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Daily Press Briefing

John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
April 21, 2016

Index for Today's Briefing

YEMEN
DEPARTMENT
IRAN
RUSSIA/REGION
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
EGYPT
TURKEY
INDIA
PRESS FREEDOM
JAPAN
SYRIA
SAUDI ARABIA

 

TRANSCRIPT:

1:17 p.m. EDT

MR KIRBY: Hello, everybody.

QUESTION: Hello.

MR KIRBY: Thanks for being flexible today and starting a little bit early. I appreciate that.

QUESTION: We should do it more often. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: We're all for it.

MR KIRBY: Let's not get used to it. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Yeah. We want it at noon.

MR KIRBY: Noon?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR KIRBY: There's no way I'm going to be ready by noon. To get ready for your grilling takes me hours every morning. I can't be ready by noon.

Listen, so just a note on Yemen. The United States welcomes the start of the Yemen peace talks, which just began in Kuwait with an opening ceremony and which included the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and the Kuwaiti foreign minister. We understand that all parties now have arrived in Kuwait and are set to begin the talks. We believe – continue to believe these talks are vitally important for Yemen right now. We urge the parties to fully engage in good faith in order to end the military conflict immediately and to return to a peaceful political process.

We remain deeply concerned about the effects of the crisis in Yemen, both in terms of civilian casualties and, of course, the dire humanitarian situation there. We're encouraged by the recent cessation of hostilities in Yemen that has largely held. We continue to urge all parties to comply fully with the terms of the cessation of hostilities and to enable humanitarian access throughout all parts of the country and, of course, to exercise restraint in response to any reports of violations. We hope these talks will allow parties to build upon prior positive steps during the last round of talks, which were held, as you know, in December of 2015, and to continue to move towards a durable solution to the conflict. And again, the United States strongly supports the efforts of the UN special envoy in facilitating these talks and we'll be watching the progress of them very closely.

I know that yesterday we talked about meetings that the Secretary would be having in New York tomorrow, bilateral meetings. I – we are still working through the schedule. I do not have specific announcements to make with respect to exactly what bilateral meetings will happen or when. We're still fleshing out the schedule for tomorrow. As soon as I have a better idea, we will certainly get it to you. But that said, we still have every expectation that he will meet with Foreign Minister Zarif. I just don't know exactly when or – and how that's going to go, but no change to that. And then as we get more information about the schedule for tomorrow, we'll provide it.

Matt.

QUESTION: All right. Well, let's start with that, since that seems to be on the mind – minds, plural, of quite a few people today. You will probably have seen that Speaker Ryan put out a statement a little bit earlier today, which was somewhat enigmatically titled TGIF – you remember what that means, right?

MR KIRBY: I think the --

QUESTION: Yeah. Okay. So --

MR KIRBY: I think I know what it means.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR KIRBY: I think.

QUESTION: So he and others are concerned that Friday, the F in Friday, will bring some major announcement or maybe not even major announcement from the Secretary about Iran and sanctions relief, that this meeting will take place. And the reason that they think that that is going to happen or are speculating that that is going to happen is because of some comments the Secretary made after their last meeting on Tuesday, in which he said that at the meeting on Friday they would solidify things, possible actions, or whatever, clarifications, whatever, in terms of the sanctions relief. So can you – is this something that we should expect to see tomorrow, some kind of announcement?

MR KIRBY: Well, I don't want to get ahead of the Secretary's meetings in particular or the discussions that will occur in those meetings or that meeting in particular. So again, I don't want to lead turn this. But I think --

QUESTION: You don't want to what?

MR KIRBY: It's a military term – sorry – lead turn, get ahead of it. Sorry about that.

QUESTION: Yeah. Okay. Diplomacy --

MR KIRBY: See, Lesley's heard of it.

QUESTION: Diplomacy is what you do here, not – anyway, go ahead.

