SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon, everyone. Good to see you all and especially good to see my friend, the foreign minister, and welcome him back to Washington. We have, as usual, a lot to talk about. I always deeply value getting the perspectives of our friends from Jordan and indeed the foreign minister in particular. We are strong partners for peace and stability and security in the region and even beyond. So there’s a lot to talk about today, and I’m glad we’re able to see each other in person. So welcome.
FOREIGN MINISTER SAFADI: Thank you so much. Good afternoon to all of you. And it’s a tremendous pleasure for me to be back here. As you said, we’re solid partners, we’re good friends. And let us start by reiterating how grateful we are for this partnership, for this friendship, and for the support that you continue to provide to Jordan. I look forward to our conversation.
Today, as we face many, many more challenges, bilaterally I think we will work hard. I hope to be able to discuss the MOU, which has been instrumental in enabling us to meet challenges, and that the new one would not only help us meet those challenges but also cement our deep bond (inaudible). Your role is key in our joint effort to bring about peace, stability in the region, whether engaging in the peace process and creating political horizons, whether addressing the issues in Syria and Iraq and the refugees and terrorism and all that.
So just let me say thank you for your friendship, thank you for your partnership, and together we’ll continue to do all the good work that we do together. So thank you so much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you, my friend. Thanks, everyone.
