Veteran US diplomat Bill Burns to retire, led back channel to Iran

After 32 years as a career Foreign Service officer Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, who led the back channel effort to Iran, will retire from the Foreign Service in October.
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks next to Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the Diplomatic Corps holiday reception at the State Department in Washington December 19, 2012. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BRHD
US President Barack Obama delivers remarks next to Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the Diplomatic Corps holiday reception at the State Department in Washington Dec. 19, 2012. - REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Laura Rozen
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Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the veteran US diplomat who helped President Obama open a back channel to Iran last year, will retire from the Foreign Service in October, Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday.

“It is hard to find words adequate to express who Bill Burns is, and what he means not just to the State Department, but to American foreign policy,” Kerry said in a press statement Friday.

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