MR KIRBY: I'm trying. I'm trying. (Laughter.) But broadly speaking, I can certainly affirm for you that in these discussions with Foreign Minister Zarif tomorrow I fully expect that they will continue to talk about the sanctions relief process and the degree to which banks, foreign and domestic, as well as institutions foreign and domestic, are evaluating their options under the JCPOA and the degree to which they have before them a sufficient level of understanding to make decisions with respect to sanctions relief. So I think that is certainly going to be on the agenda of the discussion, but I – again, I don't want to get ahead of the actual meeting and --

QUESTION: All right. Foreign Minister Zarif has said in several different fora while he's been in the U.S. that he would like to see or that Iran in general would like to see the Administration be more quote/unquote "proactive" in terms of explaining or clarifying what is allowed, what is permissible, what is acceptable, and not – what wouldn't be subject to any kind of punishment. Is this something that the Administration's willing to do, to be more proactive?

MR KIRBY: I think we would argue that we have been active in trying to explain the components of the JCPOA and the way sanctions relief are supposed to be operating, and that we don't – that we aren't – certainly aren't actively out there encouraging people not to take a hard – not to better understand this for their own decision making, and that – and we certainly aren't – absolutely are not trying to become an obstacle in any way of foreign banks and institutions working with Iran through the sanctions relief process and doing legitimate business with Iran. We're not only not standing in the way of that; as we've talked about, we have made an active effort to go out and explain this to them, in something akin to a roadshow, where we have taken experts on this issue to go out and try to explain and answer questions and address these concerns. And you and I talked earlier about the letters that Mr. Mull sent out to governors and local leaders here in the United States too.

So we're doing this domestically; we're doing it overseas. We're going to continue to do that. So while I have seen the foreign minister's concerns, the Secretary has certainly been apprised of the foreign minister's concerns – he's made no bones about that, not only publicly but privately to us – we believe we are working hard to try to explain what the obligations are, what the responsibilities are, and what the opportunities are for foreign institutions and banks under the JCPOA.

QUESTION: All right. Last one, and it's not exactly the same, but it is Iran, and that is the – you may have seen that the Iranian foreign ministry is none too pleased with the Supreme Court decision from yesterday on the damages --

MR KIRBY: Right.

QUESTION: -- the payments. They called it theft and something – or a – and something for which the Administration, this Administration, would be held accountable.

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: What do you make of that? And are you planning – what are you planning to do?

MR KIRBY: Well, we've seen those comments, and obviously we don't agree with that interpretation. And as I said yesterday, first of all, this ruling was not unexpected, and it's consistent with the position that we took when the legislation calling for this compensation was actually signed back in 2012. We've consistently supported compensation for the families in this case. And the last thing I'll say – I said it yesterday, but I'll say it again – we certainly sympathize with the families who have lost loved ones in terror attacks that were supported by Iran. And as we did then, we continue to condemn Iran's support for terrorist networks around the world.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on the meeting for tomorrow with Zarif? So do you expect them to come any closer to some understanding of how to deal with this tomorrow?

MR KIRBY: Well --

QUESTION: And are Treasury officials going to be present?

MR KIRBY: Well, what I can tell you, again, without getting ahead of a discussion that hasn't happened yet, but since they've already met in New York and talked about this once, and I fully expect that it will be an issue tomorrow – I can't tell you with certainty that coming out of these meetings, the meeting tomorrow, there's going to be concrete decisions or proposals set forth. So let's let the meeting happen, and then we'll see where we are at the end of it. But what I can assure you is that the Secretary will continue to discuss this issue with Foreign Minister Zarif, understanding his concerns and the concerns of Tehran over the pace of sanctions relief in the form of opportunities by foreign banks and institutions – particularly foreign banks and institutions – to conduct legitimate business with Iran.

We have – I mean, our focus is on, as I said, meeting commitments under the JCPOA – ours, and making sure that they meet theirs. And we are meeting ours, have met ours. The Secretary takes seriously an implied obligation under those – under that – under the JCPOA to provide a sense of education and awareness about what's allowed and what's not. And that's why – back to Matt's question why we reject the criticism that we haven't been active, we have been. We have gone on the road to explain how legitimate business can be conducted with Iran under the deal – under the JCPOA. And we're going to continue to do that. We've done it overseas. We've done it at home.

So I don't have a specific – and it would be foolhardy for me to lay out for you everything that's going to be discussed before the meeting's even happened and sort of what the end result's going to be. So – but I can tell you that this is very much on the Secretary's mind. He takes seriously our obligations and he takes seriously what he believes our responsibility is to help provide a sense of education and awareness about what the opportunities and obligations are.

