A new report from The Boston Globe is stating that former Secretary of State John Kerry is colluding with other foreign nations to save the Iran nuclear deal.
According to the report, “Kerry has been on an aggressive yet stealthy mission to preserve” the deal, recently meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to talk about ways to preserve the deal. Kerry is working with a group of former State Department officials under the Obama administration as part of the effort.
“The quiet lobbying campaign — by him and others — is being conducted below the radar because he and his allies believe a high-profile defense of the deal by prominent Democrats would only backfire and provoke Trump, making it more likely the president would pull the United States out of the deal,” the Glonbe reports.
Brookings Institute foreign policy expert Michael O’Hanlon told the Boston Globe that this kind of behavior from Kerry was “unusual.”
“Former secretaries of state often remain quite engaged with foreign leaders, as they should, but it’s rarely so issue-specific, especially when they have just left office,” O’Hanlon said.
The fact that Kerry, a private citizen, is working with foreign government officials to save the deal could present issues with the Logan Act, although there has never been any indictments brought forth under it.
This report comes as President Trump is set to make a decision on the Iran deal on the May 12 deadline, with all indications pointing to the deal being all but dead.
