Daily Press Briefing

John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
July 17, 2015

Index for Today's Briefing

DEPARTMENT
CUBA
IRAN/SYRIA
IRAN
SAUDI ARABIA/REGION/SECRETARY'S TRAVEL
IRAN
UNITED NATIONS
MALAYSIA
YEMEN
SYRIA
ISRAEL
SYRIA

TRANSCRIPT:

1:34 p.m. EDT

MR KIRBY: Afternoon, everybody. You all just come in right at the buzzer, aren't you?

All right, couple things at the top here. As you know, today is the anniversary of the day that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, taking the lives of nearly 300 innocent people from 11 countries. And I think it's – you may have seen Secretary Kerry put a statement out. On behalf of the entire State Department, I know I can add that all our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones, the families, the friends, certainly with those who perished, in honoring their memory. And we continue to support the work --

QUESTION: I think microphone --

MR KIRBY: Is it on? Sure it is. Can you hear me? No? Is that okay? Okay.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

MR KIRBY: All right. You broke my momentum, man. I was right in stride. (Laughter.) We support the work, obviously, being done by the Joint Investigative Board and the Dutch Safety Board, and for that reason we continue to urge full cooperation by all those in assisting their effort – cooperation by all in assisting their effort to uncover the full truth.

A program note for Monday. I know many of you have been asking about Monday. And I won't speak for the Cuban Government and what they'll be doing, but here at the State Department at 1 o'clock, Secretary Kerry will meet with his Cuban counterpart, their foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla right here at the State Department. And then after that meeting, there will be a press availability with the two of them. You'll get more details about this as it comes out. But he will be meeting with the Cuban foreign minister here in the building.

Some of you have asked also about the Cuban flag. It will be hung in the atrium on the C Street entrance of the building. It will be done early in the morning so as to allow for the give-and-take of the people coming in and out of the building, and to – for safety purposes, you've got to use a scaffold to get it up there. So it will be done in the early morning, and it will be placed in its appropriate place in alphabetical order with the flags. There won't be a ceremony accompanying it; there never is. We do this routinely. So just so you know that that will be happening.

QUESTION: Will that be open to the press?

MR KIRBY: It's going to be done very early in the morning. It's not going to be a press event, Justin, but if you want to come on in early in the morning and watch it, then we're certainly not going to stop you from doing that. But there's no ceremony arrayed behind it.

QUESTION: How early are we talking?

MR KIRBY: Very early.

QUESTION: Hmm.

QUESTION: Like a minute past midnight?

MR KIRBY: Way earlier than you even think about getting up. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: You don't know anything about us.

QUESTION: Just how early is that?

MR KIRBY: For early, for Justin is like ten. (Laughter.) It's going to be done early in the morning, again, to accommodate the flow of personnel coming in and out of the building and because they need some equipment to get it up there and raise it and make space for it. So we're going to do this before so it doesn't impede daily operations here at the department.

And then finally before I go to questions, I want to take a moment just to recognize Jo Biddle. This is probably – this is her last – I think probably your last briefing, right, that you're going to be –

QUESTION: No, I'll be here on Monday.

MR KIRBY: Oh, okay. Well, I was going to give you the first question, but now I'm not. (Laughter.) Anyway, we all know Jo is leaving soon, moving on in her career. And I just – even though I haven't had the chance to work with you for very long, your reputation preceded you before I got here. I heard all kinds of great things about you. Everybody in the press operation here has great respect for you and for the quality of your reporting, and we're going to miss you. You certainly – in just the six or seven weeks I've been here, I have learned a lot just from listening to you and trying to answer your tough questions and spending time with you. And so, again, we wish you all the best. As we say in the Navy: Fair winds and following seas to you. And we're going to miss you.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Hear, hear.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you.

MR KIRBY: I might also add – if I could get you to come up here, I might also add that Secretary Kerry is going to miss you as well. And he wanted you to have this.

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

MR KIRBY: Here you go.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR KIRBY: You bet, my pleasure.

QUESTION: Show it, Jo. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: It's an AFP photographer, Brendan Smialowski, who won a prize with this picture. And it was when we were going into Baghdad sometime last year.

MR KIRBY: Would you like to finish the briefing?

QUESTION: No. (Laughter.)

