Trump attacks John Kerry for secret Iran meetings
Following former secretary of state's revelations that he held talks with Iranian foreign minister 'three or four times' since leaving office, President Trump calls meetings 'illegal' and implies Kerry might be a foreign agent.
“John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian regime, which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people. He told them to wait out the Trump Administration!” the president wrote on his official Twitter account.
Trump also implied that Kerry might be an agent representing the interests of foreign powers.
John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime, which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people. He told them to wait out the Trump Administration! Was he registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? BAD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 14, 2018
“Was he registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act?” the president asked via his social media account.
Current US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also lambasted his predecessor for meeting Iranian officials in back-channel talks and accused him of trying to undermine the Trump administration's policy toward Tehran.
"What Kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented," Pompeo told a news conference, adding that he "ought not to engage in that kind of behavior. It's inconsistent with what the foreign policy of the United States is, as directed by this president. It is beyond inappropriate."
Kerry admitted to having met with the Iranian official “three or four times” during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
The former secretary of state also emphasized that he also had meetings with European diplomats, but stressed that he did not conspire to undermine the Trump government's policy.
"We held talks regarding the situation in the world, we did not conduct negotiations in order to interfere with the current policy," Kerry stressed.
"I was trying to understand what Iran is willing to do in order to steer the dynamics in the Middle East in a positive direction," Kerry said in an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
The State Department also criticized Kerry for his meetings with various foreign representatives. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Manisha Singh, called alleged meetings ‘inappropriate.’
"I have no information regarding the meetings, but if they did occur, that would be very inappropriate," she vented.
Kerry was one of the senior officials in the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, from which President Trump withdrew earlier this year.
Reuters contributed to this report.
