World
No. 2 State Department official to step down: Blinken
The number 2 State Department official will step down later this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday, the latest in a string of diplomats and employees to leave the department.
“President Biden asked Wendy [Sherman] to serve in this role because he knew he could count on her to help revitalize America’s alliances and partnerships and manage our complex relationships with competitors,” Blinken said in a statement announcing her retirement.
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Sherman was appointed as the first female deputy secretary of State after Blinken took the role of the top US diplomat. Before that, Sherman was also the first female undersecretary of state for political affairs.
“Our nation is safer and more secure, and our partnerships more robust, due to her leadership,” Blinken said.
Sherman played a key role in the now-defunct Iran nuclear deal, brokered under the Obama administration. More recently, she was a central figure in the State Department’s policies in the Indo-Pacific and the Russian war on Ukraine.
Read more: ‘Impossible to imagine’ nuclear deal if Iran doesn’t release Americans: Sherman