MR KIRBY: Then get off my podium. (Laughter.) Okay. Jo, with that, I'm going to have to give you the first question.

QUESTION: Oh. I wanted to ask about Cuba, please.

MR KIRBY: Okay.

QUESTION: When was the last time you actually added a flag, do you know, to the –

MR KIRBY: I think –

QUESTION: Was it South Sudan?

MR KIRBY: I think it's South Sudan, and that would have been 2011, I think is right. I think that's the last time. We tried to do the research here. Let me double-check that because we just recently asked that question, but I'm pretty sure it's South Sudan 2011.

QUESTION: And has a Cuban foreign minister been received in the State Department before?

MR KIRBY: Not – certainly not since the early '60s. But I would refer you to the Cuban Government for their historical records. But we looked at this and couldn't see anything, certainly at all in the recent past.

QUESTION: And I guess everybody's wanting to know: Have you any announcement yet on when the Secretary might travel to Havana?

MR KIRBY: I do not have travel to Havana to announce, but I'll just repeat the Secretary is very much looking forward to going down there and formally opening up our embassy in Havana. I think that's going to happen soon, and as soon as we have dates we'll certainly announce that.

QUESTION: What about the embassy in Washington on Monday? Will he be there?

MR KIRBY: The Secretary is not planning to be at the formal opening of the Cuban embassy. The senior State Department official, as I said yesterday, will be Assistant Secretary Roberta Jacobson.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR KIRBY: There will be other – there will likely be other representatives from the State Department and from the interagency, but Assistant Secretary Jacobson will be the most senior person.

QUESTION: What's the reasoning behind that decision? I mean, that seems odd.

MR KIRBY: What's odd about that?

QUESTION: That he wouldn't show up for that. I mean, it's sort of a momentous occasion in relation to --

MR KIRBY: Well, he's receiving the foreign minister here and they're going to do a press availability. He's looking forward to that. And he's also looking forward to going down there and formally recognizing and opening our embassy in Havana.

QUESTION: Right.

MR KIRBY: It's – there's no great significance behind this. I mean, he – again, his role in this is to welcome the foreign minister here at the State Department.

QUESTION: Can I just one – sorry. Do you believe that you have all the assurances necessary that your diplomats will be able to work freely in Havana as they do in other countries?

MR KIRBY: Well, every country is different, Jo, and I think you heard Assistant Secretary Jacobson talk about this. I mean, our ambassadors and diplomats work all over the world in environments – some are more restrictive than others based on the security situation in a given country and our relationship with the country.

What I can say, to repeat what she said, we're comfortable that our diplomats will be able to do the work they need to do in Cuba. It is not a restriction-free environment, as I think you can understand, but we're comfortable that through the negotiations that we had with Cuban authorities that they will be able to do the job that they need to do.

QUESTION: John, I know it's never a formality when the Secretary of State of the United States meets with any of his foreign counterparts, but in this particular case is it just a formality or will they have like a substantive issue to discuss and so on, as you would with meeting any other foreign minister?

MR KIRBY: I suspect it'll be a substantive discussion. I mean, this is a country now that we are restoring diplomatic relations. There is still a lot of work to do and still a lot of issues to discuss. I fully expect that it'll be a meaningful discussion. I mean, as I said, they're meeting at 1 and they won't be coming out to talk to you until 1:45, so it's going to be more than just a passing handshake and a photo. They're going to actually sit down and talk.

QUESTION: John, could you give us a sense of what the outstanding issues are for the States? Cuba has raised a couple, including Guantanamo, but on the U.S. side what remains to be resolved?

MR KIRBY: I think we continue to have discussions about lots of different issues. We've had a series of conversations about telecommunications.

QUESTION: What does that mean?

MR KIRBY: About access to telecommunications, conversations that have expanded the discussion on coordination on health issues. We began a conversation that I suspect will continue on human rights, which we know is going to be a part of this new relationship. We've had conversations about migration. And I think we've made it clear publicly that going forward we both agree – both countries – to have conversations about fugitives in law enforcement.

So there's many, many issues that are still very much active in terms of discussion. We fully expect that there will be – there will continue to be issues that we don't see eye-to-eye on. That's not unusual with any relationship we have around the world, particularly now with a country that for the first time we're going to be re-establishing diplomatic relations. So again, Secretary Kerry is very excited about this, this opportunity, and to having these discussions and to trying to work through these issues.

