Daily Press Briefing
John Kirby
Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
May 3, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
SYRIA
IRAQ
SYRIA
DEPARTMENT
RUSSIA/UKRAINE
HONDURAS
PAKISTAN
TURKEY
IRAQ
SOUTH KOREA/IRAN
DEPARTMENT
TRANSCRIPT:
2:50 p.m. EDT
MR KIRBY: Okay, everybody. I don't have a topping statement or an opening statement, so we can get right at it.
Anybody else? Pam?
QUESTION: Following up on what the Secretary had to say about Syria, first, a couple of questions concerning this – the teams that are working for this new ceasefire agreement in Aleppo. What's different about this agreement in terms of teeth? What's there? Has either side received any assurances that the Assad regime is buying into this and willing to acknowledge terms of this agreement? In other words, what makes this different from what was negotiated in February?
And then secondly, Foreign Minister Lavrov earlier today in his news conference with de Mistura mentioned that there was a U.S. monitoring center in Geneva, an enhanced center that was going to be looking at ceasefire violations. Can you elaborate on this new agreement? And how is it different from what had been in place previously?
MR KIRBY: Okay, there's a lot there. As the Secretary indicated, our two teams – U.S. and Russian teams – are working right now to try to get the modalities here in place for additional cessation compliance in other places in Syria. And as he said, Aleppo is very much part of that discussion. I don't want to get ahead of that meeting or decisions that they may or may not make. I think when they're done and when we have an agreement on the way forward, we'll be able to speak to it with more specificity, so it just wouldn't be wise for me to get ahead of decisions that haven't been inked at this point.
It is – as the Secretary indicated, it is a continuation of the cessation efforts that have been in place now for a couple of months. And we've seen it break down in certain places and obviously Aleppo's one of them, and so we want to make sure that we are adding renewed energy to the effort to get it restored where it needs to be restored. And that's what this is really about. When the modalities have been finally set into place, then we can talk about what that means and with more specificity, but again, that work is still ongoing. I won't get ahead of it.
On Geneva, I think you heard the Secretary speak to this idea himself in the last couple of days when he was in Geneva about having a more concerted effort and perhaps additional resources applies to a 24-hour ability to better monitor – more effectively monitor – the status of the cessation. That is all, again, part of this discussion that's going on literally today. So again, I don't want to get ahead of it. When we have all the details worked out, we'll certainly lay those out for you.
QUESTION: John --
QUESTION: Following up, but just --
MR KIRBY: Hang on a second, Said.
QUESTION: Following up if I can, with this new U.S.-Russia team, are there consequences for violations? You have more people – a higher level of people involved in monitoring, but then what's the next step when violations are identified? Is there something different there?
And then secondly, looking at the team that's going to – that's meeting today, can you shed a little bit more light on who's on this team and exactly where they're meeting?
MR KIRBY: Well, as I think the Secretary indicated, part of the effort will be in Geneva. I don't have additional details in terms of who exactly is on the team.
On the first question, I mean, we've actually talked about this many times. I mean, this isn't about enforcement in sort of a kinetic, physical way. It is about monitoring and being able to analyze compliance and then, when able – and there have been times in the past couple of months when the task force has been given the information that they've been able to receive to actually prevent violations from occurring. Largely it's about analyzing the data and the information we get on reported violations. And as you might suspect, some of these are parallel reports, and so you might get two or three or four reports on the same violation. That doesn't mean you had four violations. You had one, but it was observed from different corners.
And so this will give us a better – this will enable us to do it better, more effectively, more efficiently, and we – as the Secretary indicated in his conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov, there'll – we also to intend to redouble our efforts at using our influence – Russia using their influence on the Assad regime; the United States using its influence on certain opposition groups – to keep them in observance of the cessation of hostilities.
QUESTION: John.
MR KIRBY: Said.
QUESTION: Follow-up. Now, the Secretary talked – he basically warned the Syrian regime that this war will not end. Is he basically saying that if the – in the event that the ceasefire collapses, that we will implement plan B, which is basically to go and arm and maybe aid militarily directly to the opposition?
MR KIRBY: What the --
QUESTION: Is that he was saying? Because he was very strong.
MR KIRBY: He was, but what he was saying was that the whole process has to succeed or the war won't end, not just the cessation. The cessation and the humanitarian delivery all are key components, but so to – and he talked quite a bit about the political process and getting the political talks back on a productive track. And they have – obviously, they have stumbled. They have not been enormously successful so far. So that's the real key here, and what he said was if those things can't happen, particularly the political process, then the war won't end. There won't be any incentive for it to end, and that's what he's really focusing on.
Now, your question about plan B – we've talked about this. The focus is on the process that's in place because – I think the Secretary said it very well for himself. I mean, he still firmly believes that that is the right approach and that's the approach that we're putting our energies into. It would imprudent, it would be irresponsible if there weren't other places in the U.S. Government that were thinking through options and alternatives to that. We have to do that. And the Commander-in-Chief has made it clear that he wants everybody to do that. But that – but even he has said that whatever alternatives there may be to, quote-unquote, "plan A," they're not good ones. They're not great. They're not the ones that we want to pursue. We want to pursue this particular track, and the Secretary still believes firmly that (a) it's the right thing to do, and (b) that it can succeed.
QUESTION: Now, also the Secretary used the term "carve out" – if Assad keeps trying to carve out a – some land in Aleppo and so on. I mean, Assad is really the president of Syria; it's the government that is recognized by most everybody in the world. While you have whatever opposition that is aided by foreign governments, by all accounts – I mean, even the Secretary himself mentioned countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and so on. So is he saying that there is some sort of equanimity between, let's say, the Syrian Government that is recognized by you guys and by those opposition forces? And if not, then why don't you recognize them?
MR KIRBY: I don't think that's at all what he's saying, Said. I mean, I think, again, I can't say it better than he did, that Assad has – and we've said it before – has lost legitimacy in his own country, and it's clear from what's going on – the civil war over five years, the growth and the influence of Daesh in the last two years – all are strong indications that there is no legitimacy coming from the regime, and you can't call yourself a government and gas and barrel bomb your own people, starve them to death, which is what he's doing.
So this isn't about recognizing legitimacy at all. Quite the contrary, it's about trying to get us – the international community, but more importantly the Syrian people – to a government there that is responsible, responsive to their needs, and can be recognized as legitimate throughout the country.
Yeah, go ahead. I'll come – Margaret, I'll come right back to you.
QUESTION: The cessation of hostilities that the U.S. and Russia are now working to establish or re-establish, particularly in Aleppo, will it involve not attacking al-Nusrah?
MR KIRBY: Will it involve not attacking al-Nusrah? No. Al-Nusrah – the Secretary talked about this – they are not party to the cessation. They are a recognized terrorist organization by the UN and are not party to the cessation.
QUESTION: Sir, last week a U.S. military spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said that it's primarily al-Nusrah who holds Aleppo. I know that the U.S. and Russia have been working to delineate terrorists from rebels. How is that work going?
MR KIRBY: So a couple of points there. As I – I think I got asked this question too, and as I said at the time, we still – and I think you heard the Secretary talk about it today – I mean, Aleppo is a very mixed, fluid, dynamic environment. And we have seen examples where groups like al-Nusrah and Daesh intermingle themselves with others so as to help protect themselves from attacks. So it's very fluid, very dynamic. Aleppo remains that way.
Your second question, in terms of how it's going – I think, again, I'd point you back to what the Secretary just said. I mean, the – we continue to work very closely with the Russians towards a better application of the cessation of hostilities and better compliance throughout the country. That's why these teams are meeting today, and hopefully later today – hopefully – we'll be able to lay out with more detail exactly what the progress is that's being made in terms of reaffirming the cessation in additional places throughout the country.
QUESTION: So the FSA put out a statement saying, "We, the armed groups from across Syria, will form a single bloc. Any offensive that takes place in an area where our units are present will be regarded as an attack against all the units throughout the Syrian territory and we reserve the right to respond to it." Thirty-seven military units endorsed this statement. Given the fact that some of these units are in Aleppo and they are known to be difficult to separate from al-Nusrah, what do you think about their position that if any one of them is attacked in Aleppo, that the whole cessation of hostilities across Syria is out the window?
MR KIRBY: Well, I haven't seen the comments, but let me just --
QUESTION: It's a quote.
