Anthony Blinken, who was named by Joe Biden to take over the US State Department, confirmed that the administration is ready to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran, provided that Tehran again fulfills its obligations.
Blinken added - during the hearing to confirm his appointment before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday evening - "We will resort to this as a starting point, with our allies who will again be on our side, seeking a stronger and longer-lasting agreement," considering that this matter is supposed to include the Iranian program. Ballistic missiles, in addition to stopping Tehran's "destabilizing" activities in the Middle East.
He stressed that the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015 by President Donald Trump's decision has exacerbated the Iranian nuclear threat, stressing that Iran will be more dangerous than it is now if it acquires a nuclear weapon or is about to manufacture it quickly.
Blinken pointed out that the time it would take for Iran to make enough fissile material to build a single nuclear weapon has decreased to 3 or 4 months after it was more than a year under the 2015 nuclear deal.
The position of China
In another file, Blinken said that "there is no doubt that China poses the greatest challenge to the United States more than any other country."
He believed that the United States should start the rapprochement with China from the principle of strength, not the principle of weakness.
He added that part of that force is in working with allies and partnering with international institutions.
The two-state solution
On the Palestinian issue, the incoming US Secretary of State said that President-elect Joe Biden believes that the only viable settlement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a "two-state solution," but he doubted that this solution could be achieved in the short term.
Blinken immediately called on the Israelis and Palestinians to avoid taking steps that would complicate this process.
The outgoing US President Donald Trump was a great supporter of Israel, as the Palestinian National Authority refused to deal with him because of his bias in favor of Israel, especially after he declared occupied Jerusalem the unified capital of Israel, and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Houthi group
On the war in Yemen, Blinken pledged to immediately reconsider the decision of outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to designate the Houthi rebels in Yemen a "terrorist organization."
"We will propose to immediately reconsider this decision to ensure that humanitarian aid is not impeded," Blinken said.
A US decision to consider the Houthis a "terrorist organization" came into effect on Tuesday, on the eve of the end of US President Donald Trump's term and the start of Joe Biden's presidency.
And the US Treasury announced, in a statement Tuesday, that relief organizations and humanitarian supplies are exempt from the consequences of listing the Houthis on the terrorism list.
She explained that the exemption aims to allow relief organizations, including the United Nations and the Red Cross, to support humanitarian projects, building democracy, education and protecting the environment in Yemen.