WASHINGTON — United States Climate Envoy John Kerry is being accused of leaking classified information to Iran while he was Secretary of State in the Obama administration.
Republicans in Congress have been quick to call for President Biden to remove Kerry from his current position over the claims. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is making the claim that in a leaked audio recording, Kerry told him that Israel made military strikes against 200 Iranian targets in Syria, which Kerry has denied doing.
“I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false,” Kerry wrote in a tweet. “This never happened — either when I was Secretary of State or since.”
The transcript of the recording doesn’t reveal anything clear about whether or not Kerry said anything about any Israeli attacks. But, Indiana Congressman Jim Banks (R) says he doesn’t believe Kerry’s denial and that Biden should revoke his security clearance.
“I don’t believe John Kerry,” Banks said to Tony Katz Today. “I mean, if you listen to the recording, this an off-the-record conversation. He has no incentive to lie about what John Kerry told him.”
“This is deeply troubling on many levels,” he added. “If John Kerry sold out our biggest ally, in that being Israel and their safety, then John Kerry should be removed from this administration.”
It is Banks’ belief that Kerry has been giving up information to the Iranians in order to reaffirm the administration’s intent to re-enter the Iran Nuclear Deal of 2015, from which former President Donald Trump removed the United States in 2018.
Whether that is true or not remains to be seen.
Banks is fearful that if Kerry has been giving up information to the Iranians, that he might be doing the same thing with China in order to reach a better climate accord with the Chinese.
