John Kerry is facing mounting calls from Republicans to step down from his position as the U.S. special envoy for climate change for allegedly discussing Israeli military operations with Iran’s foreign minister.
The backlash against Kerry stems from a report published in the New York Times detailing leaked audio recorded in March that captured Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying Kerry told him Israel attacked Iran’s interests in Syria at least 200 times. It is unclear if the alleged conversation happened when Kerry was acting as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state or if it happened during the Trump presidency.
Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo led the calls for Kerry to be investigated, saying the tape proved “what I’ve said for years: that [Zarif] continued to engage with former Secretary of State Kerry on policy matters after Kerry’s public service and, according to Zarif, Kerry informed the Iranians of Israeli operations.”
‘THIS CERTAINLY WAS NOT SECRET’: STATE DEPARTMENT DEFENDS JOHN KERRY OVER IRAN LEAKS CLAIM
Pompeo added: “Before we cut a deal with Iran that reduces Americans’ security, it would be good to know what the arrangement, if any, may have been between these two leaders.”
Nikki Haley, Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, called the allegations “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,” she tweeted.
Alaskan Sen. Dan Sullivan took to the Senate floor Monday to call for Kerry’s resignation.
“People are talking about treason — and I don’t throw that word around a lot,” Sullivan said. “John Kerry does all kinds of things that I can’t stand. But this is the one that broke the camel’s back.”
Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the State Department should “quickly clarify exactly what happened here.”
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas added: “If this tape is verified, it would signal catastrophic and disqualifying recklessness by Envoy Kerry to Foreign Minister Zarif that endangered the safety of Americans and our allies.”
“And it would be consistent with his long pattern of empowering Iran’s regime,” Cruz continued. “Kerry poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the Ayatollah’s terrorist bank accounts, was a close confidant with Zarif during the Obama administration, and was caught repeatedly meeting with him during the Trump administration (notwithstanding the Logan Act) — and has never publicly accounted for what they discussed.”
Kerry, who served as Obama’s secretary of state between 2013 and 2017 and was instrumental in putting together the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, denied tipping off Zarif about operations, saying on Monday evening: “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.”
When asked about the reported leaked audio, State Department spokesman Ned Price did not comment but argued: “If you go back and look at press reporting from the time, this certainly was not secret, and governments that were involved were speaking to this publicly, on the record.”
As a special envoy for climate, Kerry serves under Secretary of State Antony Blinken but also holds a seat in President Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
Israel publicly released reports about carrying 200 military strikes against Iranian interests in Syria between 2016 and 2018 in September of 2018. It’s unclear whether Kerry’s alleged comments came before Israel released the reports.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, spoke out in an apparent defense of Kerry, expressing caution about Zarif’s reliability.
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“I don’t know if we should trust that tape or not. If it’s true, it’s very damaging,” Graham said. “I like John Kerry, but that would not be helpful, and it would be very problematic if it were true. But let’s wait and see how authentic this is.”
Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior adviser Richard Goldberg, a senior White House National Security Council official in 2019 and 2020 under former President Donald Trump, told the Washington Examiner on Monday: “I’m not really sure what to make of [the Kerry anecdote]. The larger issue though, is, of course, why do these U.S. officials trust the propagandists of the supreme leader of Iran to such an extent that you’re going to carry on these long conversations and risk disclosing things to them? … This is merely a propagandist for the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world.”
