China News Agency, Washington, August 6 (Reporter Sha Hanting) U.S. Special Representative for Iranian Hooker announced his resignation on the 6th local time. US Secretary of State Pompeo later confirmed the news.
Pompeo issued a statement on the same day praising Hook for his performance as the US Special Representative for Iran in the past two years, calling him "historical achievements."
Hook began serving as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran in September 2018. He is mainly responsible for advancing U.S. sanctions against Iran. Hook himself did not disclose the reason for his resignation.
Pompeo announced that after Hook’s departure, Abrams, the current U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, will succeed Hook as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran.
A day before Hook's resignation, Pompeo said in a speech that the United States would submit a UN Security Council resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran next week, calling for an "indefinite" extension of the arms embargo on Iran.
According to the Iran nuclear issue agreement reached in 2015, the arms embargo on Iran will expire on October 18 this year. Pompeo said that if the UN Security Council fails to pass a resolution to extend the embargo, the United States will continue to impose an arms embargo on Iran through other means.
Since the United States announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018, the Trump administration has adopted multiple rounds of economic sanctions against Iran, involving industries such as oil, metals, and transportation. In January this year, the US military attacked and killed senior Iranian general Soleimani, causing further deterioration in US-Iranian relations. (Finish)