QUESTION: Now, beginning Monday – forgive me – American citizens can go to the embassy and get a visa to go to Cuba?

MR KIRBY: There are still – as you know, there are still restrictions on travel.

QUESTION: Travel.

MR KIRBY: I'm not an expert on the legal restrictions so I'm – I don't – our interests section down there will become an embassy on Monday, but there are still restrictions on travel and business arrangements in Cuba. There's still an embargo that can only be removed by congressional action. So it's not quite so simple, Said.

QUESTION: Syria?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Now that the nuclear deal is concluded at first stage with Iran, and two days ago President Obama stated that Iran should be part of the Syria conversations, have you had a chance to start some kind of talks on Syria with the Iranian Government?

MR KIRBY: Well, look, this deal just got signed earlier this week – sorry, just got finalized this week. So no, there have been no forum – fora through which talks on Syria have occurred with the Iranian Government. So no, I don't have anything new to announce in that regard.

QUESTION: But do you think that going forward, the climate is good for such talks?

MR KIRBY: It's too soon to tell right now. This deal was about the nuclear program and about stemming their ability to acquire nuclear weapons capability, and that was it. And there's a lot of speculation out there right now about the door opening and what this might do to regional behavior. Certainly, we want to see Iran's behavior in the region change. There's no doubt about that. Because even without this deal, they're still doing things that are destabilizing in the Middle East in particular, whether it's support of Hizballah, or the Houthis, or Shia militia, to human rights issues. Nobody is turning a blind eye to that, and nobody is able to predict right now what impact this deal might have on changing their behavior long term. If – and we've seen comments by President Rouhani that would indicate that they're willing to have those kinds of discussions, and if that's what they're willing to do, I think a positive change in their behavior is a welcome thing. But nobody is able to predict that right now.

Our focus on this deal was on stemming their ability, cutting off their pathways to fissile material and a nuclear weapon.

QUESTION: Since you a little mention about it, many of your allies in the region, including Turks and the other Arab countries, are very much worried that this deal is going to actually lead a way that Iran is going to take even more responsibilities in the region with your blessing. So what do you say to these comments?

MR KIRBY: I'd say the same thing I just said on the previous answer. I don't think I could say it any better than that. This deal was about stemming their ability to acquire nuclear weapons, and that was it. Nobody is taking their eye off their other destabilizing activities or the options that we have to continue to pursue unilaterally and with our allies and partners to try to stem that activity.

QUESTION: But (inaudible) the deal, seeing how Iran's role in the region, whether real or imagined, is suggested to be huge, shouldn't it – isn't it logical to have Iran be part and be involved in any kind of process that might end the violence? Just to follow up on my question yesterday, isn't it logical to have them in any kind of process that can bring the Syria crisis into some sort of a --

MR KIRBY: Well, there's no question that Iran is playing an unhelpful role in Syria. There's no question about that. We want that role to end, of course, as we want the Assad regime to step down and to move towards a negotiated political settlement that results in a government that's responsive to all the Syrian people. There's no question that those things need to happen and that change needs to occur. But nobody went into this deal with that being the outcome desired specifically with respect to the deal. The deal was about stemming their ability to not attain nuclear weapons.

QUESTION: Can I follow up?

MR KIRBY: Sure.

QUESTION: But I mean, it sounds like you're just talking in, like, a – in what you'd like to have happen. Like, you'd like Iran to be more helpful. You'd like Assad to step down. But it doesn't seem like it's based in any kind of reality where – I mean, even your allies are acknowledging that in order to have a solution in Syria, Iran is going to be – have to be part of the solution. You're going to just have to bring in the Iranians – like, you may not like it, but you're never going to solve the problem in Syria without the acquiescence of the Iranians.

MR KIRBY: Is that a question?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR KIRBY: I mean, we've said all along there has to be a negotiated political settlement in Syria that leads to a responsive government for all the Syrian people. I'm not able at this point to hypothesize exactly what that political settlement's going to look like or who's going to be a party to it. We – no question Iran's playing an unhelpful role – as is Russia, quite frankly. And --

QUESTION: Right, but the President said the other day that you're never going to solve the problem in Syria without the Russians, and many of your other allies are saying that you're never going to solve it without the Iranians. I just am wondering --

MR KIRBY: I understand the logic. And – but if you're trying to get me to say that we anticipate sitting down at a negotiating table with Tehran over Syria right now, I – we're just not there.