QUESTION: Are members from Treasury going to be – is it just Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif?

MR KIRBY: Yes, yes.

QUESTION: Just a quick follow-up. Is he going to focus just on the JCPOA issue, or is he going to talk about maybe other regional issues?

MR KIRBY: Every time that he has an opportunity to talk to Foreign Minister Zarif, there's usually – I mean, every time there's more than one thing on the agenda. This is clearly going to be a topic of discussion. It was on Tuesday, and I've said as much this week that it will be discussed tomorrow. But I have every expectation that he will use the opportunity to talk about other issues with the foreign minister. Syria and what's going on with the political process there still looms large. Iran is a member of the ISSG. I certainly wouldn't discount the possibility, the very distinct possibility, that they'll talk about Syria, as they did on Tuesday. And as we noted on Tuesday, the Secretary never misses an opportunity when he gets the chance to talk about our concern over detained American citizens in Iran.

QUESTION: Now, you repeatedly said that you have met your obligation under the JCPOA, presumably with your partners. Has Iran met all its obligations under the JCPOA?

MR KIRBY: They have been meeting – yes, they have met – they are meeting --

QUESTION: Right.

MR KIRBY: It's a continual process. It's not – but they are meeting their obligations under JCPOA, yes.

QUESTION: All right. Can you tell us where they are lacking in meeting those obligations?

MR KIRBY: No, I --

QUESTION: What areas?

MR KIRBY: They're meeting them, Said.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR KIRBY: I mean, they either are or they aren't. And in this case, they are.

QUESTION: Right. Okay.

MR KIRBY: So I mean, we're satisfied that they continue to meet their obligations.

QUESTION: Right. But you don't think that they're meeting their UN obligations, their overall UN obligations under--

MR KIRBY: You're talking about --

QUESTION: -- the resolution that includes the JCPOA.

MR KIRBY: Yes, absolutely. Under other issues in other – under the resolution with respect to the nuclear deal, yes, they're meeting all their obligations. But clearly – and we've been very open that they are not acting, again, consistent with their obligations under the resolution with respect to, in particular, the continued pursuit of ballistic missile technology.

Yeah.

QUESTION: New subject?

MR KIRBY: Sure. Are we ready to go to something different? Looks like we are.

QUESTION: Former SACEUR Admiral James Stavridis published an article in the Foreign Policy in which he argues for how to defuse tensions in U.S.-Russian relations, especially between the two militaries. And he's argued for some pretty commonsense things, at least they seem commonsense to me, like, for instance, bringing together the heads of the U.S. and Russian militaries in a high-level conference to review and reenergize things would be a positive step, or the United States must be transparent about military deployments around the Russian periphery, things like that. Does this Administration support this approach, those kinds of ideas?

MR KIRBY: Well, as I understand it, this op-ed was just produced today.

QUESTION: Yesterday.

MR KIRBY: And certainly, Admiral Stavridis has a long career and track record of knowledge and understanding and wisdom about European affairs, having, as you said, been the SACEUR, supreme allied commander, in Europe. So we have great respect for his service to the country and for his experience in European affairs and certainly continue to welcome all opinions about the situation and the relationship with respect to Russia.

What I can tell you is, as we've said before, that our relationship with Russia is important. It's also complicated. There are issues where we share common goals and objectives and interests, and on those issues we continue to work with the Russian Government. And we talked – I'm not going to give you a litany, but obviously the – they are a member of the ISSG, they co-chair the cessation of hostilities task force with us in Syria, and there's a lot of overlapping interest in Syria. It doesn't mean we agree about everything with respect to the political process and the future of Syria. I wouldn't say that. But they have certainly been a leader in that process, and their cooperation there, their input has been important.

QUESTION: Was your --

MR KIRBY: And cooperation has been important. They were a key player in getting the Iran deal. So there's obviously areas where we agree on; there's plenty of areas where we don't see eye to eye with the Russians. And we're not bashful about having those kinds of discussions with them. I'm not going to get into the habit of agreeing or disagreeing with every proposal put forth.

