Posted on 02/21/2021 5:20:11 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
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, 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Logan Act. /s
Gosh, the justice department should do something about that - NOT!
Beat me to it
Treason and sedition!!
It goes without saying that we all know where this will go.
Where this is going is the GOP Senate rubberstamping Biden’s Senate confirmation picks. This is, of course, after they obstructed key Trump admin positions like FCC chair.
Shades of Ted Kennedy.
Election 2020 bump for later....
Collusion...
The GOP needs to send them a strongly worded letter.
The way they’ve been talking and operating- More than half of DeeCee should see that fate, IMHO.
They’ve forgotten who they work for, if they ever knew. They certainly don’t care either way.
Zack lays out allegations that former president Barack Obama diverted $400 million meant for Iran under the terms of the Iran Nuclear Deal to an alternate account for his personal use. Zack says individuals working to bring the truth about what happened in Italy to light have told her those funds were diverted to a Merrill Lynch account in another country.
“Yes we actually were told that $400 million – 14 pallets – were re-routed to another country to a Merrill Lynch account for President Barack Obama to use as his own money. So basically that would be stealing $400 million,” Zack said. “And we have asked for additional information on that. It is our hope and anticipation that we get it.”
f*ck Biden
“Deep state” is often an abused phrase, but this is a case where “deep state” is accurate.
Isn’t that cute - As we presently begin Obama’s third term.
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