Trump Angers US Allies and Enemies for Farewell to Foreign Policy

President Donald Trump’s administration is entering his last week in office amid a spate of foreign policy activities, even as the president is at home under possible accusations and widespread criticism amid chaotic scenes of insurgency in the country’s capital.

The government this week designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and the Yemeni Houthi militant organization as a terrorist organization. Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo also raised his concerns over official US contacts with Taiwanese officials over the weekend and on Tuesday accused Iran of becoming a new “home base” for the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

The waterfall of developments has angered US allies and enemies, who are waiting for Trump’s departure and are preparing for a new government led by Pres. Joe Biden. But Trump’s activities since his election loss will hamper Biden’s efforts abroad.

An unnamed US official talking to Foreign policy describes the action as ‘firefighting diplomacy’.

Sunday’s announcement to list the Iran – backed Houthi movement, officially named Ansar Allah as a terrorist group, has raised concerns at home and abroad about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, where more than 10 million people after years ‘s war is on the verge of famine. , according to the United Nations.

A statement from the European Union said the decision to blacklist the Houthis “jeopardizes the UN’s efforts to reach a comprehensive solution to the Yemeni conflict.”

The statement said the move “would make it more difficult for Ansar Allah to engage in diplomatic and humanitarian and development work on political, humanitarian and development issues.”

The humanitarian situation is particularly urgent, the statement said. “The designation is likely to have disruptive consequences for the delivery of humanitarian aid funded by the international community, further exacerbating the economic crisis resulting from more than five years of conflict.”

International aid groups also expressed their dismay. The Norwegian Refugee Council said the decision “would hamper the ability of aid agencies to respond, and without additional guarantees and broader releases for the commercial sector, Yemen’s shaky economy would suffer a further devastating blow.”

Cuba was then added to the list of state sponsors for terrorism on Monday, joining Syria, Iran and North Korea. The Trump administration has reversed ties with Cuba and undoed the bilateral thaw under President Barack Obama, much to the dismay of US liberals and EU allies, who celebrated a key agreement with Cuba in 2017.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez dismissed the ruling as “political opportunism” that would be “recognized by those who are genuinely concerned about the scourge of terrorism and its victims”.

The Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement that he was “furious” about the designation, especially so shortly after the uprising and storm of the Capitol in Washington, DC last week.

“It is essential that the list of the state’s sponsor for terrorism be used judiciously to maintain its seriousness and integrity, and that a country is never added to the list unless it meets the legal standard,” Meeks said. said. “I urge President Biden to add the reversal of today’s foreign policy failure to his long ‘to-do list’ when he takes office.”

Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday that Iran had become the new “home base” of the al-Qaeda group, claiming that the terrorist organization was embedded in Tehran and allowed to act there by the regime. The demands are dismissed by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as a “powerful lie”.

Pompeo has confirmed that al-Qa’eda’s top commander, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, was assassinated in Tehran in August – reportedly by Israeli agents, where he was given accommodation and protection by the Iranian government.

But Pompeo has offered no significant new evidence that al-Qaeda has moved major operations to Iran, even though some of its members live there. The group still has a significant presence in the Syrian province of Idlib, Yemen and the Sahel region in North Africa, all regions where they still hold territory and start armed operations. The same does not apply to Iran.

Pompeo’s allegations have been met with skepticism, and – like widespread sanctions against Iranian targets and military stance in the Persian Gulf – appear to be designed, at least in part, to undermine Biden’s expected re – entry talks with Tehran.

Among those who denied the allegations was Zamir Kabulov, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, who told Sputnik the allegations were “absolutely unfounded and unreasonable.” Asked if he had seen any new evidence, Kabulov replied: “There is absolutely no information.”

Russia is among the signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, from which Trump withdrew in 2018. Along with co-signatories China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Russia has consistently pleaded for Iran and the US to return to compliance with the JCPOA.

Russia, China and the European parties have repeatedly criticized Trump and his allies for their “maximum pressure” strategy, which seeks to collapse the Iranian economy and isolate the regime to force negotiations for a new, more restrictive nuclear deal.

The Trump administration has failed to garner allied and UN support for new sanctions against Iran related to the JCPOA violation, and for extending a ceasefire in Tehran. The Iranian regime celebrated the failure of the US as a US defeat and a testament to the isolation of the Trump administration on the world stage.

On Saturday, the State Department angered Beijing by lifting its official contacts between U.S. and Taiwanese officials; part of the US strategy to prevent it from provoking China while still maintaining contact with Taipei.

China considers Taiwan to be an idiosyncratic province and is committed to placing it under violence under Chinese Communist Party, if necessary. The US has long supported Taiwan with arms sales and military deployment, but does not recognize the democratic island.

In a statement, Pompeo said the State Department had long “created complex internal constraints to regulate our diplomats, service members and other officials’ interactions with their Taiwanese counterparts.”

“The United States government has taken these actions unilaterally, in an effort to appease the communist regime in Beijing,” he added. “Nothing more.”

Chinese state media quickly accused Pompeo of maliciously inflicting a long-lasting wound on the ties between China and America. One official from the official Xinhua News Agency said on Sunday that Pompeo “is only interested in unjustified confrontations and has no interest in world peace.”