By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON 

President Barack Obama’s nominee for deputy Secretary of State was grilled Wednesday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Deputy National Security Council advisor Tony Blinken engaged in heated exchanges with senators when asked about the administration’s strategy for dealing with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"During the G20 over the weekend, President Obama was asked if he was actively discussing ways to remove President Assad as part of a political transition, and his response was, ‘No,’” Sen. John McCain said.

And that, according to McCain, contradicts the president’s own nominee who previously remarked that, "The best way to deal with Assad is to transition him out." 

The administration has been criticized by several U.S. allies and at home, particularly by Republican lawmakers, for not having a clear cut strategy for Assad.

While some officials says that Assad has lost his legitimacy because he has killed more than 200,000 people, used chemical weapons on civilians and displaced more than half of the population, others have repeatedly said that Assad’s removal is not a priority for the U.S. 

Blinken, tried to defend Obama by saying the administration supports moderate Syrian opposition forces and would train and equip those fighters against Assad and ISIL. 

Lawmakers were also interested in Blinken’s perspective on talks with Iran as the Nov. 24 deadline approaches for a deal on that country’s nuclear program.

An agreement at this point would be difficult between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germans, also known as the P5+1, Blinken said, but it’s still possible to reach a deal.

"Our view would be that we would not even suspend sanctions until Iran has taken significant steps to comply with any agreement that's reached," he said. "Because the hammer that Congress has wielded and has held over the heads of the Iranians has been so effective, we want to keep that in place as long as possible."

The nominee was also asked about the U.S.'s position on the crisis in Ukraine. 

He said the Ukrainian army should be supplied with lethal arms to combat Russian violations of its commitment under the Minsk agreement.

That agreement was signed Sept. 5 after extensive talks between Russia, Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE.

The agreement, which implemented an immediate cease-fire, failed to stop fighting in eastern regions of the country.

"One element that could hopefully get them to think twice and deter them from further action is strengthening the capacity of the Ukrainian forces, including with defensive lethal equipment. So that's why I think that's something that we should be looking at," he said.

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