State department

state department

US draws back efforts as mediator in Ukraine-Russia War peace talks

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that America's methodology for the talks "will change in that we will not be the mediators."

Ukrainian police officers seen in the frontline town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, Ukraine, April 12, 2025
 Syria's Minister of Foreign Affairs Asaad Hasan al-Shaibani attends a panel discussion, "New Dawn for Damascus: Prospects for Syria's Transition", during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, February 15, 2025.

Syria's foreign minister expected to meet with State Dept. officials in New York

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, April 10, 2025

Trump admin. to reorganize State Department, cut redundant programs, Rubio says

 Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to Michael Benz, a Jewish former Trump official with a Hitler-praising online alter ego, in a video posted by the US State Department, April 16, 2025.

Marco Rubio sits with Michael Benz, Jewish former Trump official with antisemitic online persona


US sanctions three Iranian spies over role in FBI agent's 2007 disappearance

The US sanctioned the officials for involvement in the "abduction, detention, and probable death of former FBI Special Agent Robert A. Levinson."

Robert Levinson

State Dept. says all waivers providing Iran economic relief are under review

"We are reviewing all existing sanctions waivers that provide Iran any degree of economic or financial relief," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

 Iran's and US' flags are seen printed on paper in this illustration taken January 27, 2022.

US State Department officials were 'hostile' towards Israel during war, former envoy says - report

“There are many within the State Department who are not just unfriendly to Israel, but outright hostile,” former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog said.

 U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 18, 2023.

Rubio signs declaration to expedite delivery of $4 billion in military aid to Israel

Rubio said he had used emergency authority to expedite the delivery of military assistance to Israel to its Middle East ally, now in a fragile ceasefire with Hamas militants in their war in Gaza.

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025.

Trump orders revamp of US diplomatic corps to ensure they follow his agenda

Donald Trump has ordered a major State Department overhaul, empowering Rubio to reshape foreign service and enforce an "America First" agenda amid growing bureaucratic upheaval.

 Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) react during a campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. November 4, 2024.

Speechwriter fired over white nationalist ties appointed to high-level State Department role

Trump administration draws fire for naming Darren Beattie, a former White House staffer dismissed over white nationalist ties, to senior State Department role shaping public diplomacy.

 Darren Beattie, a former White House speechwriter who attended a conference with white supremacists, speaks at a "Symposium at the Wall," a 2019 gathering on border security, immigration asylum and other issues in Sunland Park, New Mexico.

Trump announces sweeping first-day executive orders and record declassifications

Classified documents regarding the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK are to be released. Trump added that "other topics of great interest" will have classified records declassified.

 U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2025.

Israeli regional power should be embraced, says ex-US State Department adviser

During a roundtable discussion hosted by the JCFA and attended by ‘The Post,’ Hazem Alghabra, a former senior US State Department adviser, suggested Israel extend a message of peace to Syria.

 Hazem Alghabra and JCFA President Dan Diker.

Venezuela's Maduro says two US citizens arrested among group of 'mercenaries'

Maduro said the detained US citizens were "very high level" but did not provide further details or evidence of the arrests.

 PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA Nicolás Maduro speaks to the press in Caracas.

US proposes $8b. arms deal with Israel, including fighter jet munitions

The deal would need approval from House and Senate committees and includes artillery shells and air-to-air missiles for fighter jets to defend against threats such as drones.

 US President Joe Biden (Illustrative)

'Every shot fired went into a man': Syrians recall horrors at site of suspected mass killings

Tadamon became infamous after a video emerged in 2022 showing a man in military fatigues leading unarmed, blindfolded men towards a large ditch.

 An elderly woman reacts in Tadamon district, littered with bones after what residents and rights groups described as years of killings there under the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, following al-Assad's ousting by fighters of the ruling Syrian body, in Damascus, Syria, December 12, 2024.