that the u.s. will no longer consider israel's west bank settlements inconsistent with international law. other topics included iran's nuclear program. and protests in hong kong. the secretary was also asked about his support for state department following recent testimony from current and former diplomats as part of the house impeachment inquiry. house impeachment inquiry. >> good afternoon, everyone. >> good afternoon, everyone. i have several statements i want to make today. starting with a statement about the islamic republic of ran. we are monitoring the protests closely. we condemn strongly any acts of violence against the iranian

people and are deeply concerned about several fatalities. the islamic republic must cease violence against its own people and should immediately restore access to a free and open internet. the world is watching. the iranian people will enjoy a better future when the government begins to respect basic human rights, abandons his revolutionary posture and its destabilizing foreign policy and behave simply like a normal nation. this was a fortified underground bunker to conduct a secret uranium enrichment work. iran should reverse its activity there immediately. the right amount of uranium is ero.

there is no legitimate reason for iran to resume enrichment. iran should reverse its activity there immediately. iran's supreme leader is to his tried and true method to restore the international community to accept this. the only viable way forward is through programs of negotiation. addressing a full range of iran's threats in their entirety. iran's most recent action spsis another attempt at nuclear distortion that will only deepen its political and economic isolation from the world. we support the iraqi people as we strive for a prosperous iraq that is for of corruption. we stated clearly that iraq's leaders must protect human

rights. iraqis lift their voices to secure a flourishing democracy. our cause are consistent with the trump administration track record. we work with the iraqi security forces to take down the isis caliphate and we will continue to make sure it cannot re-emerge. the united states remains the largest humanitarian donor to iraq, providing over $2 billion in food, water, medicine and shelter since 2014 alone. we are the largest donor to stabilization. rebuilding more than 500 schools, 100 health centers, 50 water treatment plants with many more projects coming online. our commitment continues and we will not stand idle well corrupt officials make iraqi people suffer. today i'm affirming spsthe

united states will use our legal authority to sanction corrupt individuals that are stealing iraqis and wounding peaceful protesters. like the iraqi people taking to the streets, we will not discriminate between religious sect and ethnicity. they will simply target the eric -- those who do wrong to the iraqi people, no matter who they are. turning to israel. the trump administration is reversing the obama administration approach to the israel settlement. u.s. public statements on 78, the carter administration concluded israel's establishment of civilian settlements was inconsistent with international law. however, in 1981, president reagan disagreed. he stated he did not believe the settlements were inherently illegal. subsequent administrations recognized that unrestrained

settlement activity could be an obstacle to peace, but they wisely and prudently recognized the dwelling on legal positions did not advance peace. in december 2016 at the very end of the previous administration, secretary kerry changed the cadence of this careful bipartisan approach by publicly reaffirming the supposed illegality of settlements. carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, this administration agrees with president reagan. the establishment of israeli civilian settlements in the west bank is not per se inconsistent with international law. i want to emphasize several important considerations. we recognize that israeli torts have the conclusion assess specific facts and circumstances on the ground. the united states government is expressing no view on the legal

status of any individual settlement. the israeli legal system affords an opportunity to challenge settlement opportunity and humanitarian communications -- it has concluded that others cannot be illegally sustained. second, we are not addressing or prejudging the ultimate status of the west bank. this is for the israelis and the palestinians to negotiate. international law does not create any legal obstacle to a negotiated resolution. third, the conclusion that we will no longer recognize israeli settlements as per se inconsistent with international law is based on the unique facts, history, and circumstances established by settlements in the west bank. prejudiceon does not legal conclusions regarding any other parts of the world. finally, finally calling the

establishment of civilian settlements inconsistent has not worked. it has not advanced the cause of peace. the hard truth is there will never be a conflict of resolution as a matter of international law. it will not bring peace. this is a complex political problem that can only be solved by negotiations between the israelis and the palestinians. the united states remains deeply committed to helping facilitate peace and i will do everything i can to help this cause. states encourages the israelis in the palestinians to resolve the settlements in any final negotiations. toencourage both sides promote the security and welfare of palestinians and israelis alike. turning to hong kong, the united states is deeply concerned by

the escalating tensions. we have called from restraint -- for restraint and violence by any site is unacceptable. the hong kong government bears primary responsibility for bringing calm to hong kong. the government must take clear steps to address public concerns. we call on carrie lam to promote accountability by supplementing the police council review with an independent investigation into the protest related incidents. the united states government has said the chinese government must honor its promises to the chinese people. finally, bolivia. the bolivian government announced the expulsion of hundreds of nationals from their

country. cuba was not sending doctors and officials to help the bolivian people, but to prop up a pro-cuban regime who sought to maintain the grip on power through electoral fraud. ecuadorjoins brazil and and recognizing the cuban threat to freedom. in each case, these governments re-of the interference to national sovereignty and to defend their own citizens' interest. bravo, bolivia. i'm happy to take a couple questions. >> thank you, mr. secretary. in the settlements announcement, i'm wondering if you are at all ,oncerned that this position the reversal of the previous administration's position, is going to increase the isolation of the u.s., particularly in the u.n. and around the world. pretty much everyone else has held the position that if not illegal, they are at least inconsistent with international

law. secondly, if i could, there are a lot of questions about why you have not chosen to speak up publicly in defense of your employees, including those who testified. can you explain why you haven't chosen to make comments in their support? sec. pompeo: first question, well, i must say sadly there has not been much support for israel in the years leading up to this. it is hard to imagine more isolation at the u.n. as a result of this decision. we have been challenged to convince nations across the world to stand up for the people of israel and their nation's right to exist. i don't think this increases that. i'm happy to talk about ukraine policy, i'm not going to get into the issues surrounding the democrat impeachment inquiry. just not going to do it today.

that theth noting ambassadors departure preceded the arrival of bill taylor. so, there are some ideas out there that somehow this change was designed to enable some nefarious purpose. look at the simple facts, that it was bill taylor who replaced ambassador jovanovich, who in each case has been driving toward the appropriate ukraine policy, which i'm happy to talk about. i'm proud of what this administration has done with respect to ukraine. we reverse to the massive failures of the obama policy which risk to the lives of the allowedn people, which putin to take crimea. done.oud of what we have president trump's policy has been consistent and the state

department is supportive of what we have done, but are ukraine policy moving forward. >> but no defense of your employees? sec. pompeo: i always defend the state department employees, very proud of the team. the greatest state department in the history of the world. >> how do you balance your support -- [indiscernible] your support for them that has been seen and criticized as interference by the iranian regime? i had one other question. i remember how the previous administration treated the iranian people. i remember the signs that said are you with us, are you with the regime? i don't think anybody in the world has any doubt about where this administration stands. we want iran to be a normal nation, we want the people to have the freedoms to which they are entitled, and we want the

regime's money to be spent on things that benefit the iranian people, not proxy forces in iraq, not underwriting has below, not conducting assassination campaigns through europe. i think that is what you are hearing and seeing in these protests taking place in the islamic republic of iran. >> in the palestinian issue, was --r decision today [indiscernible] do you believe that we are getting closer to a one state solution as the two state solution is no longer viable? how do you bring the palestinians to the negotiating table considering your decision today? sec. pompeo: we have had a long time with legal interpretation and it did not work. that is a fact in evidence. we believe that what we have done today is recognize the reality on the ground, we have now declared that settlements

are not per se illegal under international law. we have provided the very space that your question suggests, the very space for israel and palestinians to come together to find a political solution to this very vexing problem. we think we have increased the likelihood that the vision for peace that this administration has, we think we have created space for that to be successful. i'm hopeful we will be able to move forward before too terribly long. in the practical implications of the decision, i understand that you are referring to the decision not to declare the settlements per se illegal. does that also apply to east jerusalem or is that primarily the west bank is to mark --west bank? sec. pompeo: the final status of those boundaries will not be determined until the parties reach a resolution. go ahead. >> are you concerned about the timing given the deadline for

government to form a is wednesday? is the worry about that affecting dressed -- domestic politics? sec. pompeo: we told the team doing review to do their work, do it thoroughly, do it completely, when we have the analysis correct and we reach a final decision, we will provide that analysis and we will share that with the world. the timing of this was not tied to anything that had to do with domestic politics anywhere, in israel or otherwise. we were done, we finished, we had conducted the review, this was the appropriate time to move forward. >> thanks, mr. secretary. could i follow up on the israeli settlements? what is the message you are sending to israel? you say that the reagan administration, reagan had a review on that, but is this effectively a green light, and reagan said there were obstacles to peace, is this a green light for israel to build more settlements?

if you will, could i follow-up on the question, i know you say you did not want to talk about the impeachment. sec. pompeo: i set i was not going to. not that i did not want to. there were things i would love to say about it. [laughter] when the ambassador was on the hill on friday, the president made a tweet. is it an assessment you agree with as you have known her? sec. pompeo: your first question about is that a green light -- back to first principles, what we did here was discuss legal analysis. we had our lawyers review it. this was not meant to send a message in any way you are describing. should there be more, fewer settlements. this was not intended that at all. this was intended to be a legal review. we believe the result of this legal review creates the political space for a more likely resolution of the situation.

we think this must be resolved politically. we believe taking away this impediment that there was going to be a legal resolution to this, we think it is folly, we think it has failed. to say.have anything i will defer to the white house about their particular statements. i don't have anything to say about the democrat impeachment proceedings. if somebody else has a substantive question about something that the world cares deeply about, i'm happy to take it. >> mr. secretary, do you have any guidance on the peace process on how that is going? aboutid you would talk ukraine policy, i'm curious if you think ambassador taylor has been an effective envoy for that policy and if you will remain in his job? sec. pompeo: the state department is doing a fantastic job. i think we have delivered in a way that the obama administration has not delivered in ukraine. if you listen to the ukrainian

leadership, i think they would say the same. your first question was about the peace plan. when the time is right, our vision will come forward. the israeli government has got to find its way. they've got to get there government formation process, we are hopeful that they will. when the time is right, we will release our vision. >> do you still have confidence in a bass taylor? sec. pompeo: thanks, everybody. [p general chatter] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> house intelligence committee continuumadam schiff teach men inquiry hearings beginning this morning on c-span 3. watch live testimony from jennifer williams, aid to vice president mike pence, and

director lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. volker andrt national security council white house aide to morrison. watch the first two hearings on c-span.org/impeachment. you will find transcripts of witness testimony and procedures for the hearings there, plus a point of interest feature that identifies key moments during the hearing indicated by a star in the timeline. this week, watch live coverage of the house impeachment inquiry on c-span3, c-span.org, or listen live wherever you are with the free c-span radio app. >> democratic representative jim himes recently held a town hall with constituents in connecticut . he talked about the impeachment inquiry, health care access. this event occurred prio t