Democrats’ Favorite Appeaser Hired Iranian Conspirators For Obama And Biden Positions
Although stories about the scourge of foreign influence in the U.S. government were all the rage during the Trump years, there is mostly silence on Rob Malley.
Audio of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reveals he did not have knowledge about secret Israeli military operations until former Secretary of State John Kerry disclosed details about the operations.
The new detail directly contradicts State Department's defense after the bombshell allegation surfaced this week in the New York Times.
According to leaked audio of Zarif that surfaced last weekend, Kerry disclosed to him that Israel was responsible for more than 200 covert operations against Iranian interests in the Middle East. The New York Times did not provide additional context beyond what Zarif had claimed, aside from the detail that Kerry's admission left Zarif astonished.
"Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed him that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said," the Times reported.
The Washington Free Beacon commissioned a translation of the Zarif audio. They learned Zarif confirmed on the audio that he did not know Israel was responsible for certain military operations against Iranian interests until Kerry disclosed that fact.
From the Free Beacon:
[A]n independent translation of the audiotape commissioned by the Washington Free Beacon shows that Zarif went on to clarify that he had no prior knowledge of these Israeli strikes before Kerry told him.
"Kerry told me that Israel had launched 200 airstrikes against you [Iran]," said Zarif. "You didn't know?" asked his interviewer. "No, no," he replied.
Both Kerry and the State Department denied the allegation — but invoked different explanations.
Kerry outright denied having disclosed the sensitive information, while the State Department claimed the information that Kerry allegedly disclosed was not secret, but available publicly.
"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 said.
I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened - either when I w… https://t.co/NL0A38rn7i
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) 1619479240.0
"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," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly disclosed to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Israel, one of America's closest allies, was behind more than 200 attacks on Iranian interests in the Middle East.
The stunning detail was buried deep within a New York Times story reporting on leaked audio that surfaced Sunday, revealing the "behind-the scenes power struggles of Iranian leaders," according to the Times.
More from the Times:
The recording, of a conversation in March between Mr. Zarif and an economist named SaeedLeylaz, an ally, was not meant for publication, as the foreign minister can repeatedly beheard saying on the audio. A copy was leaked to the London-based Persian news channelIran International, which first reported on the recording and shared it with The New YorkTimes.
Buried at the bottom of the Times' story, the newspaper reported the audio revealed that Kerry had disclosed sensitive intelligence about Israel to Zarif. The report did not provide additional context.
However, the story indicated that Zarif was astonished that Kerry would provide him with such information.
"Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed him that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said," the Times reported.
Israel's attacks on Iran are no surprise. After all, routinely sabotaging Iran's military and government projects is a matter of survival for Israel, a country that Iranian leaders routinely vow to demolish.
In fact, it is no secret that Israel is behind many strategic attacks on Iran, such as the recent targeting of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility or the surprise assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, one of Iran's top nuclear scientists who played a critical role in Iran's nuclear weapons program.
What is surprising, though, is that Kerry would disclose details about Israel's secret military missions to Iran, an enemy of both Israel and the U.S. The behavior raises eyebrows especially considering Kerry has rejoined the government, this time as Biden's special envoy on climate.
Among other spicy details disclosed by the audio is that Zarif is a relatively weak figure.
In fact, Zarif himself admitted that Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps is the real force of power in Iran, whose leaders "call the shots, overruling many government decisions and ignoring advice," according to the Times.
This revelation underscores the significance of the U.S. killing Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, last January.
But the leaked audio was also published at a critical time for Iran, whose diplomats are currently engaged in negotiations to re-enter a nuclear deal with the U.S. and American allies. The audio could undermine the negotiations.
"This ties the hands of the negotiators," Sina Azodi, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, told the Times. "It represents Zarif as someone who is not trustworthy domestically, and overall paints a picture that Iran's foreign policy is dictated by theater policies of the military and Zarif is a nobody."