Talk:John Kerry/Archive 28

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John Kerry and unproven allegations about his disclosure of information to Iran

I noted this addition to the article yesterday:

"In April 2021, Zarif claimed in a leaked audio that Kerry, when he was Secretary of State, informed him of more than 200 Israeli operations in Syria. Kerry called the claims unequivocally false."

In this BLP of John Kerry, the passage is sourced from Fox News, Zarif in leaked audio claims Kerry informed him about Israeli operations. The original source is an article featured in The New York Times. The article is paywalled. Note that I am not casting aspersions on Fox News: they seem to have summarized and attributed the information from NYT accurately. I say that because of what I have read in coverage by U.S. political reporting specialty site, The Hill (newspaper). According to their article, John Kerry faces calls to step down over leaked Iran tapes, the tape recording consisted of the Foreign Minister of Iran making remarks about John Kerry divulging sensitive, secret information to him, concerning a U.S. ally (Israel).

These are the reasons that I am hesitant to have any additional information included in Kerry's BLP at this time:

1. the date of the recording is unknown, according to The New York Times—the information was widely known after a certain point in time (2018? 2019?) so timing makes a difference;
2. John Kerry was not recorded in the act of disclosing sensitive information to the Iranian foreign minister;
3. the recording consists of hearsay ONLY, by a high ranking Iranian official—keep in mind that Iran is an adversary of the United States;
4. other WP:RS have not reported on this (there is no mention of it in the Wall Street Journal for which I have a paid subscription);
5. there is ample reason for a foreign adversary to make such a claim about Kerry, whether true or not, as it serves to instill fear and distrust in the American people if they have doubt in high-ranking US officials such as Kerry;
6. Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif is accustomed to John Kerry"s sympathetic attitude to Iran, yet Zarif was reported to have expressed surprise that Kerry would divulge such information;
7. I am listening to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on live television right now on FOX news Pompeo emphatically says that questions should be asked of John Kerry to hear his side of the story, and any other action is premature. Pompeo also said that Zarif is not necessarily to be trusted, because Zarif is a front man, possibly a propagandist. Pompeo is NOT sympathetic to Kerry in general. Regardless, in response to direct questioning, he refused to give his support to those who wish to take immediate action against Kerry now.

My bullet points 5 and 6 are WP:SYNTH. The others are factual, to the best of my knowledge. Pompeo is a recent former US Secretary of State, so his conjectures are relevant.--FeralOink (talk) 19:35, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

When I made the addition, I specifically wrote that Zarif claimed this, and not that anything had been proven. Everything I wrote is factual. And the reason I sourced Fox News is because I do not read the New York Times. Feel free to change the reference or add anything clarifying that the allegations are completely unconfirmed. Nerguy (talk) 19:54, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

I want to make sure that this is clear: I am not objecting to the current content in the article. You did just fine, Nerguy! (I am an avid Fox News television viewer.) You added a brief one or maybe two sentence description of the current situation. The source and details are good the way they are now. I merely wanted to caution subsequent editors from adding more detail until more facts are known, especially since this is a BLP.--FeralOink (talk) 20:15, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

I see. Thanks FeralOink. Nerguy (talk) 22:33, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

Please assist with new article about leaked Zarif audiotape

Leaked Mohammad Javad Zarif audiotape Thanks The Kingfisher (talk) 19:29, 28 April 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 June 2021

In the military service section of the infobox, add United States as the 'Allegiance'. 76.71.157.66 (talk) 19:08, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

 Done. I don't think it's meant to be linked though. ‑‑Volteer1 (talk) 02:14, 21 June 2021 (UTC)