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Thursday 20 July 2017
US-China trade talks close without breakthrough Iran’s president

says country will
By PAUL WISEMAN said the world’s two big- economy.” Chair Janet Yellen, Com- ‘stand up to’ US
JOSH BOAK gest economies need to After taking office, the merce Secretary Wilbur
AP Economics Writers cooperate and warned Trump administration Ross, U.S. Trade Rep. Rob-
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. that “confrontation will im- reached an agreement ert Lighthizer and President By NASSER KARIMI
and Chinese officials on mediately damage the in- with China to continue the Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Associated Press
Wednesday wrapped up terests of both.” high-level meetings that Jared Kushner, a White TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s
high-level talks without Treasury Secretary Steven were begun in the George House adviser. president said Wednesday
announcing any break- Mnuchin called for Beijing W. Bush administration and In a statement after the that it will stand up to the
throughs on the conten- to provide more access to continued in the Obama meeting, Mnuchin said the United States and recipro-
tious economic issues that U.S. firms and to help re- administration. two countries agreed to cate for any new sanctions
divide them. duce America’s trade defi- A one-day session on se- “work cooperatively” to re- that Washington imposes
The daylong talks at the cit with China. curity issues was held duce the American trade on the Islamic republic.
Treasury Department be- He blamed the trade gap last month. The session deficit. Earlier, the two sides Hassan Rouhani’s remarks
gan with prickly comments — $347 billion in goods last Wednesday covered eco- had canceled planned came a day after the
from both sides. Chinese year — on “Chinese gov- nomic issues and included news conferences without Trump administration an-
Vice Premier Wang Yang ernment intervention in its Mnuchin, Federal Reserve saying why.q
nounced new, non-nucle-
ar sanctions while at the
Trump’s embrace of Russia making top advisers wary same time warning Tehran
that it would face con-
By VIVIAN SALAMA sequences for breaching
Associated Press “the spirit” of the nuclear
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- deal with world powers.
dent Donald Trump’s per- The new sanctions, per-
ceived as the latest at-
sistent overtures toward
Russia are placing him tempt to clamp down on
Iran’s military financing,
increasingly at odds with
his national security and target 18 Iranian individu-
als and groups,
foreign policy advisers,
who have long urged a ranging from an Iran-based
company accused of aid-
more cautious approach
to dealing with the foreign ing the country’s drone
program to a Turkey-based
adversary.
The uneasy dynamic be- provider of naval equip-
ment and a China-based
tween the president and
top aides has been exac- network that helped se-
cure electronics for Tehran.
erbated by the revelation
this week of an extended If Washington, under any
pretext, imposes new sanc-
dinner conversation be-
tween Trump and Russian tions against Iran, “we will
stand up to the United
President Vladimir Putin at
the recent summit in Ger- States,” Rouhani said, add-
ing that the “great nation
many. The previously un- In this July 7, 2017 photo, President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at
disclosed conversation, the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. Trump’s persistent overtures toward Russia are placing him of Iran will have an appro-
priate answer” and that
which occurred a few increasingly at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers.
hours after their official bi- (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) the Iranian parliament will
also act.
lateral meeting, raised red
flags with advisers already his favor and has dismissed sia, highlighting a lack of McMaster and other na- He did not elaborate. His
speech, at a weekly Cabi-
concerned by the presi- investigations into the pos- a clear policy. U.S. officials tional security aides also
dent’s tendency to shun sibility of collusion between echoed that sentiment, advised the president net meeting, was broad-
cast on state TV.
protocol and press ahead his campaign and Moscow with one saying diplomats against holding an official
with outreach toward Rus- as a “witch hunt.” and intelligence officials bilateral meeting with Pu- Rouhani, a 68-year-old cler-
ic and political moderate
sia, according to two U.S. Meanwhile, he has pushed were “dumbfounded” by tin.
officials and three top for- for cooperation between the president’s approach, In a highly unusual move, who secured a resounding
re-election over a hard-line
eign officials. Moscow and Washington particularly given the evi- McMaster did not attend
The officials spoke only on on various matters includ- dence of Russia’s election the bilateral meeting with opponent in May,
has been increasingly out-
condition of anonymity to ing the raging conflict in meddling. Putin. Only Trump, Secre-
discuss private conversa- Syria. But some top aides, McMaster expressed his tary of State Rex Tillerson spoken against the U.S.,
calling relations with Wash-
tions. including National Security disapproval of Trump’s and a translator made up
Deep divisions are increas- Adviser Gen. H.R. McMas- course to foreign officials the U.S. side. ington “a curvy road” even
as he touts the 2015 nucle-
ingly apparent within the ter, have been warning during the lead-up to his Meetings with such critical
administration on the best that Putin is not to be trust- trip to Germany. The gen- national security implica- ar accord.
The Trump administration
way to approach Moscow ed. An intelligence officer- eral specifically said he’d tions typically include a
in the midst of U.S. investi- turned-politician, McMas- disagreed with Trump’s de- broader team, including on Monday confirmed that
Iran had met its obligations
gations into Russian med- ter is known for steering cision to hold an Oval Of- the national security advis-
dling in the American presi- discussions in his own favor. fice meeting in May with er and a regional specialist under the nuclear deal but
warned it would face con-
dential election. Trump has The three foreign officials top Russian diplomats and from the National Security
repeatedly cast doubt on who have spoken with top with the president’s gener- Council — in this case, the sequences for breaching
“the spirit” of the accord —
the conclusion of U.S. in- Trump advisers described al reluctance to speak out head of the Russia direc-
telligence agencies that a disconnect, or “mixed against Russian aggression torate, a position recently a reference to Iran’s con-
tinued pursued of a ballistic
the Russian government signals,” between Trump in Europe, according to the filled by Russia expert Fiona
sought to tip the election in and his team over Rus- three foreign officials. Hill. q missile program. q