John Kerry’s Meetings With Iranian Officials ‘Unseemly And Unprecedented,’ Mike Pompeo Says
Former Secretary of State John Kerry’s meetings with Iranian officials are “unseemly and unprecedented,” Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, according to the Washington Examiner.
“I’ll leave the legal determinations to others, but what Secretary Kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented,” Pompeo said, adding that John Kerry’s behavior is “inconsistent with what the foreign policy of the United States is, as directed by this president, and it’s beyond inappropriate.”
Pompeo also accused Kerry of undermining American policy.
“Actively undermining U.S. policy as a former secretary of state is literally unheard of.”
Pompeo’s comments come only days after President Trump accused Kerry of breaking the law, violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, via Twitter.
Fox News described Kerry’s meetings as “shadowy diplomacy.”
Kerry, the nation’s top diplomat in the Obama administration, is currently promoting his new book, Every Day Is Extra. During an appearance on a popular radio show, Kerry admitted to meeting with Iranian diplomats “three or four times” since leaving office.
During meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, according to CNN, Kerry touched on the Iran Nuclear Deal – an Obama-era agreement that ended 12 years of deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme – President Trump has withdrawn the United States from.
A spokesman for Kerry argued in a statement supplied to CNN that John Kerry is simply keeping in touch with his former counterparts around the globe. However, Kerry’s spokesman added that former secretary of state – much like many American allies – “believes it is important” that Iran adheres to the deal.
John Kerry has, CNN noted, criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal on numerous occasions.
Trump, Pompeo bash ex-Secretary of State Kerry on Iran talks https://t.co/3nXNOqIW1X
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 14, 2018
Along with Kerry, former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and former Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman are thought to have been among the top negotiators of the Iran deal. Moniz and Sherman, according to Pompeo, may have also met with their Iranian counterparts.
Investor’s Business Daily noted that John Kerry may have violated the Logan Act, a law that forbids private American citizens from conducting foreign policy without authorization. No one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act, however, so it remains to be seen whether former Secretary of State John Kelly will become the first person to be prosecuted for breaking the 199-year-old law.
According to Investor’s Business Daily, by meeting with Iranian officials Kerry crossed the red line, and he should be prosecuted.
Kerry defended his actions via Twitter, arguing that President Trump should be more worried about his former Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort’s meetings with Robert Mueller.