MR KIRBY: No, I'm not disputing that. I haven't seen it, but I'm happy to address the issue. It is – their frustration is understandable given the constant attacks that they've been under by the regime, particularly in Aleppo. But you heard the Secretary say himself in his opening comments that we want all parties – and that means all parties – to abide by the cessation of hostilities and to not look for opportunity to escalate the violence either there or elsewhere throughout the country. We want everybody to abide by it, and that's why he went to Geneva the last couple of days, that's why he had – he talked so intently with Foreign Minister Lavrov yesterday, and it's why our teams – the U.S. and Russian teams are right now working on trying to get this cessation reaffirmed in other places.
QUESTION: But do you support this particular position expressed by the other side?
MR KIRBY: I think I would just point you back to what the Secretary said himself, which is we want all parties – everybody – to abide by the cessation of hostilities, and when we are able to come to an agreement on some additional modalities, to agree to that. And as the Secretary said, we, the United States, we have a responsibility here too because we do have influence over some groups and we – he is going to hold us to account. And his expectation is that we will use that influence in an appropriate way on those opposition groups that we have influence on, just like our expectation is that the Russians will use their influence to appropriately shape and mold the conduct and behavior of the Assad regime.
QUESTION: Just one more. The FSA said that they support the decision of the High Negotiations Committee to withdraw from the Geneva talks. What is the U.S. communicating to the FSA with regard to this?
MR KIRBY: Well, we obviously want the talks to continue, and our message has been consistent and the same – that we want to see the UN-led peace talks resume and to achieve some success here. As the Secretary said when we were in Moscow, we agreed with the Russian Government that we would set 1 August as the timeframe to do that. So we obviously want to see that succeed. Our message has been the same to the opposition, the HNC, and all opposition groups: We want to see them back at the table.
We also recognize their frustration. We recognize the concerns that they expressed during this last round, and why, out of frustration, they stopped talking – because the regime had been violating the cessation so blatantly, so overtly, in particular in Aleppo. So there's obviously more work to be done here, but our message is exactly the same.
QUESTION: Kirby, the Secretary talked a lot about press freedom. Can you tell us if the Assad regime is still holding Austin Tice, is he still alive, and what his status is?
MR KIRBY: The truth is I think there's still more information that we need. Austin is never far from our minds and I can tell you that we continue to very energetically try to get more information about his whereabouts and to stay in touch with his family as much as we can about that. But there's still a lot we don't know. I can just tell you that it's very much – very much and very close on our minds here.
QUESTION: Syria?
QUESTION: So it's still unknown if he is with the Assad regime, just that he remains in Syria?
MR KIRBY: I think – I think we're still trying to get better information about his whereabouts and his condition. I think I have to leave it at that.
QUESTION: Syria?
QUESTION: I have a question on Iraq but I don't know if you need to come back to me on that.
MR KIRBY: Are you going to go to Iraq?
QUESTION: Syria.
MR KIRBY: Syria, okay.
QUESTION: Yeah. We were not --
MR KIRBY: All right, we'll stay with you and then we'll come back.
QUESTION: There are some local media reports – I don't know if you have seen them – in the Middle East that they're suggesting there are talks between the United States and the Assad regime, and some media reports are also hinting at the possibility of a meeting between – of a talk between Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem of Syria. Is that – does that have any truth to it?
MR KIRBY: No, they're not true.
Margaret.
QUESTION: On Iraq, Baghdad seems to be in the middle of a major political crisis at the same time that you saw this fatality of a U.S. serviceman today. And I'm wondering what the assessment is as the U.S. tries to get diplomatically engaged here – I mean, how much that crisis imperils the combat mission.
MR KIRBY: Well, so a couple of points there. You referenced getting engaged diplomatically. I would argue that we have remained engaged diplomatically with the Abadi government. I mean, the Vice President was just there; Secretary Kerry was there just a couple of weeks ago. We very much continue to support the political reforms that he's putting in place and we recognize the political challenges that he's facing in Iraq. But he is trying to enact reforms that are in keeping with the Iraqi constitution, and again, we're going to continue to support him in that effort.
And I think the Pentagon spoke to this earlier today and I will just restate it – that there has been no impact on the military mission to go after Daesh inside Iraq as a result of the political challenges that Prime Minister Abadi is facing right now. We continue to – at least the United States continues to be a major contributor to the coalition. Just over the weekend, nearly 60 airstrikes were conducted against Daesh targets. So that effort continues apace. It doesn't mean that we're – it doesn't mean that we're not continuing to engage with Prime Minister Abadi, not continuing to talk with him, not continuing to watch the situation there closely, but there's no impact on coalition operations.
QUESTION: But he's the commander-in-chief and his political stability seems to be in question. So at what point does that not imperil the ability or the mission to shore up his government, which is what the U.S. is doing fighting alongside his military?
MR KIRBY: Well, I don't --
QUESTION: I mean, if he can't keep his government together, doesn't that hurt the U.S. effort to support his military to try to fight ISIS?
MR KIRBY: I don't think it would be valuable to speculate right now in terms of what might happen in the future or what the effects might be on the military effort. What I can tell you is that he is working through these challenges and they are difficult, but we continue to support him as he does that. And the reason why, Margaret, is because we believe and have believed from the outset that the best antidote and the most sustainable antidote to a group like Daesh in Iraq is good governance and it is political reform, the kinds of reforms that he's trying to pursue. So there is a linkage here in terms of being able to sustain a defeat of a group like this, but I don't believe we're at a point now where I can say with great specificity that while this is the line, this is where it – this is where it impacts it. Thus far he continues to work these challenges through the constitution with the support not just of the United States but other coalition members. And the Iraqi Security Forces continue – even as you and I are talking today continue to – the fight against Daesh in places out in Anbar and, as a matter of fact, just recently secured some success in Haditha.
So they are, even for all the challenges he's facing in Baghdad, elsewhere in the country – not everywhere but elsewhere in the country – the Iraqi Security Forces are doing a good job and they're going after – going after these guys. We're certainly helping that effort. You mentioned the casualty today as a stark example of that, that advise and assist mission. But we have not seen a diminution of the effort to go against Daesh as a result of these political challenges, and I don't think it would be wise to try to speculate as to at what point one way or another you would see that happen.
QUESTION: Is the U.S. trying to mediate between the Sadrists, the Abadi government, and all these other fractured parties to try to keep Baghdad together?
MR KIRBY: We're not inserting ourself into internal Iraqi politics in that way. Obviously, our ambassador there, Stu Jones, is in contact with the Abadi government, as he has been, as we have been for a while now in terms of supporting the kinds of reforms that Prime Minister Abadi is putting in place. But we're not taking a mediation role.
Yeah, Nike.
QUESTION: Yes, I have a quick question on Aleppo and some other questions. We see some reports on the safety zones inside Aleppo. Could you explain how that work and does the United States support that?
MR KIRBY: Actually, Nike, I think, again, the Secretary talked about this quite a bit at the top of the briefing today. I don't know that I'm going to elaborate much more than that. This is – it's about reaffirming the cessation of hostilities in places where it is working and maybe can work better and in places where, obviously, it has fallen down and broken down, such as Aleppo. It's not about – it's not about safe zones. It's about a nationwide cessation of hostilities. As I said yesterday, what we'd like to see is the entire nation of Syria be safe so that the millions of refugees can come home and they can have a government that's responsive to their needs and they can earn a living and raise their kids in safety and security. That's what we want to see.
And so the focus here is on a nationwide cessation of hostilities. Yes, there is some effort now to try to specifically get it in better condition in certain places where it has proved challenging lately, but it's not about – it's not about zones.
Okay? You had another question?
QUESTION: Can I ask about World Press Freedom Day? Do you have another journalism to – journalist to feature since today is the day? And I remember last week, according to a press release, the State Department is going to feature every reporter until today.
MR KIRBY: We did. Yesterday was the last day of that, and then today being World Press Freedom Day, we brought the Secretary out to talk about the initiatives and what we're doing to support press freedom around the world. That was the schedule. I wasn't – I mean, we – yesterday was the last day we had planned to identify a single example. Obviously, there are many more than the six that we profiled over the last week, but we chose those six based on their specific circumstances.
QUESTION: Can I also ask about Ukraine? Do you have anything on the congressional efforts to tighten sanctions in – on Russia and not recognizing the annexation of Crimea? It was introduced by Congressman Eliot and some leadership from the Congressional Ukraine Caucus last week.
MR KIRBY: Well, so, as you probably expect, we're not going to speak specifically to this recently introduced pending legislation. Broadly speaking, our existing sanctions were imposed on Russia to pressure the Russian Government to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, including the restoration of Ukraine's control over eastern Ukraine. And we're committed to maintaining the sanctions that are in place until Russia fulfills its commitment under – commitments under the Minsk agreements. Sanctions related to Crimea are going to remain in place as long as Russia's occupation and purported annexation continues.
