John Kerry denies he told Iran about Israel's covert attacks on Syria while serving as Barack Obama's Secretary of State
Former Secretary of State John Kerry has denied he told Iran's top foreign minister about secret attacks by Israel on Iran's interests in Syria.
'I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false,' Kerry, who is currently President Biden's special envoy on climate change, tweeted on Monday.
'This never happened - either when I was Secretary of State or since.'
A leaked recording of Iran's foreign minister featured Iranian diplomat Javad Zarif claiming that Kerry told him Israel had attacked Iranian proxies in Syria while serving as Barack Obama's Secretary of State, a role he held between 2013 and 2017.
Kerry himself does not appear in the recording, and Israeli officials have themselves previously shared details of some of their attacks on Syria.
The information about the former top US diplomat comes amid in an explosive leak where Zarif complained about the late Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassim Soleimani.
The tape surfaced on Sunday, providing indications of a pronounced rift within the Iranian regime – while showcasing Iran's top diplomatic speaking to his own ineffectiveness in contending with powerful internal forces.
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif describes former Secretary of State John Kerry telling him that Israel launched 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria in comments picked up in a leaked recording. Zarif (left) and Kerry (right) are seen above in New York in this 2016 file photo
A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on April 24, 2021, shows smoke billowing from a tanker off the coast of the western Syrian city of Baniyas. An Iranian tanker was attacked off the Syrian coast, sparking a fire, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while state news agency SANA quoted the oil ministry as saying the fire erupted after 'what was believed to be an attack by a drone from the direction of Lebanese waters'
An Israeli soldier runs past a mobile artillery cannon at a position near Moshav Sha'al in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on April 22, 2021
The account of Kerry's comment appeared in the New York Times and other outlets Monday.
'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,' according to the Times.
The recording has Zarif saying: 'It was former US Foreign Secretary John Kerry who told me Israel had launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria.'
That drew immediate pushback from conservative supporters of Israel.
Noah Pollak of the Democratic Alliance Group tweeted: 'John Kerry was ratting out Israeli covert operations in Syria directly to the Iranian foreign minister. Let that sink in. Wow.'
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as ex-President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, is also an ardent supporter of Israel.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as ex-President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, is also an ardent supporter of Israel. She tweeted: 'This is disgusting on many levels. Biden and Kerry have to answer for why Kerry would be tipping off Iran, the number one sponsor of terror, while stabbing one of our greatest partners, Israel, in the back.'
But complicating the picture are numerous public claims by the Israelis about attacking Hezbollah forces in Syria dating to 2013 – something Zarif wouldn't need the top U.S. diplomat to inform him about
She tweeted: 'This is disgusting on many levels. Biden and Kerry have to answer for why Kerry would be tipping off Iran, the number one sponsor of terror, while stabbing one of our greatest partners, Israel, in the back.'
But complicating the picture are numerous public claims by the Israelis about attacking Hezbollah forces in Syria dating to 2013 – something Zarif wouldn't need the top U.S. diplomat to inform him about.
Israel also said it launched an attack in Syria last week following a Syrian missile attack.
Israeli soldiers search for debris after a missile launched from Syria landed near the Dimona nuclear site in Israel's southern Negev desert, on April 22, 2021. Multiple defense batteries in Syria were struck by Israeli forces, the military said, after a missile targeted a village near a secretive nuclear site in southern Israel
The White House declined to comment when asked about the potentially explosive information. 'We're not going to comment on leaked tapes,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at Monday's press briefing.
Former special Iran advisor for the State Department Gabriel Noronha said in a statement reported by Fox News: 'The main reason Zarif has survived as Foreign Minister for eight years in Iran's cutthroat political environment is that he serves as the 'reasonable' storefront to the world, protecting the more empowered radical elements of the regime from Western and press scrutiny.'
'I think the leak was likely instigated by regime insiders who have long hated Zarif and tried to oust him — they oppose current efforts to rejoin the [Iran nuclear deal and also want to bolster domestic opposition to President Rouhani and his allies running for office in June.'
Noronha was fired from his State Department political post in the Trump administration after tweeting on Jan. 6th that former President Donald Trump 'fomented an insurrectionist mob that attacked the Capitol today. He continues to take every opportunity to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power,
Israel under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has balked at the Iran nuclear deal hammered out during the Obama administration, in part by Kerry and Zarif.
Israel is believed to be behind attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, although it did not comment on the latest explosion at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility.
Mohammad Javad Zarif complained in the leaked recording that the late Revolutionary Guards commander Qassim Soleimani forced Tehran to send troops to Syria at Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence.
Zarif said he had 'zero' influence over Iran's foreign policy while Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last year, exerted his power to fulfil his military demands at the expense of diplomacy.
'I have never been able to tell a military commander to do something in order to aid diplomacy,' Zarif said in the tape, aired by the London-based Iran International Persian-language satellite news channel late on Sunday.
In the three-hour leaked recording, the foreign minister criticises Soleimani for effectively being a pawn for Putin after the commander deployed Iranian ground forces to Syria and allowed Russia's warplanes to fly over Iran to attack Syria.
Russia had wanted the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on the ground to help Moscow's air campaign in support of the Syrian government.
'He (Soleimani) asked me to make this or that concession or point almost every time I went to negotiate (with world powers),' Zarif said in the recording.