QUESTION: Well, why would you be negotiating with Iran if the Syrians – if you kept saying this has to be a negotiated settlement among Syrians?

MR KIRBY: I'm just not --

QUESTION: But you have --

MR KIRBY: I'm not able to quantify exactly what this negotiated political settlement's going to look like in Syria. But that's the long-term answer. Everybody is well aware of the complicated nature of what's going on in Syria. But nothing's changed about the fact that it has to be solved through a political settlement, and I'm not at a point now where we can talk specifically about what that's going to look like right now.

QUESTION: No, I understand. Well, first of all, everyone has always said that it's going to have to be a negotiated settlement among the Syrians. So I don't know why you think – I don't know why I would suggest that you would be negotiating with the Iranians over it. What I'm talking about is when you talk about getting all the stakeholders together – whether it's Russia, whether it's yourselves, like, friends of Syria or whatever you're calling it these days – I mean, to suggest that you're going to be able to solve this without Iran, I just don't understand.

MR KIRBY: What – Iran's assistance and support to the Syrian regime is allowing that regime to continue to perpetrate violence on their own people.

QUESTION: Well, how are you going to get them to stop it if you don't start some kind of conversation with them about it?

MR KIRBY: I have – I'm not going to stand up here today and tell you that there is a track here of negotiating with Iran on Syria. We all understand the unhelpful role that other parties are playing in the Syrian conflict. But I'm – we're not at that point now. This deal was about stemming their ability to get a nuclear weapon. Nobody is turning a blind eye to their other destabilizing activities in the region, to include support for Assad. And we are going to continue to do the kinds of things that we have been doing and perhaps even more to try to stem that destabilizing activity.

QUESTION: But why are you – I mean, many people, including the President and the Secretary, have said that Russia's role in Iran – in Syria, sorry – is equally as destabilizing and unhelpful. So why is it okay to work with the Russians on this when you clearly don't share the same vision, when Iran pretty much shares the same vision as the Russians, and in fact, have even more influence on the ground?

MR KIRBY: Well, we also don't – we have diplomatic relations with Russia, and there are no diplomatic relations with Tehran. Again, we're not turning a blind eye to Iranian actions in the region, to include their support for Assad. We have many options and many vehicles to address that destabilizing behavior, and they will continue regardless of the nuclear deal.

QUESTION: Can I just ask on another issue around this, which is the prisoners held in Iran. The Secretary this morning on MSNBC said that he was very, very hopeful that there could be some news shortly. And he said that his last conversation he had with Foreign Minister Zarif before going out on the stage in Vienna and announcing that – and talking about the deal was about the prisoners. Is there any indication, can you tell us anything that we might have some news of one or all of them being freed in the coming days, weeks, or months?

MR KIRBY: No, I have no indications or movement to talk to today. I think the Secretary was expressing the view of everybody here at the State Department – in fact, across America – that we want to remain and we are remain – we do remain hopeful that they'll be released. And this is something that, as he said very eloquently this morning, that he continues to raise every chance that he gets.

QUESTION: But there was no hook at all, there was nothing --

MR KIRBY: No. I have no --

QUESTION: I mean, I know you have – I know from the podium and the Secretary said that it was never linked, but there's no --

MR KIRBY: There was no link in the negotiations over the nuclear deal to their release. They need to be released because they need to be released. They need to be home with their families. We make that case every chance we get. And I think the Secretary, again, was reflecting our – everybody's view that we're hopeful that that can one day happen. But I don't have any announcement today or certainly any new indications to speak to.

QUESTION: Just --

MR KIRBY: I mean, it remains – the situation remains the same. So I don't want you to think I'm being too cute by half here. There's been no change. They remain detained and there's certainly no change in our firm belief that they need to be released and back home with their families.

QUESTION: Do you by chance have a number of times that it was brought up during the talks in Vienna?

MR KIRBY: I don't have a number, Justin, but I think the Secretary said himself there wasn't a single meeting that he had with Foreign Minister Zarif where he did not raise it. And as he said again this morning, it was the last thing he said to the foreign minister before they parted ways in Vienna.

