*Washington:* The US Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as President DonaldTrump’s secretary of state on Thursday, putting the former CIA director ina pivotal role to handle US foreign policy challenges such as North Koreaand Iran.
Pompeo, a former Army officer who was a Republican congressman, is regardedas a Trump loyalist with hawkish world views. He is already deeply involvedin diplomacy. Trump sent Pompeo to North Korea three weeks ago to meet withthe country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, ahead of a summit with the US presidentto address Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Senators voted 57-42 in favour of Pompeo, who had faced stiff resistancefrom Democrats worried about his reputation for hawkishness and past harshstatements about homosexuality and Islam. Pompeo will be forced quickly toaddress a wide array of other international challenges, including longconflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Chinese expansionism in Asia andRussian assertiveness.
Washington is also working with European allies such as French PresidentEmmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to decide whether totoughen an international nuclear agreement with Iran. Pompeo narrowlyavoided a historic rebuke by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pompeo, who became one of Trump’s closest advisers during his 15 months atthe CIA, faced stiff opposition from Democrats, who worried he might be tooclosely aligned with the president. While in Congress, Pompeo was anoutspoken opponent of the Iran nuclear accord.
But he said during his confirmation hearing that he was open to fixing,rather than blowing apart, the pact, which the West believes is key topreventing Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.