Marketing positions top the US agenda in the work of the United Nations

Mohamed Minshawi-Washington

The 74th session of the UN General Assembly will kick off later Monday with the participation of presidents, kings, princes and heads of government in most countries of the world, while absent from Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Washington is mobilizing to market its positions on international issues on that occasion.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo anticipated the start of the meetings, announcing on Sunday that his goal to participate in the annual event is "to meet the challenges of international peace and security threatened by the behavior and policies of repressive countries, led by Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Syria."

The US secretary of state said in remarks on Sunday that his country aims to "work with international partners to put an end to conflicts that cause great humanitarian tragedies and threaten regional security such as the ongoing conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Libya and South Sudan."

This year will see the participation of the new Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk, and is expected to hold a series of meetings with a number of US officials, and the issue of removing Sudan from the list of countries supporting terrorism on top of the issues addressed.

Trump encounters
On the sidelines of the General Assembly, the US president will meet with a number of world presidents. He is expected to meet his residence at the Intercontinental Hotel with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi later in the day. .

Before the meeting, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted that he ignored Trump's abuse of Egyptian opponents of the Sisi regime.

"Trump says Sisi is his favorite dictator," Sanders said. "I demand that the United States support human rights, especially in countries that receive large amounts of US aid like Egypt, and that all people should be allowed the right to protest for a better future. That right. "

Major US newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal highlighted demonstrations in Egypt calling for the departure of Sisi, calling them "rare."

Trump is also scheduled to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is unlikely because of the Aramco attacks, although Trump has repeatedly reiterated his openness to such a meeting.

Parallel activities
In conjunction with the work of the UN General Assembly, the US president is scheduled to participate this morning "New York time" in a conference on religious freedoms around the world, attended by a number of senior US officials, most notably Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

This issue, especially the part concerning the freedom of Christian minorities to practice their religion in a number of countries of the world, is of particular importance to the electoral base in support of Trump, who voted for him more than 80% during the elections held in 2016.

Also on Wednesday, a conference organized by the Union Against Nuclear Iran will be held with the participation of some senior officials in the US administration and Washington's allies.

Mike Pompeo is scheduled to speak at the opening of the conference, in which he will be addressed by Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Gulf Affairs Thamer Al Sabhan, followed by a speech by Bahrain's Ambassador to Washington Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa and Israeli Ambassador to Washington Dan Dermeer.

The conference aims to shed light on Iran's behavior since Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal, and focuses on how to confront recent Iranian policies toward limiting shipping in the Gulf. The conference will not be the first occasion to bring a Saudi minister with Israeli officials inside the United States.

The State Department is also expected to host a meeting of the Middle East Strategic Alliance (NATO), which includes the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan.