Pompeo Calls John Kerry's Meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Inappropriate

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, criticized John Kerry, describing his meetings with Mohammad Javad Zarif as 'inappropriate and unprecedented.' However, a spokesperson for John Kerry stated that the former U.S. Secretary of State had previously shared details of his meetings with the Iranian Foreign Minister with Mr. Pompeo. Kerry, who served as Secretary of State during Barack Obama's second term and reached an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program, recently mentioned that he has had several meetings with Zarif since Donald Trump took office. Pompeo condemned this action, stating to reporters, 'What Kerry, the former Secretary of State, has done is inappropriate and unprecedented.' He added, 'The former Secretary of State of the United States has been in contact with the world's greatest supporter of terrorism and, according to his own words, has been talking to them and telling them to wait until this administration is over. You cannot find anything like this in U.S. history. A Secretary of State should not behave this way. This behavior is very inappropriate.' CNN, however, reported the comments of Kerry's spokesperson, who rejected Pompeo's objection, stating that Kerry had previously provided a report of his discussions with Iranian officials to Mr. Pompeo to keep him informed about Iranian officials' perspectives. Matt Summers stated, 'John Kerry, like all former U.S. Secretaries of State, is in contact with his former counterparts around the world, and earlier this year, he had a lengthy phone conversation with Mike Pompeo, detailing what Iranian officials think.' He emphasized that Kerry, like America's closest allies, believes that the commitments Iran made under the nuclear agreement are very important. Previously, Donald Trump also criticized Kerry in a tweet, calling his behavior illegal and detrimental to the American people. He wrote, 'John Kerry has had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian regime, and this action can only affect our great work and harm the American people. He told them to wait until the Trump administration is over! Has he registered his activities under the Foreign Agents Registration Act? Shame!' Kerry himself stated that his goal in these meetings was not to advise Mohammad Javad Zarif on how to confront U.S. policies but to understand how issues could be resolved with Iran.