QUESTION: Do you think that will increase or – whether or not – one way or the other will increase the leverage for Washington to deal with Moscow?
MR KIRBY: Well, all I can say is we're going to continue to consult with Congress going forward here, but I think I'm going to leave my answer where I left it for right now.
QUESTION: One final question: Last month you put out a statement to condemn the Honduras activist – the murder of her, Berta Caceres. And yesterday arrests has been made regarding her case.
MR KIRBY: Yes.
QUESTION: Do you have any update on that?
MR KIRBY: Well, we welcome the announcement of the arrests in her murder. We're going to continue to closely follow the matter as the investigation continues and as the judicial process moves forward, but I think I'm going to leave it there for right now.
Yeah, Tejinder.
QUESTION: On Pakistan.
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: After your statement yesterday, Pakistan is saying they are disappointed, but they are also saying if they cannot get the F-16s from U.S., they will find jets from other places. They're indicating from China. Do you fear that this will strain your relationship with Pakistan?
MR KIRBY: These are sovereign decisions that nations make with respect to their defense needs, and I wouldn't – it's up for – it's up to Pakistan to speak to how they'll fulfill their defense needs. As for the relationship, as I've said many, many times, it's an important one. It's critical; it's vital in that – particularly in that part of the world; and it's a relationship we have absolutely no intention of losing focus on or diminishing in any way. But these are obviously sovereign decisions that Pakistan has to make.
QUESTION: A Pakistani minister of a cabinet rank has described the U.S. aid to Pakistan as "peanuts." Do you think this is appropriate description of U.S. aid to Pakistan?
MR KIRBY: I would just simply say that, again, it's an important relationship. We're going to continue to support that relationship. We are – we fully stand behind the kinds of support that we have provided Pakistan over the last many years with respect specifically to their counterterrorism capabilities and counterterrorism needs, and we're going to continue to look for ways to improve that cooperation as best we can.
QUESTION: But you don't have anything to say on the peanuts comment? It is peanuts, orange, apples --
MR KIRBY: I think I've answered the question.
QUESTION: World Press Freedom Day. This question was going to be for Secretary Kerry, but now to you. (Laughter.)
MR KIRBY: But I didn't call on you.
QUESTION: John, over the last three, four years during the Secretary's tenure here in this building, Turkey's freedom records in every aspect, whether press freedom or freedom of assembly or minorities and all that, have been backsliding very badly and dramatically. Do you think that this administration could have done something different or better, or do you see any responsibility on your aspect to make Turkish administration handle these issues better than they have been handling?
MR KIRBY: Well, a couple of points there. We've talked about before that the trend we're seeing in Turkey is not a good one. It's not going in the right direction. I think I've described it as worrisome, and I think we still believe that. We don't believe that restricting freedom of the press is healthy for any democracy, and yet, we still believe that Turkey can live up to all its democratic principles, the ones that are enshrined in its constitution, and we want to see them do that and we want to see Turkey succeed. We don't believe the path to success, democratically speaking, is by harassment or – of the media or restricting their ability to do their job, and we've said that many, many times.
We're going to continue to make that case as clear and as concise as we can privately and publicly with Turkish leaders. I don't think you're going to see that diminish. I don't think you'll see, as long as there's issues of press freedoms there, you'll see me shying away from it here from this particular podium either because it matters to us, not just because it matters to us – and the Secretary talked about how much it does – but because Turkey matters to us, and we want to see, again, Turkey succeed. They are a vital partner and a vital ally on some very significant regional issues, and we believe that a strong relationship, strong bilateral relationship with Turkey, which we have, is made stronger by having this trend – this press freedom trend that we talked about – improve.
Okay.
QUESTION: Turkey again, follow-up.
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: Another violence erupted yesterday in Turkish parliament. The representatives of HDP Kurdish party – one of them was actually, I think, Armenian but member of the Kurdish party. They were attacked by the majority party, AKP Party. Do you have any comments on this?
MR KIRBY: I'm afraid you're going to have to let me take the question. I haven't seen those reports, and so because I haven't seen them and I'm not in a position to verify them, I think you're just going to have to let me take that one.
Yeah.
QUESTION: I have a question. I have two questions, actually. The first one is about that military service member who was actually killed near Erbil a while ago. So how is the U.S. DOD is engaged in the fight against ISIS other than advisory and training roles?
