Yesterday, Ambassadors Jeffrey Feltman and Robert Blake appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their confirmation as Assistant Secretaries of State for Near Eastern Affairs and South and Central Asia respectively. Senator Casey (D-PA) presided over the hearing and stressed the importance of these two regions to U.S. national security. During the Q&A the nominees fielded questions on Iran’s nuclear program, Arab-Israeli peace, prospects for a Palestinian unity government, and the ongoing crises in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
