Rubio warns US envoys against undermining Trump’s pressure campaign targeting Iran: Report
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly warned Washington’s regional envoys against undermining President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign targeting Iran.
The directive was circulated in an unclassified cable signed by Rubio, The Guardian reported on Friday.
It came after Mike Huckabee, the US’s ambassador to the occupied territories addressed the idea of the Israeli regime’s expanding across the region under the so-called “Greater Israel vision” during an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson.
US envoy says it would be ‘fine’ if Israel expands across West Asia https://t.co/Q7LTTMujGA
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“It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said, when asked about the regime’s oft-repeated ambition to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates.
Huckabee referenced, what he called, the biblical “promised land” in trying to justify the regime’s expansionist ambitions. Carlson, however, described such contours as belonging to the descendants of Prophet Abraham, including Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
The remarks drew far-and-wide criticism, especially throughout the region.
According to The Guardian, they also alerted White House officials about the likelihood that they could harden the Islamic Republic’s position amid indirect nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Iran, other Muslim states slam US envoy’s endorsement of ‘Greater Israel’ plot https://t.co/vxs63xYTpp
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“The president is starting to get pissed with Huckabee,” a person familiar with the matter said. “And he hasn’t forgotten that his daughter refused to endorse him in the last campaign.”
In the directive, Rubio wrote, “Given rising tensions in the region, Chiefs of Mission and embassies at addressee posts must refrain from public statements, interviews, or social media activity that could in any way inflame regional audiences, prejudice sensitive political issues, or complicate US relationships.”
It added, “Chiefs of Mission are expected to avoid all commentary on issues that could heighten tensions or create confusion about US policy. Discipline in public messaging is essential, especially at this time.”
As a means of trying to pressure Iran into submitting to the United States’ demands in the talks, Trump has resorted to a combination of repeated verbal threats and significant regional military buildup.
The Islamic Republic has warned it would not succumb to the US’s excessive demands, besides asserting it would retaliate decisively as before in the face of potential renewed military aggression on the part of Washington and its allies.
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