Foreign Policy

Mike Pompeo Calls John Kerry's Meetings With Iranians 'Unseemly'

A spokesperson for Kerry says it's not unprecedented for former secretaries of state to meet with their counterparts.

Mike Pompeo Calls John Kerry's Meetings With Iranians 'Unseemly'
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"What Secretary Kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called his predecessor John Kerry's meetings with Iranian officials "beyond inappropriate."

On Wednesday, Kerry confirmed that he had met with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif on several occasions since leaving office, including at a conference in Munich.

That's where Secretary Pompeo says he saw Kerry, along with two other Obama administration officials. "I'm reasonably confident that he was not there in support of U.S. policy," Pompeo said.

On Thursday night, President Trump tweeted that Kerry's meetings were illegal, citing the foreign agents registration act. That law requires people acting as agents of foreign governments to say so publicly. 

A spokesperson for Kerry told Politico that every previous Secretary of State has kept in touch with former counterparts.