Again, we have great respect for Admiral Stavridis and his views, but we're – we – we are approaching the relationship with Russia from a very pragmatic perspective. The Secretary looks at it very realistically, and where we can continue to cooperate and communicate and have a meaningful dialogue and make progress on certain areas, we're going to do that, we're going to explore those opportunities. And where we have differences and where there shouldn't be business as usual with Russia, well, we're still going to hold to that because we still obviously have differences with Russia over Ukraine, for instance.

QUESTION: Fair enough, but the mil-to-mil dialogue was frozen by your initiative. And during this time of heightened tensions, don't you think it's – it just makes sense to resume it, or not?

MR KIRBY: Well, so first of all, this is a question better put to the Defense Department. They make decisions about military-to-military relationships, not the State Department. And what they have consistently said is that while there is the continued sharing of tactical information – and I don't want to get too much into the military operations – but what they have said is that for the purpose of safety, there has been the sharing of some tactical information with respect to the airspace over Syria that continues, but that there's – there is not now, nor are there plans to actively cooperate militarily with the Russian military in Syria.

QUESTION: Can we stay in Russia?

MR KIRBY: Sure.

QUESTION: Vladimir Putin has played a prominent role here recently in efforts to get the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan concerning Nagorno-Karabakh. Is Russia's unilateral diplomacy in State Department's – in the State Department's opinion overshadowing the work of the multinational OSCE Minsk group? And then a second question, and that is: What is the U.S. – the present role of the U.S. as a Minsk co-chair?

MR KIRBY: Well, so first of all, we continue to support the UN[1] process. We still believe that that's the way forward, that's the best way forward. And as you know, our Minsk group co-chair, Ambassador Warlick, visited the region with his Russian and French counterparts, making it clear that we want to see a return to negotiations and settlement immediately. And we remain firmly committed, again, through the UN[2], to working with the sides to reach a lasting peace.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Can I change topics?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Yeah, can I go to the Palestinian-Israeli issue very quickly?

MR KIRBY: Yep.

QUESTION: Okay. On the issue of submitting a UN resolution or draft resolution for condemning the settlements and so on, yesterday French sources were saying that the Palestinians are inclined to withdraw. Today I heard that they actually have done that. Have you in any way talked with the Palestinians? I know I asked you this yesterday, but let me ask again since this may happen in the next 48 hours or next week and so on: Have you talked to the Palestinians or pressured the Palestinians to withdraw or did you tell them that this is not helpful at this time that you submit a resolution condemning the settlements?

MR KIRBY: I'm not aware of any such communication.

QUESTION: Okay, all right. Let me ask you another related question. Today the French Foreign Minister Ayrault – I don't know if you know about this – but he said that they are trying to organize some sort of an international conference on the 30th of May that will include 20 different countries and that will exclude Palestinians and Israelis – presumably, you will be part of it and so on – and that would be followed by another meeting and so on. Do you have – can you shed any light on this? Are you aware of this? Are you part of this process?

MR KIRBY: Well, we've seen some press reports about this and we're going to wait to learn more from the French about this. Right now we're acting on – I mean, we're knowledgeable of press reports about it, so we're going to wait to learn more about it. But obviously we're going to remain committed to engaging with partners as we have on trying to find a constructive way forward.

QUESTION: And finally, I have a question about a Palestinian journalist that was sentenced to seven months in prison today named Mujahed Al-Saadi, working for Palestine TV, and he was also fined something like 200 or maybe $1,000 or something. But the charge is that he was consorting with the enemy by doing his news, by broadcasting the news. I mean, is that something that should in any way engender sort of – perhaps outrage on your part and so on, that journalists should be treated that way?

MR KIRBY: I don't have specific details on this case, Said, so rather than react to it, let me see if I can get more information. I mean, so – but broadly speaking --

QUESTION: Right, broadly.

MR KIRBY: Not to this case, I mean --

QUESTION: Okay.

MR KIRBY: -- our stance on independent media reporting is well known, and our support for press freedoms also very well known. I just don't have any information on this particular case.

QUESTION: But in principle, when newsmen and women do their business and tell the news, should that be considered as consorting with the enemy? Is that a very bad precedent?

MR KIRBY: You tell me.

QUESTION: No, I'm asking you. (Laughter.)

