Tag Archives: Tom Countryman

UN arms treaty blocked by Iran, Syria, North Korea

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The United States expressed regret Thursday after Iran, Syria and North Korea moved to block the United Nation’s unanimous adoption of the first global arms trade treaty.

Diplomats said they expect the small arms treaty to pass, however, in a vote at the United Nations General Assembly next week.

“We think an overwhelming majority of states will vote in favor,” Tom Countryman, the US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Cooperation, said in a press call Thursday night. Continue reading →

Big changes afoot in Obama Iran, arms control teams, as Samore departs

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U.S. White House Coordinator for Weapons of Mass Destruction, Samore, talks during a meeting at the Itamaraty Palace in BrasiliaA key member of President Obama’s Iran negotiating team is leaving. White House WMD czar Gary Samore will depart the administration to become executive director of the Harvard University Belfer Center, the center said in a press release Tuesday.

The departure of Obama’s top nonproliferation advisor comes as the United States and five world powers are aiming for new nuclear talks with Iran the last week of February, possibly in Kazakhstan, diplomatic sources told the Back Channel Tuesday.

Samore’s exit, at the end of the week, is only one of several anticipated changes to the Obama Iran, arms control and Middle East teams expected to shake out over the new several months, even as the administration has vowed not to let the transition shuffle cause any distraction from its Iran policy efforts.

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