John Kerry told Iranians about secret Israeli operations in Syria: Report
By: Ben Wolfgang (The Washington Times)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former Secretary of State John Kerry kept Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif informed about secret Israeli military actions in Syria, the Iranian diplomat said in recently leaked audio, casting new light on communication between the two men after Mr. Kerry returned to life as a private citizen in 2017.
In the audiotape released late Sunday night, Mr. Zarif reportedly said that Mr. Kerry told him that Israeli forces had attacked Iranian targets in Syria at least 200 times. Mr. Zarif expressed “astonishment” at the revelation, according to the New York Times, which reviewed the audiotape that was first released by the London-based Iran International media outlet.
Mr. Zarif sat down for interviews with an Iranian journalist as part of a major government-sponsored Iran history project. Iranian officials have not denied the authenticity of the recordings but have said they were selectively edited. In the tapes, Mr. Zarif bemoans the influence of Iranian military officials in Tehran, suggesting that the military often overrules diplomats and, in effect, takes the lead on Iran’s foreign policy.
Iran-backed militias operate inside Syria and have been the target of Israeli military strikes.
President Biden also ordered an American airstrike against an Iranian militia in Syria earlier this year after the militia targeted U.S. troops stationed in neighboring Iraq.
While such strikes by Israel are not surprising, it is noteworthy that Mr. Kerry discussed the matter with Mr. Zarif , though it’s not clear exactly when those conversations took place.
The two men worked closely together crafting the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
Even after Mr. Kerry left the State Department and former President Trump came to power in January 2017, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Zarif remained in contact. By Mr. Kerry’s own admission, they met in person several times.
In 2018, the former Massachusetts senator sought to explain those meetings, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt that he intended to find out “what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better” and claimed there was nothing secret about his discussions with Mr. Zarif . He also vehemently denied allegations that he “coached” Mr. Zarif about how to deal with a Trump administration that was taking a hard line toward Tehran.
How many think that the sharing of sensitive information on a US ally with one of our enemies is treasonous?
Should Kerry should be forced to resign immediately and an investigation of Biden begun to learn how high up knowledge of these actions go?
Trump and his supporters are off topic
I am off topic
Let’s shrink wrap his treasonous ass to a pallet and ship him to israel on a fed ex plane (no more private jets for mr. do as i say, not as i do) where they can do whatever they want with him.
Not a bad ending for a man who was openly working against US policy only a few years ago.
How many think that it's hilarious that those that don't trust Iran trust this report?
I think it's freaking hilarious!
Which do you trust?
Since the source of the allegations in your seed is an Iranian, there is no 'which' to choose from Vic.
They believe the lies from the swiftboater vets about Kerry. I wouldn't trust any of the allegations of this poster.
What lies?
I have never liked nor trusted John Kerry dating back to his swiftboat scandal and his bogus award of the Silver Star that he never earned. The guy is scum.
Yes Sir, he fits in with the rest of the scum.
Don't forget his purple ouchie medal he gave himself for his self inflicted wound to his bottom.
I never trusted Kerry
Nor did his fellow service colleagues AKA: the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth.
Ah the swiftboaters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [DELETED]
So you believed the lies of the swiftboater vets? They lied about John Kerry. LIED.
The scum wrote the write up for the Silver Star himself based on events that were proved not to have happened. His politician daddy got it approved because Kerry Jr wanted to go into politics like daddy but knew that if he was a "war hero" it would help his career. That was, along with his blatant anti war activities is a slap in the face to those brave individuals that truly earned and deserved the award. The guy was a officer and his troops deserved better. He stabbed them in the back for his own gain.
How boldly dishonest can one be...no wonder he went so far in government.
Are you claiming that Kerry forged Vice Admiral Zumwalt's name to the Silver Star citation?
Kerry served until 1970 then joined the over 20,000 strong VVAW.
Do you feel the same about all of the hundreds of Vets that participated in the Winter Soldier Investigation?
How many of those 20000 went to get their marching orders from the North Vietnamese embassy in Paris like he did?
Your comment isn't really worthy of a reply. It's delusional.
But hey, carry on...
Me either. He’s been a traitor to America most all of his adult life. Ever since he compared his fellow soldiers to Genghis Khan in congressional hearings...
[DELETED Please stop.]
There's no hamburger in this article ... not surprised.
Of course not/ s
Here is what Tammy Bruce seems to think: At best, this shows that Kerry is enormously & irresponsibly indiscreet; at worst, he’s exposing American intelligence to an enemy in order to attack an ally. And frankly, it looks... a lot more like an actual crime by a high-ranking US govt official.”