MR KIRBY: No, look, I mean, we – I just yesterday talked about – we had a lengthy discussion there with a Sputnik reporter about press freedoms and about the obligation – it's got to be free on both sides, right? Governments have to – we want governments to allow for it. We want you guys to espouse it and push – push it, not just at the newsroom, but at the editorial level too. So, I mean, our longstanding position on this is – hasn't changed and it isn't going to change. And while some people may not like what you publish and may consider it consorting with the enemy, from our perspective, as long as you have the independent freedoms and editorial freedoms that you need to do your job as journalists, then that's what matters most. And look, we're not always going to like what you do, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to do it.

QUESTION: Yeah, but – sorry, this is my last question – with Palestinian journalists, it's not only the Israelis. I mean, they are constantly being harassed, beaten, imprisoned, and so on by the Palestinian Authority for a whole host of issues. So there is no one – seems to have no one to protect them unless there are some really strong kind of statements saying that this does not mesh in any way with international standards from this podium and other podiums.

MR KIRBY: Well, I can't – I don't think we can – I don't think we can be more assertive here at the U.S. State Department than we have been in terms of the importance of press freedoms and the ability for journalists to do their jobs. And when we see that freedom curtailed, when we see journalists being persecuted for trying to do their jobs, we speak up about it. And we don't just speak up about it here from the podium, Said. We take this case directly in private conversations as well all around the world. And I have – I don't know how many times we've talked about it here and confirming, in fact, that we are making that case in diplomatic channels as well.

And look, there's no question about it – and just take a look around today – that the business of journalism is a dangerous business and many of your colleagues are out there not just – I mean, they're literally risking life and limb to cover some really important stories. And we believe that that courage, the moral courage of being a journalist today – as well as, sadly in too many places, the physical courage that is required – should be commended and should be encouraged and should be protected. Sadly, it isn't always, that there aren't governments out there that are willing in every case to look after journalists in that regard, to ensure that they have the freedom of movement and the access they need.

And again, when we see that it – that that's the case, we're going to make the case, and we're not just going to do it here from the podium. It's not just the spokesman at the State Department railing about this. This is something our ambassadors all around the world are keenly focused on, and where and when they need to involve themselves in it, they do.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Go to Egypt?

QUESTION: On – just on Israel, one last one. Was – and I may have missed this – was there ever a response to the Leahy letter about human rights abuses in Israel?

MR KIRBY: I don't have an update for you on that right now.

QUESTION: So there's been no response?

MR KIRBY: I didn't say that. I just don't have an update for you. I'll have to check.

QUESTION: Wait --

QUESTION: I want to go to Egypt and human rights abuses.

QUESTION: Wait, wait, on this, did you guys – and I might have missed this; it happened last week at UNESCO, this – a resolution on Jerusalem was passed that has infuriated the Israelis. Did – if you guys have already spoken to this, no need to repeat it, but I'm just wondering, if you haven't, if you have any reaction to it. You voted against it – the U.S. --

MR KIRBY: That's right, we did. It was on Tuesday.

QUESTION: Oh, it was all the way last Tuesday? Okay. I thought --

MR KIRBY: At UNESCO's executive board meeting, the United States voted no on two one-sided resolutions, including one called "Occupied Palestine," related to the Old City of Jerusalem and its sacred sites. The United States believes these resolutions do not achieve positive results on the ground nor advance the good work of UNESCO and its mandate to foster peace and promote innovative global collaboration through education, science, and culture.

QUESTION: Can we go to Egypt? We have a story quoting unnamed sources as saying that the Egyptian police detained Giulio Regeni, the 28-year-old Italian post-graduate student who disappeared in January and who was later found dead and, according to reports, with marks of torture on him. Our report is that he was in the custody of the Egyptian police and then transferred to a compound run by Egyptian homeland security on the day he vanished.

Do you have any information to substantiate that and any views on whether the Egyptian Government should investigate whether or not their security forces had him in their custody at any point?

MR KIRBY: I'm not in a position to confirm – and I've seen the story – to confirm each and every point made in it. What I would tell you is that – and we have reiterated – that the details that have come to light since his death have raised questions about the circumstances of his death that we believe can only be answered through an impartial and a comprehensive inquiry. And we continue to call on the Government of Egypt to ensure that the investigation is conducted in a full and transparent manner and to fully collaborate with the Italian officials who we know are part of that investigation. And unfortunately, that's as far as I'm going to be able to go.

