On Monday night, climate czar John Kerry addressed right-wing accusations that he’d shared covert Israeli actions with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif by saying it “never happened,” which puts him at odds with the New York Times, which initially reported the story from leaked audio.
National Review’s Jim Geraghty has a few questions left over from Monday, such as, was Kerry operating under instructions from the Obama administration or was he just “freelancing,” something he was doing with Iran during the Trump administration.
The first thing we have to understand is that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is the closest thing John Kerry has to a friend in the Iranian government, and vice versa.https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/G6k1djLExr
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Find someone who looks at you the way these two look at each other.
If this is all a big lie from Zarif to make Kerry look bad . . . why would Zarif do that? What would Zarif have to gain by trying to make the former U.S. government official most eager to reach a deal appear incapable of keeping secrets?https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/J4WyvVYrwQ
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Sure, the Iranian regime lies all the time. But if this is a lie, why would the foreign minister lie about his favorite negotiating partner like this?https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/tHVgKAc0BT
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Second, we don’t know whether Zarif is saying Kerry said this to him before or after public reports in September 2018 that Israel had struck 200 Iranian targets in Syria…https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/gxpTqR02Jh
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
…but the fact that Zarif was surprised by what Kerry had told him — and that the Iranian military had not kept him in the loop — strongly suggests that this information had not yet appeared in news reports.https://t.co/ceSZX5MjLC pic.twitter.com/uoI09csGdY
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Yes, It is likely that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps already knew, or strongly suspected, Israel was behind these attacks. (I would guess that when Iranian hardliners stub their toes in the morning, they suspect the Mossad was behind it.)https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
But notice the context of Zarif’s comment is not, “Boy, that John Kerry is a big blabbermouth.” He’s not setting out to stab his old negotiating partner in the back. He’s complaining about the Revolutionary Guards Corps.https://t.co/ceSZX5MjLC pic.twitter.com/LuPcB5bocL
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
The context is, “I’m the foreign minister, but those jerks at the IRGC aren’t keeping me in the loop on anything; I have to learn about what the Israelis are doing from my American counterpart!”https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/AfVpHqQxnk
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
And we’re left with my original questions from yesterday: Was this a deliberate Obama administration decision to tell the Iranians, or was Kerry freelancing?https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Also note that by speaking this bluntly and critically of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the late Major General Qasim Soleimani, it seems clear Zarif did not expect this interview to go public at this time – or maybe ever.https://t.co/ceSZX5MjLC pic.twitter.com/L63tFVnRjr
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
For what it is worth, the Iranian foreign ministry says the recording was never meant to be released to the public.https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/otKpH2vbPK
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
It seems pretty clear that we in the West were not meant to hear this interview anytime soon, if ever — which makes it even more implausible that this is some sort of Iranian misinformation effort to undermine John Kerry’s reputation.https://t.co/ceSZX5uIn2 pic.twitter.com/nhOKfjEWQY
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
Kerry’s done plenty to ruin his own reputation; he doesn’t need help.
However, it does feel as if somebody in the Iranian government wanted to kneecap Zarif, and/or his political allies. Iran is scheduled to have a presidential “election” in June 18. (Those scare quotes are deliberate.) https://t.co/ceSZX5MjLC pic.twitter.com/NSDWekfM2g
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) April 27, 2021
This conversation was, by all accounts, a private rant from Zarif to a political ally. Why would he lie about something Kerry said in a conversation like that?
— Isaac Humrich (@IsaacHumrich) April 27, 2021
Who knows who actually leaked this but adds up with the clandestine drop of pallets of cash that also was a leak. It’s Obama policy as a liberal to buy your way out of trouble vs standing up to it, more diplomatic perhaps but not when we’re talking about Iran! Score DJT
— Michael Pasha (@anwarpsha) April 27, 2021
Got to have somewhere to go in his fleet of private jets, after all.
Muppet-face clown Kerry.
— Paul Yoward (@Pajy55) April 27, 2021
I wonder what Biden donor Merrick Garland will choose at the DoJ to investigate this?
— teenage knife fights (@chawkawfudawba1) April 27, 2021
It seems to have already blown over in the media.
Related:
‘Enough is enough’: Republicans say if what Iran foreign minister said on leaked tape is true ‘John Kerry needs to go’ https://t.co/tTH29ZfYP4
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 26, 2021