NEW YORK -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has lost two of her top aides, key departures that come at a time of growing international tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.



Haley's Chief of Staff Steven Groves resigned, as did her communications director Jonathan Wachtel. Haley said on Twitter Wednesday it was because of "family concerns." The departures also come ahead of Haley's trip to Vienna to review Iran's nuclear activities with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.



Groves, an adviser who had arrived from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, had argued for the U.S. to "sever relations" with U.N.'s Human Rights Council for criticizing Israel and to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement.





Wachtel said in a telephone interview that he was leaving for "family reasons." Previously he was a journalist and producer at Fox News for more than 19 years, and spent a decade in London and Moscow with ABC News and Worldwide Television News.



"Both Jonathan and Steve have recently encountered family concerns," Haley said. "They will always be a part of the team & dear friends."



Haley was instrumental in getting the U.N. Security Council Saturday to pass tough new sanctions against North Korea in an attempt to get the isolated regime to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programs. President Donald Trump ratcheted up the tension later by promising "fire and fury" on the communist nation if North Korea keeps threatening the U.S.

--By Kambiz Foroohar