QUESTION: Just one thing: Can you confirm any aspects of the story, specifically the central one that he was in the custody of Egyptian police or security forces at some point on the day he disappeared?

MR KIRBY: I'm not able to confirm that.

QUESTION: And then one other related to this: Did Secretary Kerry raise his case and your view that the questions can only be addressed through an impartial and comprehensive investigation when he met either Foreign Minister Shoukry or President Sisi last week in Cairo?

MR KIRBY: That is the --

QUESTION: This week in Cairo.

MR KIRBY: That – these – that point that we believe an impartial and comprehensive inquiry is the right way to pursue this is something we have stated on numerous occasions publicly and privately. I don't have additional details with respect to his conversations with the president or the foreign minister to read out. But as I said yesterday, he absolutely raised our concerns over the human rights situation in Egypt.

QUESTION: But you can't say whether or not he raised this specific case?

MR KIRBY: I don't have additional details to read out to you from the conversation with the president or the foreign minister, but I can assure you that the issue of human rights and our concerns about the human rights conditions in Egypt certainly came up. Actually, I don't want to say "came up." He raised them. But I don't have additional details.

QUESTION: Turkey?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: There are three academics – Turkish academics who have been sitting in jail for signing peace petition to call on Turkey and PKK to return to peace talks. There are other hundreds of Turkish academics also are under investigations. Just want – you reacted in the past, but there's a trial tomorrow. One question is: What is – what's your assessment? Second is whether any American diplomats will be observing the trial tomorrow.

MR KIRBY: Well, first of all, we are following the case very closely. And as we have before, we continue to urge the Turkish Government to abide by its commitment to fundamental principles of democracy, which include due process and judicial independence, all of which, as we've said, are enshrined in the Turkish constitution. So that's very consistent with where we've been and we will watch this case closely.

As for specific attendance, I don't have anything to announce right now. As you know, it is common practice for our diplomats to attend these sorts of trials. I just don't have anything specific to announce with respect to this one.

QUESTION: Another Turkey-related question. Twenty-fourth of April is coming up. It is the day of commemoration for Armenian massacres, tragic events in 1915. Whether Administration this year – how do you think your Administration's going to define the events this year? Any change?

MR KIRBY: I don't have anything to preview for you on that. I don't.

QUESTION: Can we stay – one on Turkey, briefly?

MR KIRBY: Sure.

QUESTION: I don't know if you'll have any response to – reaction to this, but on the other end of the spectrum, the Turkish appeals court today overturned the convictions of a couple hundred people who were – who had been convicted in a coup – plotting a coup – of plotting a coup. Has that registered with you guys at all?

MR KIRBY: Yeah. Well, I've seen the reports. I would note that this is an ongoing case – court case, so I would just pivot back to what we said before, which is to urge the Turkish Government to ensure full respect for due process and equal treatment under the law. But as it's ongoing, I think that's as far as I'm going to go right now.

QUESTION: India?

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: Secretary Nisha Biswal is in India, and do you have any updates, any readout, the mission, accomplishments?

MR KIRBY: You're right; she is traveling to India, or is in India – I apologize – where she's going to meet with government officials and business leaders to discuss opportunities for greater engagement. She's also going to meet government leaders to discuss trade and business ties as well as a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues that will deepen our strategic partnership. She also is expected to meet with business leaders and students on U.S.-India economic relations and to promote U.S.-India ties.

QUESTION: You mentioned students. There was a – this fake university that was launched and students were – do you have any update on that? Are you tightening your visa issuing, especially from Hyderabad and those places?

MR KIRBY: No, I don't have an update for you. As I said before, this is the subject of an ongoing investigation. I simply won't get into details of that.

QUESTION: Okay, thanks.

QUESTION: Just to follow on India?

MR KIRBY: Go ahead, Goyal.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Prime Minister Modi has become a frequent traveler to the U.S. Now he has been invited on a state visit. My question is now that so much has been going on between the U.S. and India as far as so many ties – economic, trade, and diplomacy and among many, many other issues are going on – and now Prime Minister Modi I think is planning also to visit NASA because so much is going as far as U.S.-India and NASA program is concerned. My question here is that he has been here so many times and meeting and greeting prime minister – I mean President Obama and also high-level officials, and finance minister Jack Lew was here recently and they met with the Secretary of Treasury. And my question now: What is new coming between the two countries now that we have not – anything new agreements are going to be signed now between – during his visit as far as diplomacy and this building is concerned?

