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Kerry Dismisses Trump, Pompeo Criticism Over Zarif Meetings

Kerry Dismisses Trump, Pompeo Criticism Over Zarif  Meetings
Kerry Dismisses Trump, Pompeo Criticism Over Zarif  Meetings

Former US secretary of state John Kerry fired back against attacks by President Donald Trump and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, saying the president “should be more worried about Paul Manafort meeting with Robert Mueller than me meeting with Iran’s FM.” Trump originally attacked Kerry on Thursday evening, saying on Twitter that Kerry had “illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime.” The tweet was an apparent reference to Kerry admitting on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Wednesday to meeting with Iranian officials, specifically Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, “three or four times” at gatherings of world leaders, such as the World Economic Forum, ABC News reported. Kerry said he did not try to “coach” Iran through the Trump administration’s rejection of the JCPOA, a nuclear deal with Iran implemented under Kerry’s watch. The meetings came while Rex Tillerson was secretary of state and before Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA in May. Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been dogged in a federal investigation led Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a probe that the US president derides as a political witch hunt.

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