| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: WoT |
| Biden team colluded with Iran to foil Trump diplomacy |
| 2021-02-23 |
| [WashingtonTimes] President Trump in 2019 sought to open a back channel of communication with top Iranian officials and saw the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September as a potential opportunity to defuse escalating tension with Tehran, but the effort failed. Two months earlier, however, a different back channel was thriving in New York. Iran’s smooth, English-speaking foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, met with Robert Malley, who was President Obama’s Middle East adviser, in an apparent bid to undermine the Trump team and lay the groundwork for post-Trump relations. The attempt at counterdiplomacy offers a window into the deep relationships Mr. Zarif forged with influential U.S. liberals over the past decade. These relationships blossomed into what high-level national security and intelligence sources say allowed the Iranian regime to bypass Mr. Trump and work directly with Obama administration veterans that Tehran hoped would soon return to power in Washington. One of those was former Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who met with Mr. Zarif during the Trump years. So did Obama-era Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. They, along with Mr. Malley, were top U.S. negotiators of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As part of the deal, Tehran promised to limit its nuclear enrichment activities in exchange for economic sanctions relief and access to tens of billions of dollars in frozen bank accounts. Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the pact in 2018. He cited the need for a much tougher agreement that also addressed Iran’s support for terrorist groups and its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. Mr. Kerry and Mr. Malley are now in the Biden administration, Mr. Kerry as a climate adviser and Mr. Malley poised to play a major role in U.S.-Iranian relations from his perch as special envoy for Iran policy at the State Department. But Mr. Zarif’s power extends far beyond the negotiating table. Numerous sources have told The Washington Times that he wields tremendous influence over a tightly knit group inside the U.S. that has long advocated for Washington to take a more accommodating tack toward Iran. The sources, including several from the U.S. intelligence community who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described a "web" of activity tied to prominent think tanks across the United States, as well as lobbying efforts that reached directly into the White House during the Obama years. It’s an informal union of Iran apologists and pro-diplomacy advocates that helps amplify Mr. Zarif’s talking points, giving the Iranian Foreign Ministry influence over public opinion in the United States and considerable sway in left-leaning political and social circles. |
| Posted by:Ebbereger Unainter6303 |
| #12 Oh, pray for the health of John Kerry: Long life on bread, water and Terry! So too for John's wraith All the fruits of his faith As it wanders through Protestant Derry. |
| Posted by: Waldemar Snosh1778 2021-02-23 22:18 |
| #11 deep relationships Mr. Zarif forged with influential U.S. liberals over the past decade. Relationships no doubt greased with baksheesh deposited into Zarif's Swiss numbered accounts, sluices through State Dept off-balance sheet funds + bribes from the Heinz (Kerry) inheritance |
| Posted by: Ebbaith Ulish9961 2021-02-23 22:13 |
| #10 This points out just how important it is that the next Republican president's first action should be to clean out the FBI, DOJ and CIA. Immediate resignation letters from all who hold appointed positions: *emphasis added) I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me |
| Posted by: Deadeye Jaiting7534 2021-02-23 21:46 |
| #9 Were you ever a nun, TW? A nice Jewish nun, Mercutio? ;-) I’m afraid I don’t have the temperament to marry other than a flesh-and-blood man. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2021-02-23 20:40 |
| #8 The DoJ/FBI/DeepState was certain that obvious felony actions like this and so many other acts of resistance to a lawfully elected President would be overlooked and buried. The politicization of the power centers of our federal government is complete thanks to Obama and his creatures infesting the civil service. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2021-02-23 19:33 |
| #7 Didn't they FBI go after Michael Flynn because he talked to a Russian ambassador? How is this different? Oh, I know. Because there was no transition underway. But I guess this is not a crime because shut up. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-02-23 19:29 |
| #6 Sentence has been pronounced; you have received you last cigarette, the end is near.... no last words..... not approved by the state |
| Posted by: Glomomp Black3073 2021-02-23 18:57 |
| #5 ouch. ruler. knuckles. Were you ever a nun, TW? |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2021-02-23 18:44 |
#4
| |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2021-02-23 17:53 |
| #3 I'm not a lawyer or anything, but isn't this a violation of the Logan Act? Of course, John Kerry should be very familiar with this, since he did the same thing during the VietNam war. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2021-02-23 17:24 |
| #2 "...See, that's different because shut up." Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2021-02-23 16:35 |
| #1 No other word available direct and to the point |
| Posted by: Ulaque de Medici2627 2021-02-23 15:08 |