Ah yes, Tammy the wannabe book banner.
As to the pic, some are worth scads of words; this one is worth nill.
Really? She happens to be a lifelong Democrat, who once worked on a number of Democratic campaigns in 1990s, including the 1992 Boxer and Feinstein senate races and the Clinton for President campaign.
As to the pic, some are worth scads of words; this one is worth nill.
Six words would do it - Two close frequently in contact friends.
Do you know what that photo is about Vic? It's captioned in the article:
1992? 30 years ago, Wow!
In 2009, after Barack Obama and his family had moved into the White House, Bruce said, "we've got trash in the White House."
Yes, it involves the visits Kerry was making with Javad Zarif when he was Secretary of State. Yet those visits did not end when the Obama administration left office. Nope. Kerry kept in touch with Zarif later in order to undermine the Trump administration's policy on Iran.
How's that?
let's have the link, so we can all read it.
Who?
Another traitor?
Some folks appear to live in the past. Way, way, way in the past.
Look who moved in after President Obama and his family moved out. PURE WHITE TRASH
Ah yes the context:
“That’s what he’s married to,” Bruce said. “...You know what we’ve got? We’ve got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic...categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy...”
Thank you for full statement.
[DELETED]
PURE WHITE TRASH!
Trump never even served in the military, took 5 deferments. (Since you brought him up.)
Looks like a clear violation of the Logan Act.
I was under the impression the Logan Act only pertained to one individual.
Yeah...I remember that accusation.
The same people who scream treason because a campaign manager disclosed polling data don't seem to care a Secretary of State disclosed classified military information to the worlds primary supporter of terrorism and a country that ACTUALLY put bounties on American troops.
Iran never had a friend as good as John Kerry.
Name one of these 'same people who screamed treason'.
About 8 of our lefty friends
[DELETED.] What a waste of time.
They believe the swiftboaters lies about Kerry.
The swift boaters told the truth about him. Kerry is as low as a snake on loyalty to America issues.
Speak for yourself Vic.
No, they lied about Kerry. They're the ones who are the snakes.
What lies?
Well, at least he served, unlike your messiah.
You asked and you got it - as usual with both barrels.
He served without honor.
Actually, I asked Sean. You chose to speak for him and he let you.
As for both barrels: you're comment illustrates a delusion of grandeur and a sense of desperation Vic.
You needed to be enlightened. I was glad to help.
Thank you for clearly proving my point about delusions of grandeur and a sense of desperation Vic.
What are you a parrot?
What lies?
What lies?
No, they didn't tell the truth about Kerry. The swiftboaters were the liars.
Yep he served, But that in no way means he did so faithfully or honorably!
And I am still waiting for an answer.
"Swift Boat Veterans for Truth questioned Kerry’s accounts and whether he deserved any of the commendations he received.
But the veterans who accused Kerry were contradicted by numerous former crewmen of Kerry’s , and by Navy records , according to FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan fact-finding project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which researched the claims back in 2004.
In the Navy, Kerry served aboard boats known as PCFs, or swift boats. According to a Boston Globe overview of Kerry’s service in Vietnam, as reported by Snopes.com and FactCheck.org: “Under [Navy Admiral Elmo] Zumwalt’s command, swift boats would aggressively engage the enemy. Zumwalt calculated in his autobiography that these men had a 75 percent chance of being killed or wounded during a typical year.”
Kerry received a Purple Heart after being wounded in December 1968 when he got hit by schrapnel. The Boston Globe quoted William Schachte, who oversaw the mission, as saying it “was not a very serious wound.”
A wound is described as any combat injury to the body; the Purple Heart criteria have no mention of how severe the injury needs to be.
In an affidavit, physician Lewis Letson said he treated Kerry and said Kerry’s wound was self-inflicted when his gun jammed and he threw a grenade at an object, which sprayed the area with shrapnel. Kerry’s medical records show that he was treated by J.C. Carreon (who has since died). Letson said it common practice for medics to sign the paperwork for the attending physician.
Letson said in his affidavit that “the crewman with Kerry told me there was no hostile fire , and that Kerry had inadvertently wounded himself with an M-79 grenade.” But the crewmen with Kerry that day deny ever talking to Letson, FactCheck.org reported.
A second Purple Heart was awarded after Kerry was returning from a PCF mission in February 1969, when shrapnel hit his leg. Again, the wound was not serious.
