Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled a planned visit to Greenland on Thursday and will instead return to Washington amid ongoing tension between the U.S. and Iran, the State Department announced.
Pompeo had been scheduled to promote the Trump administration’s Arctic policies in Greenland on Thursday, following a tour of Europe.
The Greenland stop was Pompeo’s second cancellation of the trip, following his earlier pullout of a stop in Germany to attend a meeting in Baghdad with Iraqi leaders on Tuesday.
{mosads}Pompeo will still direct the restoration of a permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in Greenland, the department said.
U.S.-Iranian tensions have escalated this week following national security adviser John Bolton’s announcement Sunday that the U.S. would deploy a U.S. carrier strike group to the region following “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Tehran.
“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” Bolton said in a statement.
Iran, in response, has announced it will reduce its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement reached under the Obama administration, which the Trump administration announced its withdrawal from one year ago this week.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request from The Hill.
— This report was updated at 9:39 a.m.