Iran's foreign minister has complained in a leaked recording that the late Revolutionary Guards commander Qassim Soleimani (centre in 2016) forced Tehran to send troops to Syria at Russian President Vladimir Putin's insistence
Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had 'zero' influence over Iran's foreign policy while Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last year, exerted his power to fulfill his military demands at the expense of diplomacy
In the interview, Zarif added that Soleimani refused to stop using the state-owned national carrier Iran Air for Syrian operations despite his objections. He said the aircraft was sometimes used without the government's knowledge.
This admission confirms reports that Iran's civilian aircraft was used to deploy military and personnel to Syria.
'The (military) field's success was more important than diplomacy's success. I was negotiating for the (military) field's success,' Zarif said.
'I have sacrificed diplomacy for the battlefield more than the price that (those on) the battlefield (led by Soleimani)... paid and sacrificed for diplomacy.'
In the leaked taped, he also hinted that Soleimani tried to spoil Iran's 2015 nuclear deal by colluding with Russia.
He claims that the Revolutionary Guards had written 'Israel should be wiped off the Earth' in Hebrew in an effort to ruin the deal.
Zarif added that Iran gave up much of what it 'could have achieved from the nuclear deal' for the sake of advancement on the battlefield.
His comments come as talks are underway in Vienna aimed at finding a way for Tehran to return to the nuclear deal with the U.S. and other Western powers.
In the three-hour leaked recording, the foreign minister criticises Soleimani for effectively being a pawn for Putin after the commander deployed Iranian ground forces to Syria and allowed Russia's warplanes to fly over Iran to attack Syria
Leader of the Guards' clandestine overseas Quds Force, Soleimani was a pivotal figure who built up Iran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East before he was killed by the U.S. in a drone strike last year - an attack which at the time brought the U.S. and Iran to the brink of war.
Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed. Hours later, Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran. Days later, Iran's Guards admitted that the plane had been shot 'mistakenly'.
'I said (at the Supreme National Security meeting) that the world is saying the plane was hit with missiles. If the plane was really hit with missiles, tell us so we can see how we can fix it,' Zarif said in the recording.
'They told me: 'No, go, go tweet and deny it'.'
Throughout the recording, Zarif offered a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic, providing a rare look inside the country's theocracy.
He complained that the Revolutionary Guards and its commander had more influence in foreign affairs and the country's nuclear dossier than him, in remarks that shine a light on ties between the government and the powerful force.
In the interview, Zarif repeated an earlier claim by officials around President Rouhani that they had not been told by the Revolutionary Guard that it accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January 2020, killing all 176 people on board.
Zarif describes Russia as wanting to stop the nuclear deal, something apparently so sensitive that he warns the interviewer: 'You definitely can never release this part.'
Russia had a frosty relationship with then-President Barack Obama, whose administration secured the deal with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Russia and Iran also at times have strained relations, despite being battlefield allies in Syria.
'If Iran hadn't become Mr. (Donald) Trump's priority, China and Russia would have become his priority,' Zarif said. 'If, because of hostility with the West, we always need Russia and China, they don't have to compete with anyone, and also they can always enjoy maximum benefits through us.'
Both China and Russia have been vocal proponents of returning to the nuclear deal. Their missions in Vienna did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Despite his criticism, Zarif acknowledged Soleimani's importance in Iran.
'I believe that the U.S. by hitting Martyr Soleimani dealt a blow to Iran that would not have been as bad even if they had hit one of our towns,' he said.
A photo shows burning wreckage of the US airstrike on two cars at Baghdad International Airport that killed Soleimani and other top Iranian military officials last year
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who pushed the Trump administration's pressure campaign on Iran, later linked to a story about the leaked tapes on Twitter. He described it as an 'exquisite strike' that 'had a massive impact on Iran and the Middle East.'
'You don't have to take my word for it,' Pompeo wrote.
The release of his comments set off a firestorm within Iran, where officials carefully mind their words amid a cut-throat political environment that includes the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The conservative Fars news agency criticized Zarif for presenting himself during the conversation as 'a symbol of diplomacy', contrasting with Soleimani as a symbol of the 'battlefield'.
The Fars agency quoted lawmaker Nasrollah Pejmanfar, who demanded 'explanations' from the foreign ministry for the remarks.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the airstrike as an 'exquisite strike' that 'had a massive impact on Iran and the Middle East'
'Mr. Zarif calls into question subjects appearing among the red lines of the Islamic republic,' Pejmanfar said.
Relations between pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani's government and the Guards are important because the influence of the hardline paramilitary force is so great that it can disrupt any rapprochement with the West if it feels this would endanger its economic and political interests.
Without disputing the audio's authenticity, the foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Monday said that the news channel only published excerpts of the seven-hour interview with the foreign minister.
Khatibzadeh called the release of the recording 'illegal' and described it as 'selectively' edited, though he and others did not offer opinions on how it became public. Zarif, visiting Iraq on Monday after a trip to Qatar, took no questions from journalists after giving a brief statement in Baghdad.
Although Zarif said he had no intention of running in Iran's June 18 presidential election, some critics said Zarif's comments were aimed at gaining votes from Iranians disillusioned by a stalled economy and lack of political and social freedoms.
His name has been suggested by prominent moderates as a possible candidate for the election, in which several prominent commanders of the Guards are also running for the top executive post.
Outside of Iran, Zarif's comments could also affect talks in Vienna aimed at finding a way for Tehran and the U.S. to both come into compliance with Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Already, sabotage targeted Iran's nuclear facility at Natanz during the talks as Tehran has begun enriching a small amount of uranium up to 60 per cent purity, which edges the country closer to weapons-grade levels.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi'ite clerical ruling system and revolutionary values. It answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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