MR KIRBY: I would not get ahead of his visit or what the outcomes might be. We always enjoy having the prime minister here in the United States and to continuing to have a rich and constructive dialogue with him. Again, back to what I said about the assistant secretary going to India, I mean, there are lots of issues to talk about in this partnership and this relationship, and we look forward to deepening it. But I don't have anything specific to announce today.

QUESTION: May I have one question on diversity, please? Because it was – this was the issue last week at Council on Foreign Affairs, diversity in America, but that was in connection with the State Department how the State Department is playing – I mean as far as diplomacy is concerned in connection with diversity in America because so much has been going on. My question is: Is this issue comes when Secretary meets with other foreign leaders about this diversity because going on so much here, and what do you think about diversity?

MR KIRBY: What do you mean what's going on here?

QUESTION: I mean as far as diplomacy is concerned, diversity in America.

MR KIRBY: Well, look --

QUESTION: That was part of the George Washington University Elliott School at the function was held at the Council on Foreign Affairs. But most diverse people or audience was there, and what I'm asking you is this is the most diverse administration.

MR KIRBY: Yeah. (Laughter.) I'm sorry, I was just waiting for more --

QUESTION: Sorry.

MR KIRBY: You stopped abruptly and I wasn't ready for you to stop.

QUESTION: My apologies, sir.

MR KIRBY: No, that's all right. Look, I would point you to a speech that the Secretary gave last week in Miami. He went down there and spoke to Miami Dade College, talked to some honor students. And a core theme of that speech was the importance not just of public service but of diversity in public service. And he takes diversity here at the State Department very, very seriously, and it is something that he strongly believes makes us a stronger nation, makes us better diplomats, better representatives of the country, and only makes us more effective as an institution and, quite frankly, as a country. So we very much value diversity here at the State Department. And you're right; if you just look around this building you can see how diverse we are and how much we appreciate that.

And absolutely it comes up frequently when he's having discussions with foreign leaders. Oftentimes it comes up in the context of discussions about human rights, because we believe that respect for diversity and different opinions and different backgrounds, different cultures, all of that, that common respect, common respect for fellow human beings, can lead to better and more stable societies, better and more stable economies, and of course, much better and more effective diplomatic relations.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir.

QUESTION: John --

MR KIRBY: Yeah. Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Reporters Without Borders released a report yesterday ranking Japan as 72nd out of 180 countries on press freedoms. And just six years ago, Japan was ranked 11th, and so that's a significant drop in terms of press freedoms in Japan. Do you have any concerns? Is this a topic that comes up with the Japanese? It doesn't seem like it's particularly on the State Department's radar looking at some of the human rights reports.

MR KIRBY: I haven't seen the ranking that you're referring to, so I'm not going to – I'm going to refrain from commenting on the specific ranking when I – we just haven't seen it and I don't think I've had a chance to analyze that.

But again, broadly speaking – and I talked about it yesterday, I talked about it again today – press freedom is obviously extremely important to us and we are not bashful about speaking out about it where and when we should, where and when we can, and that includes discussions that we have with very close friends and partners and with countries that we don't have necessarily close relationships with. It's a universal principle that we adhere to here and we want to see other nations around the world adhere to it as well. I just don't – I just wouldn't comment specifically about a report I haven't seen.

Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Is it something that comes up with Japan, though?

MR KIRBY: I'm not going to detail every diplomatic conversation we have. You know I won't do that. But it is – as I said earlier, this is something that our ambassadors and our diplomats all around the world continue to talk with host nation officials about. I'm not going to detail each and every one of those conversations, but it is something we're always focused on and it matters a lot to us, and our ambassadors – it matters a lot to them and it's something that we – again, we're not bashful about speaking to.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Can we stay in Japan?

QUESTION: Can --

MR KIRBY: Japan? Were you on Japan as well?

QUESTION: No, Syria.

MR KIRBY: Okay, let me go to him and then we'll go to you.

