John Kerry Denies Giving Away Israel's Secrets to Iran After Explosive Report
Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry responded to allegations that he spilled the beans concerning Israel’s covert actions in Syria — as part of his long-term cozying up to Iranian leaders — by saying he would never do such a thing.
Kerry, who served as secretary of state under former President Barack Obama and is now President Joe Biden’s climate czar, was alleged by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to have told him that Israel had struck at Iranian interests around 200 times in Syria.
“I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened — either when I was Secretary of State or since,” Kerry tweeted on Monday.
I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened – either when I was Secretary of State or since. https://t.co/BTOdFE1khW
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) April 26, 2021
The revelation appeared in a story in The New York Times, based upon a leaked audiotape that The Times said was part of an oral history project concerning the current Iranian regime.
Kerry was reviled over the report.
Imagine for a second a Trump official sitting on the NSC, like Kerry does, told Iran details about Israeli strikes?
I believe the media would be screaming TREASON and they wouldn’t be too far off, but of course they’ll say and do nothing because they’re useless propagandists. https://t.co/ZsDowqtVWN
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 26, 2021
Secretary Kerry, can you please explain to the American people why you disclosed information about Israeli operations to Iranian FM @JZarif? We’ve known for years you were helping him. Americans deserve to know why.https://t.co/pG6eeazR5S
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) April 27, 2021
“This is truly horrifying,” former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Newsmax TV’s “Rob Schmitt Tonight.”
“I mean the idea that Kerry would do this is appalling in its own right, but Biden and Kerry have to answer for this. He should not be sitting on the National Security Council. He shouldn’t be involved with any of our foreign policy if this is what he does.
“And then the worst part is to stab our ally Israel in the back, and take up for Iran, who’s the largest state sponsor of terrorism? It’s … ludicrous,” she said.
This is disgusting on many levels. Biden and Kerry have to answer for why Kerry would be tipping off Iran, the number one sponsor of terror, while stabbing one of our greatest partners, Israel, in the back. https://t.co/ZLWnQRZkrG
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 26, 2021
The report aligns with a long-established narrative that has painted Kerry as zealously seeking to maintain positive relations with Iran during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Times reported in February that Kerry had colluded with Iran during the Trump administration and met with Zarif “in an apparent bid to undermine the Trump team and lay the groundwork for post-Trump relations.”
“These relationships blossomed into what high-level national security and intelligence sources say allowed the Iranian regime to bypass Mr. Trump and work directly with Obama administration veterans that Tehran hoped would soon return to power in Washington,” according to the report.
But an analysis by Seth Frantzman in The Jerusalem Post framed the issue more as Zarif craftily setting a cat among the diplomatic pigeons.
Noting that the media has been filled with accounts of Israeli raids in Syria, even if not sourced to government officials, Franzman pondered whether Zarif is “up to some game, trying to pretend he didn’t know as a way to get some benefit?”
“What might Zarif receive if he can claim he didn’t know about Iran’s role in Syria? He can make it seem like deals he negotiates are being ‘violated’ by other elements in Iran. He can perhaps prepare himself for a post-ministerial career,” Franzman said.
“Zarif’s comments remind one of the scene in the film Casablanca when Captain Renault is ‘shocked’ to find gambling taking place in a café that he himself gambles in.
“Zarif is shocked to find out that there are Iranians in Syria and claims that Kerry told him about airstrikes,” he wrote.
“Which is more reasonable: that the Iranian foreign minister learns of Israeli airstrikes from the former US secretary of state, rather than read media reports, or that he simply wants to convey something about his relationship with Kerry?”
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