, Office of the Spokesperson, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorist Attack in Syria
Iranian academics blame regime for COVID-19 ‘disaster’ (April 9) Iranian academics are faulting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for stifling information on COVID-19 and declining foreign aid, allowing the country’s outbreak to grow into “a national disaster.” In the March 29 letter, reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI),
100 academics call Khamenei “the Number 1 culprit” ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 April, 2020 | Topics: Health Issues, Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: Coronavirus, corruption, COVID-19, humanitarian assistance, Iran, Terrorism
Joint Statement on Behalf of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS on the First Anniversary of ISIS’s Territorial Defeat (March 23) One year ago the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS, in conjunction with our local partners, liberated ISIS’s last remaining stronghold in Baghouz and crushed its territorial ambitions. Today, nearly eight million people have been ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 23 March, 2020 | Topics: Key Documents, News, News from Washington | Tags: Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, ISIS, Terrorism, The Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS
Further Sanctions on Entities Trading in or Transporting Iranian Petrochemicals (March 18) PRESS STATEMENT
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State-sanctioned nine entities and three individuals who have engaged in activity that could enable the Iranian regime’s violent behavior. The actions of these individuals and entities provide revenue to the regime that it may use to ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 18 March, 2020 | Topics: Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Bureau of Counterterrorism, Division for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions, Iran Sanctions, Secretary Pompeo, Terrorism
Terrorist Designation of ISIS Leader Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla (March 17) The Department of State has announced its intent to designate Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, the new leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(a)(ii)(B) of Executive Order 13224, as ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 March, 2020 | Topics: Key Documents, News, News from Washington | Tags: al-Qai’da, Bureau of Counterterrorism, Iraq, ISIS, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorist Designation, The Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS
