Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
March 2, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
DEPARTMENT
SYRIA/REGION
MALAYSIA
INDIA
DEPARTMENT
MIDDLE EAST PEACE
TURKEY/REGION
NORTH KOREA
CHINA/REGION
IRAN/REGION
TRANSCRIPT:
2:08 p.m. EST
MR TONER: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the State Department. Happy Wednesday. Just very briefly at the top I did want to mention tomorrow is World Wildlife Day. As many of you know, combating the illegal wildlife trade is an important – excuse me, an important strategic priority for the Department of State and the U.S. Government. I want to highlight several World Wildlife Day events. Under Secretary Novelli is hosting a panel discussion later today on engaging the public in countering the trade and demand for illegal wildlife products. Also, tomorrow the Presidential Task Force on Wildlife Trafficking will officially release its first annual progress assessment. And tonight, and I know Matt will want to lay out his picnic blanket to be in a good position to watch this, but starting at about 6:15 p.m. we're going to be projecting images of wildlife on the State Department's C Street facade to help raise awareness of the issue. In all seriousness, I understand it's some pretty compelling images and a little bit of a --
QUESTION: Will there be refreshments?
MR TONER: (Laughter.) Of course.
QUESTION: Is it an open bar?
MR TONER: Of course.
QUESTION: Will it be open bar or cash bar?
MR TONER: Of course. It's pretty chilly out there. It is a pretty chilly night to try this.
QUESTION: Open bar or cash bar?
MR TONER: I'll get back to you on all that. I'll take that question. (Laughter.) All right, over to you, sir.
QUESTION: I'll expect an answer before 4 o'clock.
MR TONER: I'm sure. I think we'll have to have some kind of refreshments. It's a little chilly out there.
QUESTION: Seriously, there is – you're projecting these things on the building?
MR TONER: We are.
QUESTION: And there's a place – and you want people to – is there an audience? Are they going to – is the street going to be closed down?
MR TONER: I think it's just if you're passing by. But as you – as somebody noted, it is early March, so it's not like there's going to be a lot of people out on the Mall, but we're just trying it. It's a new technique we're trying.
QUESTION: Just images, photographs?
MR TONER: Images. Moving images of wildlife.
QUESTION: No, I get it, but I mean, who do you expect to see this? I mean, the only people that can – if you're driving by on Constitution Avenue and you look up, you're only going to see it for about a split second. You would have to turn onto 22nd. So other than the taxi drivers who are sitting there waiting for pick-up fares, and there are not that many at that point in time --
QUESTION: He told us there'll be set up photographers and then everyone will see.
MR TONER: Precisely, thank you.
QUESTION: Gotcha. All right. Anyway, I'm sure it's important, a very worthy event.
MR TONER: I'm just delivering the message, sir.
QUESTION: I'm just curious as to the audience.
MR TONER: Sure. All right, where are we starting?
QUESTION: Oh, yeah, that was an unexpected turn.
MR TONER: Sorry. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: I wanted to ask you about Syria just because --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- over the weekend, you guys published this phone number, these contact numbers for people to call in or to write in and report violations of the ceasefire, and apparently, some reporters from one news outlet, who were actually calling not just to – they were actually calling to report what they said were violations, ran into some problems with – apparently with some limited – with the person on the other end not having particularly great Arabic. Is this something that you're aware of and --
MR TONER: Absolutely.
QUESTION: -- if it is an issue, what's being done to address it?
MR TONER: Well, so as you noted, we did – in order to help monitor the cessation of hostilities in Syria, we did set up an information hotline that was staffed 24/7 where violations could be reported I think via a number of different apps, also phone, email, text, WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Voice, and the information hotline was part of our broader Syria team, and it was staffed by State Department personnel, some of whom spoke or speak Arabic. We have received reports of violations and obviously added them to or fed them into the overall – the pipeline or the task force that is monitoring the ceasefire and reviewed every allegation. But as you note, there were some language issues amongst some of the volunteers. And granted, these are – these, again, are State Department employees who are doing this in addition to their usual jobs, but we are aware that there were some language issues, as you note, and we're working to correct those, obviously, because it's important that we have Arabic speakers who are able to field incoming calls.
QUESTION: Was that not a requirement?
MR TONER: It was, just – but given the time limits on setting this up, probably some of the language skills weren't properly vetted. It just was people who couldn't – they were having a hard time --
QUESTION: All right. And you said the people that are staffing this are volunteering their time to staff it?
MR TONER: That's right.
QUESTION: Oh, okay. Well, that's interesting. But then again, I mean, as wonderful as that is, if they can't speak the language then --
MR TONER: Agreed. We should have people who – we should have people – agree. So we're working to address that.
QUESTION: All right.
QUESTION: And why didn't you set it up in the region in one of the embassies?
MR TONER: I'm sorry, the hotline?
QUESTION: This center, this hotline. With the time difference and the – with the language --
MR TONER: It's a valid question. I don't know. I don't know. I think that just given the – I have no idea. I mean, usually – I'm guessing that this is run out of the Ops Center which has all the phone banks set up, can easily take incoming calls, but – and has, frankly, the facilities able to put together a task force like this but --
QUESTION: Is it a free phone number? And if not, how many cents a minute does it cost to call from Aleppo, say?
MR TONER: I believe it should be a free phone number.
QUESTION: Yes?
MR TONER: I'll check on all this. This is good – these are all valid questions. I just don't have a lot of information in front of me.
QUESTION: And if it isn't?
MR TONER: I think it's a free phone number. It has --
QUESTION: No.
MR TONER: It's not?
QUESTION: No.
MR TONER: Oh, okay.
QUESTION: Mark, are all of these staffers volunteers or is it a mix?
MR TONER: Yes. I believe they are volunteers. Is that what you're questioning, or that they're not?
QUESTION: I'm not (inaudible).
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: Mark, are you sure that they're doing this in addition to doing their regular jobs? I mean, if you're doing --
MR TONER: That's what I was told, yeah.
QUESTION: Yeah?
QUESTION: Could I just follow up on the ceasefire itself?
QUESTION: Sorry, Said. What's the number? Do you have that?
MR TONER: I don't have it in front of me, sorry. I completely failed on this issue, I apologize.
QUESTION: To follow up on the current status of the ceasefire itself.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Now, the Syrian Government is saying that they did not violate the ceasefire. In fact, accusations were misplaced. On the other hand, the Turks apparently are firing or lobbing some artillery shells across the Syrian border. So what is the current status and how are you keeping track of who is violating what?
MR TONER: Sure. Excuse me. So in recent days – and I think Kirby spoke about this yesterday – we have seen an overall reduction, undeniable – undeniably, an overall reduction in airstrikes on Syrian opposition and civilians from where we were before the cessation of hostilities began. We are concerned about reports of Syrian regime tank and artillery attacks against civilians near Latakia, near Homs, and Hama, as well as around Damascus. So we are looking into each of these allegations and each of these reports very closely, sharing them among other members of the ISSG, including Russia and Iran – Russia, rather – and strongly urging all parties to continue to practice restraint.
QUESTION: But when you, let's say – I still am a bit confused on how you confirm a certain violation. And then how do you bring it up and how do you go about making sure that it does not happen again?
MR TONER: How to – so, I mean, we talked a lot about the process. I mean, there's --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) So yeah, what are those processes?
MR TONER: Right, that's okay. So, I mean, I can talk you through a little bit, but the first kind of line of monitoring compliance is among the parties themselves, but obviously they need to be able to report where they see violations taking place. And they do that to the ceasefire task force, which is either through one of the co-chairs, which is the U.S. and Russia, or through the UN itself. And then there's been networks and kind of contact points set up among these various actors to help exchange information quickly when there are credible reports of violations, and then to decide how we respond to it. So these points of contact are in constant communication with each other through a variety of means.
So there's – so there's kind of – I guess there's three focal points or whatever, however you want to put it. But there's the UN Office of the Special Envoy, which is based in Geneva, and that has a small in-country presence in Syria itself; and then there's also another group in Jordan that includes both U.S. and Russian elements, that, again, is looking at monitoring these violations and where there are confirmed violations, then trying to address them.
QUESTION: What do you call this center? Is it a coordination center? Operation center?
QUESTION: Reconciliation.
QUESTION: In Jordan.
QUESTION: Reconciliation.
MR TONER: Coordination center.
QUESTION: Coordination.
QUESTION: Are you aware of reports that the Syrian Government has used chemical weapons on various – in various attacks post-ceasefire, post-cessation of hostilities? And if you are, what do you make of – excuse me, what do you make of them?
MR TONER: We're aware of the reports. We obviously can't confirm them at this time. Our policy is we strongly condemn any use of chemical weapons. The OPCW's fact-finding mission will investigate any and all credible allegations of CW use in Syria, and if they can determine that a specific incident takes place – has taken place, rather, it'll be referred to the joint task – investigative mechanism that's been established under UN Security Council Resolution 2235 for further investigation.
QUESTION: So when you say --
MR TONER: But we don't – we can't confirm anything at this point.
QUESTION: When you say you're aware of the reports, does that mean these coordination centers you're sharing with the other ISSG members are aware, or was the U.S. Government independently investigating the reports? Is it being investigated with the Russians at all in parallel?
MR TONER: It's a good question. I'll take it.
QUESTION: Mark, the Russians have announced today that they are planning to close the border between Syria and Turkey to stop the transfer of arms from Turkey to the Syrian opposition. Are you aware of this plan? Do you support it, or what's your comment?
MR TONER: I'm not aware of that plan. I haven't seen those reports. Turkey is in control of its own border. We don't believe that it is smuggling arms. We've talked about this many times on many different occasions, but we don't believe those allegations to be true and I don't have any further details. I'd have to refer you to the Russians.
QUESTION: You're saying that no arms or volunteers go across the Turkish border into Syria? Is that what you're saying?
MR TONER: No, not – but without the – what I think is implied is that with the consent of the Turkish Government. We've obviously been aware of the porous nature of the border, like many borders, both in that region and our own, frankly. It's difficult to keep along the Turkey-Syria border the flow of foreign fighters and other material from crossing over. That's been an ongoing challenge that we've been trying to address working with Turkey.
QUESTION: Yeah, but you agree that the Turkish border has been the waystation for all these volunteers and arms, money --
MR TONER: It's been, as I said, an ongoing challenge, especially. I think it's a 98-kilometer stretch of it that's been a particular challenge.
QUESTION: Just the 98-kilometer stretch, not the whole border?
MR TONER: I mean, look, as I said, it's a challenge.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: Still that 98 kilometers? I mean, it was months and months ago that you said that – or that the Secretary said that you'd gotten agreement with the Turks on how to shut it down.
MR TONER: Well, we have been working with them on how to --
QUESTION: And it's still --
MR TONER: We've been working with them. But again, these are difficult borders. I mean, I'm – borders are tough to control. That – border security, border control is difficult, even, like, as I said, in our own country, we struggle with some of these same challenges. So I'm not – it's not – I'm not saying that Turkey somehow isn't trying to make an effort to stop this, but I'm just saying that it continues to be a challenge.
QUESTION: But now Russia's trying to make an effort to stop this, apparently.
MR TONER: I have no idea. That's the first I've heard of that.
QUESTION: Maybe build a wall and have Syria pay for it. (Laughter.)
MR TONER: Go ahead, Tejinder.
QUESTION: Mark, one more. Lots of talks in the Arab media about the partition of Syria, which is a plan between – which is an American and Russian plan governed or – by the Secretary of State and Lavrov. Do you have any comment on this?
MR TONER: Only to just say categorically that it's completely untrue. The Secretary has said on multiple occasions, and I can find you chapter and verse, that the ISSG, this International Syria Support Group, the U.S., Russia – one fact they've agreed on all along is that Syria needs to remain whole, unified, secular. And that's been kind of a – the basis of trying to resolve the ongoing conflict in Syria.
Now, I think this misinterpretation comes from some of the remarks the Secretary made when he was on the Hill last week during hearings. And what he was saying – and I was in the hearings with him – the context was that if we don't get a cessation of hostilities in place, if we don't get a political process in place, if we don't end the ongoing conflict, the civil war, then worst-case scenario, you could see a partitioning of Syria. That was not by any way to say that was some kind of U.S. or anyone's idea of a resolution – not at all. We still maintain that we want to see a unified, secular, whole Syria emerge.
QUESTION: But now the Russians are talking about federalism in Syria too after the talks about the partition of Syria.
MR TONER: Again, our absolute focus on this is that we have a tentative cessation of hostilities in place, we need to firm that up, and then we need to get the opposition and the regime parties back to Geneva to start talking to each other so that we can get a political process in place that leads to a transitional government. That's our prime focus here.
Please.
QUESTION: What do you think about the opposition's – or an opposition official's statement that they regard the March 9th date for the resumption of talks as, quote, "hypothetical?"
MR TONER: I'd have to refer you to them, Arshad. I – what's my response is that they need to get back to Geneva. I mean, they and the regime need to both get back to Geneva. I can't say it should happen on March 9th concretely, that should be a date certain, but as soon as possible.
QUESTION: And how do you address their concern, which is that other elements of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 are not being respected, that there is not the kind of full access, there is not the kind of full adherence to the cessation of hostilities, that many of the things that they want simply haven't happened – therefore, why should they go back to the table?
MR TONER: But I mean, we talked a lot about this last week, frankly, when the situation was much murkier, before the cessation began, the cessation of hostilities began. We're – I'm not trying to paint too rosy a picture here, but we have seen, as I said, a marked reduction in violence. We have seen some of the areas that have been cut off from humanitarian assistance get that access. We need to do a lot more. We need to bring it and provide it consistently to all places. We need to improve across the board. But there have been, we believe, improvements on the ground.
Please, yeah.
QUESTION: Change of topic? Is that all right?
MR TONER: Are we done with Syria? Good. Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: The Dutch Public Prosecution Service wrote a letter with an update on their investigation into the downing of MH17. And in that letter, prosecutors write that the investigation does not have (a) any raw radar data and (b) any images of the location from which the missile was launched due to a clouded sky at the time. Yesterday, this letter from the Dutch prosecutor's office was widely discussed in the Dutch parliament, and here's what the Dutch MPs brought up. Four days after the downing of MH17, Secretary Kerry said on Meet the Press, quote: "We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory." Excuse me. "We know where it came from. We know the timing. It was exactly the time when the plane disappeared from the radar." End of quote.
It seems that the U.S. has everything that the Dutch investigators don't have right now, almost two years after the downing of MH17. So my question is: Has the U.S. provided Dutch investigators with the data that Secretary Kerry said the U.S. had?
MR TONER: I believe we have collaborated with the Dutch in their investigation. To what level of detail, I just don't know.
QUESTION: And specifically on radar data?
MR TONER: I would assume we'd, in a spirit of transparency, share whatever information we had. But we've always said that this is a Dutch-led investigation. We've also been clear about expressing what we believe happened and transpired with the downing of that aircraft. But we have supported the Dutch in carrying out, as I said, a transparent investigation of their own. I know we've collaborated with them; I just don't know to what level we've shared information with them. I'd have to look into that.
QUESTION: Well --
MR TONER: I don't have it in front of me. I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Well, the Dutch parliament grilled their officials over why --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- investigators don't have that data. They're saying they don't have it. They saw Secretary Kerry's comments, they saw the prosecutor's letter. My question to you: Has the U.S. received a request asking for that – for the data?
MR TONER: Again, I know we've offered our assistance, we've worked with the Dutch investigators. I don't know actually what was exchanged in terms of information with them. Frankly, I'm not aware of this latest story you're talking about or this incident with the Dutch parliament. But we've been very clear all along what we believe happened. And frankly, the initial outcome of the Dutch investigation supported that conclusion. But I just can't – I just don't have any details to offer you in terms of what we've offered them.
QUESTION: Can you find out?
MR TONER: I can look into it.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: Yeah, sure, (inaudible).
QUESTION: It's about – are you aware of the letter that lawmakers have sent to Indian prime minister, about 40 of them asking him to explain or to look into the rise in religious violations, violence against minorities?
MR TONER: I'm not aware of the letter, no.
QUESTION: I did not ask the question immediately – gave it two days that the letter --
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: -- should have reached here.
MR TONER: Who sent the letter? You said --
QUESTION: There were 34 congressmen and then five, six --
MR TONER: Okay. Sent it directly to Prime Minister Modi?
QUESTION: Yeah, with a copy to the State Department.
MR TONER: Okay.
QUESTION: And then here the American Muslim organizations are reacting, so in the – also in the light of Modi coming later this month. So is there anything you will – because even President Obama during his address had talked about this violence against religious minorities, which is on the rise. So --
MR TONER: Well, I mean, obviously, we take issues of religious tolerance and religious freedom very seriously here at the State Department. I'm just not aware of the letter, so I'll have to look into it and see if we have any reaction to it.
Please.
QUESTION: There have been complaints from the – former Secretary Clinton's campaign about the IG's office here, allegations that there is bias or unprofessionalism in the way he's been handling the – is it a she, he or – he – the person who's --
QUESTION: He.
MR TONER: He. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: -- he has been handling the investigation into the emails. I was reading about them in The Hill today.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Does the inspector general's office have the confidence of the current leadership in the State Department, including the Secretary? And do you think it's appropriate for the campaign to be complaining?
MR TONER: Well, as you know, the inspector general's office operates independently from the State Department – rightfully so, given their mandate to look into these kinds of issues. They need to have that kind of freedom. But I believe the Secretary has every confidence in the inspector general's ability to carry out his mission. I'm just – I haven't seen those specific allegations, but I doubt we'd really comment on them given that the IG's role is really to operate independently, look into the – whatever matters they're looking into.
QUESTION: Well, I guess the question is: Does the building share the – given that it is an independent operation and you do not speak for them, does the Secretary, does the building --
MR TONER: But I did say – I said the Secretary has confidence in the inspector.
QUESTION: Yeah. So you do not share the same concerns as Mr. Podesta?
MR TONER: Again, we have confidence in his abilities to conduct independent investigations.
Please, sir.
QUESTION: Change topics?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: It's actually less about the investigation. It's more about things that they see as being leaked.
MR TONER: Okay. I haven't seen these, but we have --
QUESTION: Partial --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Partial bits of information.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: But anyway --
MR TONER: Anyway.
QUESTION: -- the answer is no, the Secretary and the building has confidence in the IG?
MR TONER: Yes, yes.
QUESTION: Can I change topics?
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: Palestinian-Israeli issues?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: First of all, could you confirm to us whether an Arab member of the Knesset, Haneen Zoabi, had meetings here in the – she's in town. She's under suspension order because she visited with some of the families of Palestinians that lost children to arrange for the return of their bodies and so on. So she's been suspended from the Knesset. She's had meetings here. Can you tell us who she met with?
MR TONER: I don't – I can't. I apologize, Said.
QUESTION: Okay, no problem.
MR TONER: I don't have that information.
QUESTION: Now, my second question is regarding Mahmoud Muhammad Shaalan, an American teenager that was --
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: -- shot and killed last week. I asked you last Friday, I asked --
MR TONER: Yeah, you did.
QUESTION: -- Kirby on Monday. Are you following up with the Israelis to determine the circumstances under which he was killed?
MR TONER: So we obviously confirm that U.S. citizen Mahmoud Muhammad Shaalan was killed in the West Bank last week. We are in touch with the Israelis and have requested from them more information about the circumstances of his death. I don't have anything further to share at this point, but we are engaged with them and looking into the circumstances of this tragic incident.
QUESTION: Are you in touch with the family? Because his father and grandfather – he was there attending school, and his father and grandfather left Florida, I guess, to – last week. Are you in touch with them in any way or --
MR TONER: I can imagine in terms of – obviously – and I don't want to go too far here for – out of respect for the family's privacy, but in any case like this, our consular section or our consular officers would be in touch with the family in dealing with, obviously, whatever their needs were, but also the – repatriating the remains.
QUESTION: And my last question is: Today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his legal advisor for some advice on how to deport families of Palestinians that attack Israelis and so on to Gaza. Was that something that you would ask the Israelis not to do?
MR TONER: Well, seen those reports. I think I'll answer it this way: We would urge all sides to take affirmative actions that help restore calm and prevent actions that would further escalate tensions. In our view, this kind of step would only – or would raise, I guess, similar concerns that – to those we have about punitive home demolition, which we believe only exacerbate tensions on the ground and are counterproductive.
QUESTION: Yeah, but this – it's not even home demolition. This is deportation of --
MR TONER: I understand.
QUESTION: -- West Bank family into Gaza. That would be collective punishment, wouldn't it?
MR TONER: Again, we – and we've seen no confirmation of this. I've seen the reports of his remarks. I'd refer you to the prime minister's office, obviously. But we would be concerned.
QUESTION: New subject, but someone else can go.
MR TONER: You – yeah, Michael, do you want to?
QUESTION: I have a question about Turkey, as well about Greece.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: So don't look on Greece. Do you have any comment on Mr. Erdogan's new adventure? He said he had no respect for a decision by Turkey's top court to release two journalists held on charges of revealing state secrets. You make a comment on this?
MR TONER: You're talking about the reports that he's going to --
QUESTION: He said he's – he has no respect for the decision by a Turkish top court --
MR TONER: Oh, you're about – yeah, the Cumhuriyet --
QUESTION: Yes, yes.
MR TONER: The case where – well --
QUESTION: About the case of Cumhuriyet. You want to make a comment?
MR TONER: I mean, we welcomed, frankly, the court ruling that ended their pretrial imprisonment of these two – well, one was the editor-in-chief, the other was a bureau chief. And we're going to continue to follow their case closely. I mean, this is a core issue for us, freedom of the press, and we believe it's a core value for Turks, for Turkish society, for Turkish democracy. And it is, in fact, enshrined in the Turkish constitution.
QUESTION: Mark, do you think that he is trampling on the constitution? There are a lot of accusations in Turkey. Do you want to comment on this?
MR TONER: I'm not going to characterize whether he's trampling on the Turkish constitution. I'll just stay where I was, Michael, and just say very strongly that we're always concerned when any government attempts to muzzle or intimidate freedom of speech.
QUESTION: You always tell us here that Turkey is an ally of the United States. But you never tell us that Mr. Erdogan is an ally of the United States.
MR TONER: Of Mr. --
QUESTION: Mr. Erdogan.
MR TONER: Erdogan.
QUESTION: You always use the word "Turkey," Turkey is your ally. You never say about Mr. Erdogan. Do you think that Mr. Erdogan is a real ally of your country?
MR TONER: We work with Turkey, with the Turkish Government, with the leaders of Turkey on a variety of issues. They are a NATO ally. We don't agree on every issue, clearly, but we agree on a lot of things. We appreciate Turkey's strong support in the fight against Daesh and we're going to continue to work with Turkey.
QUESTION: So can we safely say that U.S. urges the Turkish leaders to respect the court decision?
MR TONER: Well, I think so. I mean, I – not exactly sure I'm going to endorse what you're putting in my mouth to say, but I think you can infer from my comments that we believe this is a freedom of speech issue and we supported the pretrial – their release from pretrial detention.
Is that it? Matt?
QUESTION: No, sorry.
MR TONER: That's okay.
QUESTION: North Korea. The sanctions --
MR TONER: Yeah. Oh yeah.
QUESTION: -- that were just put into --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: I don't expect that you're going to have a lot to add to what the White House and what the UN has already said about it.
MR TONER: Yeah. There's been a lot of information dumped into the --
QUESTION: Exactly. But since this building did have a role in deciding what kind of items were going to be covered by these new sanctions, I wanted to just ask the following question: Recognizing that this is a very – what I'm asking about is a very, very small and limited portion of this, and I recognize as well that it covers major items like aviation, jet fuel, cargo inspections; it covers all sorts of things that are – have broad significance. But on these – on the tightening up of the luxury – the bans on luxury exports, I'm curious as to why snowmobiles, recreational water vehicles, luxury watches, and lead crystal are included by name. How did you choose these specific items? I mean, has there been a surge in snowmobile exports to North Korea recently? Or have you just seen – I mean, every now and then photographs emerge from North Korea, like the new ski area that they've built. And in the background of photographs, you can see snowcats or snowmobiles, snow-making equipment, ski lifts. Is this a case of you see a photograph that KCNA puts out and say, "Ah-hah, there's something that is – if we ban it, it's going to hurt the elite"? The same with a yacht, which I assume is covered by recreational water vehicles. How do you know what to go after to target the elites there?
MR TONER: That's a great question, actually. And I – so given that, you're absolutely right in noting that we don't have a lot of visibility on what the quote-unquote "elite" in North Korea – how they live their lives, how they spend their time, except to know that they enjoy a level of affluence that the vast majority of the North Korean people do not share. That said, I think – and somebody from – clearly from the Department of Treasury could speak to this in greater detail, but I think we do have a sense of imports and what is brought into the country, what they look at, what these elite purchase, how they spend their money, to get a sense of where we can apply sanctions that would cause them some discomfort. And let's be very clear, that's the goal here, is not to obviously --
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: -- make the North Korean people suffer, but to go after --
QUESTION: But why --
MR TONER: Go ahead.