Yeah, go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks. So there are reports President Obama has decided to visit Hiroshima. Can you talk about – give us some insight into Secretary Kerry's recent visit there and how that's laid the groundwork for a presidential-level visit?

MR KIRBY: Well, I'm certainly not going to speak to the President's schedule. That's for my White House colleagues to talk to, so I have – I'm in no way in a position to confirm or deny whatever reports you're seeing with respect to the President's travel.

As for the Secretary's visit, I talked about this earlier in the week and I certainly would point you to the press conference he held in Hiroshima right after his very important and constructive day there. I don't want to elaborate too much on that because there is so much already in the public record about it. I'll just tell you that he found it to be a very powerful experience. He called it gut-wrenching and he said then and I've heard him say since that it's a stark reminder of the importance of trying to get to a world without nuclear weapons. And he said then that he would recommend to anyone, everybody, if they have the opportunity, to visit Hiroshima, to go to that museum, to go to the peace park and to see it for themselves.

Ma'am.

QUESTION: On the Geneva talks, what influence do you think the HNC's suspension will have on the peace talks going forward?

MR KIRBY: The agency's suspension?

QUESTION: HNC, the opposition.

MR KIRBY: Oh, HNC, I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Not agency.

MR KIRBY: I thought you said "agency." (Laughter.) I'm like, what agency are we talking about here?

So look, they've – they're all still in Geneva. The talks have been paused. The special envoy, Mr. de Mistura, said that they were going to sort of take stock where they are tomorrow. I suspect you'll be hearing from him as the week comes to an end, and I would – I don't want to get ahead of any conclusions that he might have made yet in terms of future rounds of talks and what those – what those may or may not look like.

We're encouraged that all the parties stayed in Geneva. Obviously, we would have preferred that in staying in Geneva they also stayed at the talks; that didn't happen. But that doesn't mean that – and you might have heard President Obama speak to this a little bit earlier today – that doesn't mean that we're at all going to give up on the political process or the importance of trying to get all parties to continue to participate in talks.

Yeah, I'm afraid I'm going to have to go. I can take just one more, I'm sorry.

QUESTION: U.S.-Saudi relations. Earlier in the week, you addressed some of this concerning the proposed 9/11 legislation. But a follow-up question really, and I know that the Secretary has said that it would be a terrible precedent, but with the backdrop being the GCC meeting that just wrapped up, is there concern in this building – has the prospect of this legislation created friction between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia on the diplomatic front?

MR KIRBY: Actually, I think – I think our White House colleagues spoke to this a little bit from Riyadh today, that we have concerns about this pending legislation. We've talked about what those are. The Saudis have their own concerns and they've spoken to what those are. Has it had some sort of unalterable effect on our relationship? No, it hasn't. Saudi Arabia remains an important partner in the region on a lot of issues, on a lot of different levels. And again, the GCC meeting that just wrapped up in Riyadh – I think if you just look at the things that they discussed and the way it was talked about afterwards, you can see the broad agenda that was covered and remains so important in our bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia and with our multilateral relationships there with GCC countries.

Nothing's changed about our concerns about this pending legislation, and as I said before, we're going to continue to consult with members of Congress going forward on that. But the relationship with Saudi Arabia is important, it is strong, and we are going to continue to look for ways to deepen and broaden it going forward. There is just too much going on in that part of the world particularly where Saudi Arabian leadership is important, not to mention what's going on in Syria, where they, as a member of the ISSG, have been critical to trying to get the opposition together and unified to participate in these talks. Again, I understand that they've been paused again, but that doesn't mean that Saudi Arabia's leadership is not – has not been and will not remain critical going forward.

Okay.

QUESTION: Wait, wait – I'm just wondering, have you seen the news out of Havana that a Cuban – a pro-reform economist at the University of Havana think thank has been fired for a couple reasons, but one of which is allegedly sharing information with American officials ahead of the President's visit there? If you have, do you have any thoughts on it, and if you haven't, could you look and see if you do?

MR KIRBY: I'll have to take that question, Matt. I have not seen that report.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR KIRBY: Thanks, everybody.

(The briefing was concluded at 2:03 p.m.)

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[1] OSCE

[2] OSCE