Blinken said that a review was routine for any new administration to ensure that a sale “advances our strategic objectives”. Pompeo had pointed to the Houthis’ ties to Iran, an arch-nemesis for the Trump administration, which piled sanctions against the Shiite clerical regime. Blinken confirmed that the Biden administration wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal trashed by Trump – but rejected Iranian calls to act first. Iranian officials fear that the US – where Trump’s Republican Party, narrowly in the minority in Congress, remains adamantly opposed to the nuclear deal – will not fulfil sanctions relief even if Tehran goes ahead. Israel, in turn, is strongly critical of the nuclear deal, with its military chief publicly warning this week that military plans are being drawn up to use if needed.

Source: Libya Today January 27, 2021 22:30 UTC