MR KIRBY: Say – I'm sorry, say that question again. How are we what?
QUESTION: So the U.S. military presence in Iraq, how they're – are they engaged directly in the fight against ISIS? Other than advisory and training roles, what other role they will – they're actually playing? And if you could just tell us why he was killed. Was he engaged directly in the fight? That's the first question.
And my second question was – is about the visit of the HDP leader, Selahattin Demirtas, the Kurdish member of the Turkish parliament who was here last week. There were some reports he had meetings here at the State Department. Could you confirm that, please?
MR KIRBY: So let me take your second question. I don't think I have anything on that.
On the first one, first of all, our thoughts and our prayers, our deepest condolences go out to the family of the service member who was killed today in Iraq. And I think all of us should just pause and remember that there is a family out there that's grieving right now and I think we all should keep that foremost in mind.
I'm going to refer you to the Defense Department for more specifics about the circumstances under which that service member was killed. That's – they would have better information than I would. Broadly speaking, and again, I'm only going to stay at a very tree-top level on this because this is really a better question for the Defense Department, but broadly speaking, our central role – we have two central military roles in Iraq: One you've obviously seen is supporting coalition efforts through airpower. Number two, it's an advise and assist mission. The Pentagon spoke to this. I believe Secretary Carter spoke to this this morning with respect to this particular U.S. service member who was killed, that he was involved in the advise and assist mission when he was killed. But again, as for the specific circumstances, I think I'd point you to them, okay?
QUESTION: But if the situation deteriorates because of the local problems in Baghdad today, do you think that the U.S. will need to actually be more engaged just to make sure that ISIS does not gain more territories or the Iraqi army will not leave other territories to ISIS?
MR KIRBY: What's important is that the Iraqi Security Forces execute their campaign plan to defeat Daesh. That's what's really critical. We've talked about this many, many times. And again, I don't want to veer out of my lane here, but the forces that matter most in Iraq are indigenous forces, Iraqi Security Forces, and that is why we are supporting them from the air and that is why we are supporting them in an advise and assist capacity. And the United States has been very engaged in this effort, but we want to do this smartly and we want to do this through, by and with the Iraqi Government and Iraqi Security Forces. They are the ground forces that matter most.
And they are having success. They are pushing back on this group in Iraq. And Daesh has lost territory. They've lost fighters. They are struggling to recruit now. They have certainly lost territory and they are losing a significant amount of revenue in just – just since the fall they have lost a significant amount of revenue, about a third of what they once had total and more than half of once – what they were getting from oil revenues. So there has been success against this group.
I've got time for one more and then we're going to have to call it.
QUESTION: John.
MR KIRBY: I'm going to go here to Janne.
QUESTION: Thank you, John. Long time. (Laughter.) On South Korea – I just (inaudible) South Korea.
MR KIRBY: Yeah.
QUESTION: As you already know that South Korean President Park visited Iran and met with Iranian President Rouhani, would you please some comment on normalization of relationship of – between Iran and South Korea.
MR KIRBY: I – Janne, I think I'd refer you to officials in Seoul to speak to their – excuse me – to speak to their bilateral relations. That's not for us to speak to and certainly the president's --
QUESTION: The U.S. --
MR KIRBY: The president's travel is for her and her staff to speak to.
In terms of the U.S., we do not have diplomatic relations with Iran. I am not – I know of no plans to change that. We have engaged with Iran to secure the Iran deal and we engage with Iran specifically and limited to their participation in the International Syria Support Group, but there's no efforts to broaden that at this time. I mean, Iran still is capable of and continues to conduct destabilizing activities in the region. They are still a state sponsor of terrorism. We have significant differences with Iran. And would we like to see that change? Would we like to see their conduct change? Absolutely, but we see no indication that even as a result of the Iran deal that it is. And so we are going to continue to maintain the kinds of pressure on them and in that arena as we have, and certainly reserve the right to increase that pressure as appropriate going forward.
Guys, I've got to go. It's getting late.
QUESTION: Do you have any update on this program that you've talked about it being a good thing to relocate people who are under threat?
MR KIRBY: Oh, I don't have an update for you on that, Matt. It remains an option, but – and we're still discussing this inside the interagency, but I don't have a decision for you.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR KIRBY: Thanks, everybody.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:25 p.m.)
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