Kerry earned his Silver Star later in February when he jumped onto the beach from his boat to chase and shoot a guerrilla who had a rocket launcher and who, Kerry thought, was about to fire a rocket at Kerry’s boat. According to the Boston Globe, another member of the crew on Kerry’s boat - Frederic Short , with whom Kerry had not talked for 34 years until being contacted by the Globe reporter - confirmed the account and said there was no doubt Kerry’s action saved the boat and crew.
Republican Sen. John Warner, who was Under Secretary of the Navy at the time, said there was careful checking for the Silver Star award and “I think we best acknowledge that his heroism did gain that recognition.”
A third Purple Heart and Bronze Star was awarded in March 1969 when Kerry’s boat took fire, sending a man overboard. Kerry, who said his injuries came from an underwater mine, returned to pull the man to safety and to assist another damaged boat. Jim Rassmann, the man who fell overboard, confirmed the account in a detailed article in the Wall Street Journal.
Kerry was attacked not because he didn't serve or didn't deserve the medals, he was attacked because he later came out against the war and eventually pursued a career in politics. There were hundreds of thousand of other Veterans who were also against the war, and rightly so. When all the Pentagon papers came out it was proved they were right that, as they had been saying, the administration "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress."
He basically called the Americans murderers.
Pretty much. What people here do not get is almost everything Kerry did from Vietnam on was geared to improve his future in politics. His father was a very wealthy, powerful, and influential politician in DC who had John Kerry's future all planned out for him. He made sure that his son had very influential patrons both in and out of the military.
What utter bullshit.
Kerry would have done much better for his 'future in politics' if he came home, kept his mouth shut and gone to the country club to play tennis instead of to Detroit and participating in the Winter Soldier Investigation or to the many other VVAW protests or to Washington and testify in front of Congress.
The Swift boaters wouldn't have attacked Kerry if not for his support for the VVAW.
Thanks for the truth about Mr. Kerry. As you see, they still continue to spread the lies.
What truth
I'd be a lot more confident about the truth of this story if it were not sourced from a Questionable Source as determined by Media Bias Fact Check, but whether or not it IS true, my preference was ALWAYS with Trump's policies for Israel, including walking away from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and especially after Obama stabbed Israel in the back at the UNSC during his lame duck period (IMO because he no longer needed Jewish votes or financial support and showed his true colours - i.e. as he wrote - he stands with the Muslims). Biden, as well, has decided to provide $235 million to support the Palestinians, guaranteeing that Palestinian terrorists will continue to be awarded financially for killing Israeli Jews, deleting any incentive whatsoever for the Palestinians to make peace with Israel.
At least several Arab nations make peace with Israel irregardless of the Palestinians actions or feelings on the matter thanks to Trump. Biden seems he’ll bent on dealing with Iran to the exclusion of Israel and the Sunni Arab states making peace with Israel in opposition to Iran.
On this we agree.
Why?
Since when does the US have to bow to Israel on enacting US foreign policy?
The 'Sunni Arabs' collected their bribe for 'peace' with Israel so they shouldn't have an issue with US/Iran negotiations.
Who said the US has to bow to Israel? Do you need to see a list of reasons why Israel is important to the US? Israel is an ally of the US, not its master.
Read what you with Buzz.
NOTHING on that list will explain why the US shouldn't 'exclude' Israel from it's negotiations with Iran.
Exactly. Neither Israel or the 'Sunni Arabs' were part the initial negotiations and there is no reason for them to have a say in them now.
Where did I say Israel had to be included in the negotiations? All I did was state my preferences - are you telling me I'm not allowed to do that?
You agreed with Xx's comment Buzz. Are you retracting that now?
You're right. I was only focused on the first sentence of his comment, and didn't even consider the second one.
Rather than post an entire seed:
Israel says this information was public knowledge...
Kerry discussed what was public knowledge right off the front pages of newspapers worldwide...
Do any righties have even a bit of shame for lying?
Yeah, so it looks like the authenticity of the claims is highly questionable and even if Kerry did say why he is being accused of that was public knowledge at the time. Even the Israelis had said they had been attacking Iranian backed targets, so he reiterated something that was already widely known.
Seems as though there is nothing here.
There never is. Another nothingberder. More faux outrage.
Meh, it’s just Democrat=bad, nothing else. Like vaccines, good when trump is in office but bad as soon as Biden takes the oath.
Kerry needs to resign now.
Why? Because he may have reiterated what had been stated publicly by numerous governments including israel’s?
Fuck off husker.