Credit: U.S. Department of State /    U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook at the announcement of the creation of the Iran Action Group in the Press Briefing Room at the Department of State, Aug. 16, 2018.

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Brian Hook has decided to step down from his role as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran and will be replaced by Elliott Abrams, the top envoy for Venezuela,  Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced Thursday. Hook, 52, was appointed to the top Iran role at the State Department in late 2018. 

“Special Representative Hook has been my point person on Iran for over two years and he has achieved historic results countering the Iranian regime. He successfully negotiated with the Iranians the release of Michael White and Xiyue Wang from prison. Special Representative Hook also served with distinction as the Director of Policy Planning and set into motion a range of new strategies that advanced the national security interests of the United States and our allies. He has been a trusted advisor to me and a good friend. I thank him for his service.”

-U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo 

Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times /  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  briefs reporters at Department of State headquarters in Washington D.C. 

Following a transition period with Hook, Abrams will assume the position of Special Representative for Iran, in addition to his responsibilities as Special Representative for Venezuela, Pompeo said without giving a reason for the  surprise departure.

Hook Replaced By Hawkish  Abrams 

Credit: wikipedia / Gage Skidmore / Elliott speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on February 10, 2012.

Abrams is a seasoned wark hawk.   He is best known as the infamous Iran-Contra neo-con, and  foreign  policy wonk for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush with a colorful past.  Abrams was convicted of withholding information from Congress about the Iran–Contra affair while serving under Reagan.  In January 2019,  U.S. Secretary of State  Pompeo   named Abrams as the Trump administration’s new special envoy to crisis-stricken Venezuela.  Abrams’ appointment as the point person in Venezuela  shocked a lot of foreign policy veterans who  are familiar with his hawkish, interventionist  style of diplomacy.   Abrams has driven a hard-line policy approach aimed at ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The government Maduro and the opposition have been embroiled in a fierce power struggle ever since  Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself president of Venezuela in January 2019.   The US immediately throw its full support behind Guaidó who called for Maduro to cede power.  Many Maduro supporters characterized Guaidó’s action as a coup d’etat backed by the US.  Despite being bombarded by the U.S. campaign of “maximum pressure” including economic sanctions, Maduro remains in power.

Now, Abrams turns his hawkish view toward Iran ahead of  a US-led arms embargo vote at the United Nation .  The Trump administration has  been intensely lobbying at the UN to extend an arms embargo on Iran and as the Security Council prepares to hold a vote on the U.S. resolution next week.

American Jewish Congress President Jack Rosen responded to Abrams’ new title by saying that he “will have little time to settle in,” but is likely to “work determinedly towards countering Iran’s malignant activities in the Middle East.” -The Jerusalem Post.