QUESTION: And I get that. But I --
MR TONER: But why those specific items?
QUESTION: Why snowmobiles? I mean, how is that – how does that really – I mean, how does that impact the elite, given the fact that there are already snowmobiles there? It's kind of too late, at least in the short term, until they break down or something. They've already got their snowmobiles, they've already got their yachts, and they've already got their lead crystal.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: And their watches, their whatever. So how do you pick them?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: So I guess it's a question that I'm just curious about; maybe someone could get back to me.
MR TONER: It's a great question, Matt. I wish I – as I said, I wish I had a more – a fuller, more detailed response for you other than to say that I think that as much as we have eyes on how they spend their money, what they look at, what merchandise, what goods that they purchase from abroad, we try to target those to limit, frankly, their ability to enjoy themselves.
QUESTION: Just a quick one. Do you have any comment on the reports that – on Philippine officials saying that China has sent several ships to a disputed atoll in the South China Sea? It's known as the Quirino Atoll, also as the Jackson Atoll. And according to the officials we're quoting, they may have sent as many as seven ships there, preventing Philippine fishermen from accessing their traditional fishing grounds.
MR TONER: I do. We are aware of these press reports regarding Chinese vessels operating near Jackson Atoll, and these are in contested areas of the South China Sea. As we have mentioned before, President Obama and leaders of the ASEAN countries in February at Sunnylands confirmed their commitment to maintain peace, security, safety, including freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as non-militarization and self-restraint in the conduct of activities in that region, the South China Sea. And the maintenance of these principles has created the conditions for the region's peace and prosperity. So we want to see them maintained and strengthened, and we want to see all claimants, including China, taking actions that respect those principles.
QUESTION: So does that mean you don't want the Chinese to send their ships to this particular contested area?
MR TONER: We don't want to see them using their ships to exert or to – how do I put this. We don't want to use them – see them using their ships, their navy to intimidate other fishing vessels in that region.
QUESTION: You said "aware of press reports." Is that because you think the Philippines haven't directly mentioned it to you or just because you haven't confirmed that?
MR TONER: I think we're looking to confirm it.
QUESTION: Go to Iran?
MR TONER: Sure thing.
QUESTION: Sorry, you said you're looking to confirm?
MR TONER: Yeah. I said we're aware of reports, but we still haven't been able to confirm the actual incident.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: Very quickly, do you have any comment on the results of the election? I think now most votes have been tallied and it seems like the extremists have been dealt a resounding defeat. You don't have a comment on that?
QUESTION: This is the Iranian election?
QUESTION: The Iranian elections, yes, of course.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: The Iranian election.
MR TONER: I mean, we've seen some of the results, but I think the interior ministry said yesterday that official results would probably take weeks, and there's probably going to be runoff elections as well. So we're not necessarily going to speak to the outcome of the election at this point in time. We're going to wait for all the formal results to be tallied and officially announced.
QUESTION: Would you agree with the assessment that signing the Iran deal helped Rouhani on the moderates in this election?
MR TONER: Look, I mean, our focus – the Iran deal – and we've said this many, many times – was keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That was our sole intent. Whatever else may come from it, whether it's greater cooperation with Iran in the region, whether it's a strengthening for the, President Rouhani on the ground in this political environment, that's – I can't really speak to that. The focus of the agreement, the JCPOA, was to prohibit Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and we believe it's going to accomplish that goal.
QUESTION: And lastly, I mean, I just – let me ask the question that Matt asked last week.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: You always issue statements when elections take place and if they are held according to international standards and so on. If it is decided by you or determined by you that it has – the Iranians have adhered to an international standard conducting this election --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- would you issue a statement?
MR TONER: I mean, it's --
QUESTION: Are you likely to make a comment?
MR TONER: Again, we have relative – as Matt does point out, but oftentimes we rely on international monitors or observers on the ground. That was not allowed in Iran. So we're basing our assessment on a variety of factors: international media reporting, reports from Iranians themselves. But it's – so we're still kind of formulating our overall assessment of the elections. But we – it's – we don't have the OSCE or some other international body saying, "These are free and fair, we declare them as such."
All right, guys, thanks.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:47 p.m.)
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