U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis held a meeting with his British counterpart Gavin Williamson, during which the two discussed bilateral efforts to counter international security challenges. While Secretary Mattis thanked Secretary Williamson for Britain’s ongoing commitments to military support in missions around the world, the latter emphasized that the world is getting in an increasingly dark place. Defense Secretary Williamson stressed that the challenges posed by Russia, China and Iran – among others, continue to dominate their thinking; while emphasizing that dealing with those challenges with friends of common values are the best way to act. “I think the world is getting in an increasingly dark place. We see the increasing threats that are emerging, not just in ungoverned spaces that we’ve been tackling over the last few decades, but of increasing state-based threats. The challenges from Russia, the increasing assertiveness of China, and continued problems such as Iran that will continue to dominate our thinking. But by dealing with this, the best way is actually with friends with those common values and I have doubt that we can do so,” U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said.
While the United Kingdom continues to maintain that the preservation of the nuclear agreement with Iran fulfills its goal of limiting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear aspirations; the United Kingdom, France and Germany have voiced the need to assert a new mechanism that will force Iran to abandon its aggressive policies across the Middle East.