Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry reportedly passed information about covert Israeli activity in Syria along to Iranian officials. Calls for his resignation dominate headlines on the right while the left is far more interested in dunking on Tucker Carlson.
Summary
According to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, John Kerry, currently Special Envoy on Climate for the Biden administration, told him of dozens of covert actions taken by the Israeli military in Syria.
- Kerry strongly denies the accusations, and points to a 2018 article in which the Israeli intelligence head said Israel had carried out 200-plus strikes against Iranian assets in Syria.
- While the leaked audio recordings are causing turmoil in Iran, it is causing problems in the United States as well as the Biden administration is attempting to “put the band back together” for the JCPOA, an international framework negotiated by the Obama administration that allowed Iran to continue nuclear research (United States participation in the JCPOA was rescinded by former President Trump).
- Multiple GOP politicians were outraged at the revelation, saying if the allegation is true, Kerry must resign or President Biden must fire him, with Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan saying on the Senate floor this was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” after Kerry’s climate crusade cost the jobs of Alaskans in the energy sector.
- Sen. Rick Scott of Florida pushed for Kerry’s resignation if the allegations are true while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was more suspect, saying the United States shouldn’t jump to accept the credibility of the foreign minister of an enemy nation.
- The New York Times’ reporting on the Zarif recording set off the firestorm, while the Kerry revelation was a brief passage in a long article mostly focusing on Iranian internal political developments.
- Vox, The Washington Post, NBC News, and other mainstream liberal outlets are not reporting on the revelation as of 8AM Tuesday.
- While crickets can be heard at Huffington Post regarding John Kerry possibly stabbing our greatest Middle East ally in the back, they’re smitten over themselves slamming Fox News’ Tucker Carlson almost daily.
- Newsmax interviewed former Trump official Nikki Haley, who called Kerry’s alleged behavior “disgusting” and called for this removal from the National Security Council.
- RedState’s Bonchie provided a unique and uncharacteristically even-handed analysis: that if Kerry is correct and Zarif is lying, then Kerry’s claims that Zarif is part of the “moderate” wing of the Iranian government should be viewed skeptically, but ultimately deciding Kerry should not be believed.
- Statements by multiple pro-Israel organizations were the focus of Fox News’ coverage, joining the sentiments of GOP elected officials that Kerry should be fired if the allegations are accurate.
- David Harsanyi wrote in National Review that it is likely Israel will be more reluctant to share intelligence and information with the United States if they cannot trust that officials in the government of what should be their closest ally, while also calling out The Washington Post for failing to even mention the development in their coverage of the Zarif recordings.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