QUESTION: Is there any indication – I know there's no change, because obviously they're still there – but is there any indication from the Iranians that the goodwill created by this deal may lead to some kind of positive outcome?

MR KIRBY: I'm not aware of any indication here. That's a question you could put to them. Again, our position hasn't changed.

Yes.

QUESTION: Well, still on the Iran deal.

MR KIRBY: Okay.

QUESTION: A very quick question. Now, we know that Vice President Biden went on the Hill on, I guess, Tuesday or whenever it was, and then Minority Leader Pelosi is taking the lead in sort of convincing her colleagues with a deal. Is there going to be any special effort by the – by Secretary Kerry considering that he spent decades and has a lot of friends on Capitol Hill to try to convince them or explain to them the deal anytime soon?

MR KIRBY: Oh, of course. And I think the Secretary looks forward to having discussions with members of Congress. He's already, as you might expect, talked to many on the phone. I think that will continue, and then I won't get ahead of the Congress to speak to schedule items, but I think you can expect to see him up there as early as next week.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Just one more question on the Iran deal.

QUESTION: So --

QUESTION: And so it's expected to be a United Nations Security Council resolution. Does that mean that the U.S. Government, whether the current Administration or the future administration, will have to abide by that resolution, even if it doesn't become a law in the U.S. Congress?

MR KIRBY: Well, we have to respect the prerogatives of Congress. It's – the law of the land is that they have 60 days to review this deal, and they'll get – that's the law, that those 60 days will happen. The fact that it's going up at the UN Security Council is a separate process that, in itself, provides enough time for the law of the land here in the United States, for the 60 days for Congress to review. Not that it's designed that way. It's a separate process at the UN, but does provide for the – ample amount of time for the 60-day review to occur.

QUESTION: I just want to ask one more follow-up to Jo's question about the detainees in Iran. He said on Morning Joe we're very, very hopeful that they'll be released, that Iran will release them. And I know you just addressed this but is there any new indication – is there anything new that he's basing that on, or is that just a general hope, or is there some movement on that issue, beyond where we were before the talks?

MR KIRBY: I think I answered this, but I'll do it again.

QUESTION: Yeah. I just --

MR KIRBY: There's no new indication, there is no new movement.

QUESTION: Okay. I just wanted to be sure.

MR KIRBY: He's expressing his earnest desire to see them returned.

QUESTION: Well, but – can I just unpack a little further? Did the foreign minister – he's made some comments about particularly Jason Rezaian before. Did he give any indication that this was being seriously considered, like that there was any talk about this in Iran? Or did he – some people feel that the foreign ministry doesn't really have control over these individuals, that it's more of an IRGC thing. So I'm just wondering, like, what is the Iranian response when Secretary Kerry continues to make these entrees?

MR KIRBY: Yeah. You should ask Foreign Minister Zarif. Secretary Kerry's made it clear what our hopes and expectations are.

QUESTION: Well, what impression did the Secretary get? What impression did the Secretary take from those discussions?

MR KIRBY: I'm not going to characterize personal conversations that he's had with Foreign Minister Zarif. I could just tell you that, again, he raises it every time. He's made that very clear, and we remain hopeful that they can get home with their families, but I don't have anything specific to read out from their conversations and no new movement to discuss.

QUESTION: I'm just trying to ascertain whether he's just bringing it up and he's – obviously, he will continue to bring it up. Is he getting a brick wall from the Iranians, or is --

MR KIRBY: I think I'm going to let the Iranians to speak to their reaction to our continued press.

Yes.

QUESTION: Sorry for (inaudible) this. You might have answered this question before. But as you know, the President met today with the Saudi foreign minister and also the Defense Secretary is going to Saudi Arabia.

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: But just tell us more about the Secretary Kerry trip to Qatar to meet with the GCC partners to brief them on this deal. Who – I mean, all the foreign ministers going to be there? Is it a one-day trip? Can you just give us some --

MR KIRBY: I don't have – what I – I don't have much on this trip to talk about today. I can – again, I confirmed it yesterday; he is going to go in early August to meet with – to Doha to meet with the GCC foreign ministers. I don't have more details to read out in terms of duration of that, agenda items. But obviously, clearly this deal is the main agenda item, but I mean, I'm sure they'll discuss other regional security and foreign policy issues. I just don't have a full readout right now.

And you might expect there might be other stops on a trip that goes that far. And so when we have more details about the Secretary's travel, I'll be happy to announce that, but I'm not able to right now.

QUESTION: Sure, okay. But you're obviously trying to reach to the GCC countries to assuage their fear about Iran with more cash is – as they're more worried about than Iran – nuclear Iran. So what more is the Secretary supposed to tell them that we haven't heard before? I mean, ever since the deal was signed, you been reaching out and you – I mean, the President called King Salman himself and other members.

MR KIRBY: Yeah. He spoke to the foreign ministers over the phone on the way back from Vienna, as a matter of fact. And as you rightly pointed out, he met with his Saudi counterpart yesterday. They had a chance to talk face-to-face about this. Just like members of Congress here in this country, many of our allies and partners have a lot of questions about the deal. And the Secretary looks forward to having the discussion on Capitol Hill, and he looks forward to going into the region and answering any other questions that they might have. I'd leave you – I'd point you to them to talk about what questions they specifically want answered and what issues they might have.

But I think it's safe to say that one thing the Secretary will make clear is that nothing has changed about our security commitments in the region and our commitment to our allies and partners to deal with a range of challenges there, to include the destabilizing activities that Iran continues to pursue. And we have – we're committed to improving their capabilities, building partner capacity. We're still going to have a military presence in the region. That's not going to change. And unilateral U.S. sanctions on Iran that deal with these destabilizing activities remain in place, and we'll continue to re-evaluate those going forward.

QUESTION: Will Turkey be on that list to visit after GCC countries?

MR KIRBY: I said I don't have – other than the stop in Doha, I don't have anything else to announce. I know you all really want to know exactly what his travel is going to look like here, and when we have something more detailed I'll be happy to provide it. I'm just not able to today.

QUESTION: John?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you believe the fears of the Sunni Arab countries about this deal, that it will make Iran a more destabilizing actor in the Middle East, are justified? Are their fears justified?

MR KIRBY: Well, again, I don't want to characterize their attitude towards the deal. So you called them fears. I'm not going to call them fears. We understand that there are concerns in the region about the implications of this deal. That's point one.

Point two – and I think the Secretary has made this very clear, as early as his interview this morning but certainly over the last week – that an Iran without a nuclear weapon capability – this is a fact; an Iran without a nuclear weapons capability is easier to deal with than an Iran with that capability, or pursuing it aggressively and on the threshold of it. So it is the Secretary's firm belief that this deal, by taking away that capability from Tehran, inherently is good for security and stability in the region, and therefore inherently good for the security interests of our allies and partners.

QUESTION: So – but why isn't it reasonable, for example, to assume that once Iran gets a lot more money because the sanctions are going to be lifted, it will contribute a huge chunk of that money to help non-state actors such as Hizballah, such as Hamas, such as other groups in the Middle East such as Assad regime, and that will be destabilizing, that would be worrisome for the Arab – Sunni Arab countries. That would be worrisome for the Kurdish – Kurds in Iraq and in Iran in the region.

MR KIRBY: We've heard this argument before. I can't stand up here and tell you that none of the money that will be unfrozen once they comply with their agreements – it's not an immediate thing; they have to comply with their end of the deal in order to see sanctions relief – I can't sit here and tell you that none of those dollars could be devoted to further destabilizing activities.

What I can tell you is that regardless, there – if those destabilizing activities continue, we have means – the United States, and our partners and allies do as well – but we have means to continue to thwart them and deal with them, whether it's sanctions or improving partner capacity of our allies and partners in the region. All of that's going to continue to happen.

And I think it's also worth noting that this is an economy that is in need. There are other needs President Rouhani has to deal with. I mean, I can't speak for how he writes his checks, but there's a lot of infrastructure – to the tune of almost a trillion dollars – that the country needs and other domestic spending issues that they have to deal with.

So a wise leader would want to use whatever extra cash is available to him to deal with the needs of his people. I can't speak for how that will bode, but I can speak for our commitment to security in the region and to our commitments to our allies and partners through a variety of means. And all the options that this commander-in-chief has available to him, future commander-in-chiefs – commanders-in-chief will have available as well going forward, to include military options if that's what's required.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Just to clarify, you mentioned regarding the UN resolution or the UN Security Council resolution that it's a separate process. So why do you think that there is a concern about Congress members to discuss it, even to raise the issue over there, before being completely discussed --

MR KIRBY: Well, I can't speak for why other people have a concern with that. The law of the land says Congress gets 60 days to review, and so that's going to happen. And there's enough time built into the UN process for that to be taken into account.

QUESTION: So what, from your perspective or perspective of the – what is the significance of getting UN resolution if you are going to discuss --

MR KIRBY: Because this is – as Under Secretary Sherman said yesterday, this isn't just a deal between the United States and Iran. It's a deal with the international community and Iran. We're a party to it. And so it makes sense for all the other nations to use – under this process to go through the UN here and to build this new resolution, and that was always part of the deal from the outset. It is an international agreement with Iran, not just a U.S. agreement with Iran. We have our own legislative processes to observe here, as do many of the other countries involved. Ours now requires – again, the law says 60 days, and we're going to obey the law. We have to.

QUESTION: Yes. And regarding the Secretary and the Congress, it's already reported that he is going to be on the Senate side – Corker committee – on Thursday. Is it right, or still you are discussing the possibility?

MR KIRBY: No. I mean, no, as I said, I'm not going to speak for Congress and their – and if they put it out, then yes. I did not see this – I did not see that, but yes. I mean, as I said, you can expect to see him up there next week.

QUESTION: And they are saying that he is going to be – I think it's going to be accompanied by Secretary Lew and Moniz.

MR KIRBY: Yes.

Yes.

QUESTION: Can I ask you about a different topic? The UNGA --

MR KIRBY: Are you sure?

QUESTION: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm ready to move on – wrap it up in general.

UNGA this fall. The President, by the way, is going to New York this weekend. He's not going to stay at the Waldorf. This is now a Chinese-owned hotel. Can we – have you made any decision – this was asked about a month ago. Have you made – has the State Department made any decision not to keep its staff there during UNGA? And further, with Samantha Power be looking for a new place to stay in general based on this purchase by the Chinese?

MR KIRBY: The short answer to your question is no, I have no decisions about venues to read out or to announce today.

Yes.

QUESTION: Is there a longer answer?

MR KIRBY: No. That's a good answer.

QUESTION: MH-17?

MR KIRBY: Yeah, sure.

QUESTION: A Russian arms manufacturer offered again to recreate the incident of the Malaysian explosion with a decommissioned analog aircraft. They want to blow up an 9M38M1. Are you interested in this experiment, willing to participate, or would you support it?

MR KIRBY: Well, I haven't seen reports about this experiment. What we support is what I said at the outset, which is support to the – both investigations that are going on right now, and as I said, we've got members of the NTSB supporting the crash investigation. There's also an accountability investigation going on. We're supporting both of those, and that's what we believe is the right path forward here.

QUESTION: And the UN resolution that's been drafted about a tribunal, do you support this, or do you think it's premature? Do you think it will be effective?

MR KIRBY: Well, look, I mean it's – I think it's too soon to stake – for a position on that. Again, our support is to the two investigations that are ongoing.

QUESTION: On this topic. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians say that it was – the airliner was brought down by a Russian missile. But isn't it true that the Ukrainians also – the Ukrainian military possess those kinds of missiles?

MR KIRBY: We've long said nothing's changed about – and you saw this in the Secretary's statement, that we believe it was brought down by a missile fired from separatist territory inside Ukraine.

QUESTION: So there is no doubt that it was brought down by pro-Russian --

MR KIRBY: I've said what – we believe it was brought down by a missile fired from Russian separatist-held territory. There is an investigation going on, too, as a matter of fact. We need to let those investigations continue. We continue to support those, and we need to let those investigators do their work. Was there something wrong with that answer?

QUESTION: Hence a scientific experiment might be --

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: -- useful to clarify or --

MR KIRBY: Next question.

QUESTION: Okay. It's on the human trafficking report.

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Today 160 members of the Congress call the State Department not to upgrade the Malaysian status. How does the department respond to this concern? And before that, there are so many members of the Congress and Senate to kind of express the same concern, and they issued a letter to the Secretary. So did --

MR KIRBY: I'm sorry. I missed the first part of your question.

QUESTION: I'm sorry. Okay. There's so many members – as of today, 160 members of the Congress issued a call not to upgrade the Malaysian status on the human trafficking report.

MR KIRBY: Oh, the Trafficking in Persons Report.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR KIRBY: I'm sorry, I missed that.

QUESTION: How does the department respond to these concerns?

MR KIRBY: The report is still being finalized, and it hasn't been released yet, and I am not going to get into discussing the contents of the report while that work is ongoing. So we're aware of the concern expressed, obviously, and the Secretary will respond appropriately to those members and their concerns, but the report is not finalized yet. And when it is and it's made public, then we can have a discussion about the findings for each and every country. The only thing I'd add is that those rankings are done through a vigorous process here at the State Department based on pragmatic analysis, based on an objective view of what those individual countries have or have not done to improve their trafficking in persons situations. And it's not based on political decisions or political factors at all.

QUESTION: So far the – Secretary Kerry didn't respond to the letters from the senators and the Congress to show the same kind of concerns.

MR KIRBY: Are you asking me, or are you telling me that we haven't responded?

QUESTION: I'm asking you.

MR KIRBY: I don't know if a response has been drafted yet, but the Secretary, as a former senator himself, takes communications with Congress extremely seriously, and we respond to all that correspondence, and he will do it appropriately. But I don't have any correspondence specifics to read out to you.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Can I change the subject to Yemen?

MR KIRBY: Sure.

QUESTION: The government in exile has announced today the liberation of – what they're calling the liberation of Aden after there was a push by forces loyal to the government of President Hadi. I wondered if you – if the United States was in a position to confirm that independently, and if you had, what reports you were getting from the ground.

MR KIRBY: No, we're not able to confirm specifically how much of Aden's territory has been reclaimed by anti-Houthi fighters. And yeah, I'd refer you to the Yemeni Government to speak to that more specifically. We're not in a position to independently confirm that.

QUESTION: And at the moment, the U.S. ambassador is based in Jetta, if that's correct, I believe --

MR KIRBY: That's correct.

QUESTION: Is – are there any plans for him to visit, similarly to the fact that some of the government – the Yemeni Government is also planning to go back into Aden?

MR KIRBY: Well, I've seen reports of the various cabinet ministers traveling to Aden. We can't confirm that either. I'm aware of no plans at this time for our ambassador to travel back to Yemen. I think it's worth reminding, Jo, that it's still a very fluid situation, still very dangerous situation. And again, we're just – we're monitoring as closely as we can. But I have no updates to provide in terms of our diplomatic presence.

QUESTION: Do you have any announcement on the reports that the first batch of U.S.-trained Syrian fighters have arrived? Fifty-four of them are now fighting the fight in Syria.

MR KIRBY: Shouldn't you be asking this of your --

QUESTION: Well --

MR KIRBY: -- Pentagon colleagues?

QUESTION: -- they're U.S.-trained; it's part of the U.S. strategy.

MR KIRBY: I'm – I – as I've said before, I'm not going to get into battlefield updates here, and that's a DOD program, and I think they're best placed to speak to that.

Yeah.

QUESTION: A quick question, a follow-up on yesterday's statement, or whatever you said on the settlement activities by the Israelis on the village of Susiya. Have you heard – you issued a very strong concern or denunciation of the Israeli plans to demolish some homes and so on. Have you heard back from the Israelis? Did they say, "We're going to go ahead and do it," "We are not going to do it as a result of your statement"?

MR KIRBY: I'm not aware of any communication from the Israeli Government based on the position we took yesterday. But our position remains the same.

Yep. Okay, I'll take one more.

QUESTION: Just --

MR KIRBY: You're ready to go, huh? (Laughter.) You're just heading off, huh?

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

QUESTION: Just a follow --

QUESTION: It's Friday.

MR KIRBY: It's Friday. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Just a follow-up on the train and equip program. So you cannot confirm that about 60 U.S.-trained Syrian opposition forces did not get in Syria? You cannot confirm that?

MR KIRBY: No. I would ask you to look to the Defense Department to confirm the status of the train and equip program. It's their program.

QUESTION: But General Allen --

MR KIRBY: And I'm not in a position to confirm numbers from this podium. That would be inappropriate. We obviously still support the program; it's an important part of, as we've talked about, getting at the problem of ISIL inside Syria. But it's a DOD program and I would point you to them to speak to the specifics of it. Okay?

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