WASHINGTON (Agencies)
U.S. foreign policy veteran Dennis Ross has been appointed special advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Gulf region, including Iran, and southwest Asia, the State Department announced on Monday.
"This is a region in which America is fighting two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror, proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening democracy and the rule of law," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement announcing the appointment.
Ross, a veteran of Arab-Israeli negotiations when Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was president, will advise on both Iran and the broader Middle East region.
"This is a region in which America is fighting two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror, proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening democracy and the rule of law," Wood said.
Although not mentioning Iran, the appointment, which was expected for several weeks, is set to impact the United States' efforts to contain Tehran's influence.
The Obama administration is reviewing U.S. policy toward Iran. It is looking into ways of engaging Tehran on a broad range of issues from seeking cooperation in Afghanistan to giving up sensitive nuclear work that the West suspects is aimed at building an atomic bomb.
U.S. government agencies from the Pentagon and State Department, to the White House and Treasury, are grappling with how to devise a joint approach to curb Iran's nuclear program and Ross's role will be to help coordinate overall policy.
Wood said Ross would offer "strategic advice" and perspective on the region, coordinate new policy approaches and take part in "inter-agency activities."
Ross is the third high-profile diplomatic advisor or envoy to be appointed to Clinton and the new U.S. president.
Last month former Senator George Mitchell, a seasoned diplomat, was appointed special envoy to the Middle East, responsible for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Diplomatic trouble shooter Richard Holbrooke, who gained prominence by brokering the peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia, was appointed special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ross is currently counselor at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and was a U.S. point person on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in both the Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations.
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