Democratic Senator Chris Murphy (CT) admitted today that he secretly met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, after a report surfaced yesterday claiming he and other Democrat Senators met with the official at the Munich Security conference.
Murphy tweeted a link to a Medium article he posted today, and wrote, “I met w the Iranian Foreign Minister in Munich. It’s dangerous not to talk to adversaries….” He claims he told Zarif that Congress is also responsible for U.S. foreign policy.
2/ First, I urged him to control any Iranian proxies in Iraq who might attack U.S. forces and allies there.
Second, I pressed him to release American citizens being unlawfully detained in Iran.
Third, I pushed him to end the Houthi blockage of humanitarian aid in Yemen.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
3/ Congress is a co-equal branch to the executive. We set foreign policy too. Many of us have met w Zarif over the years, under Obama and Trump. So though no one in Congress can negotiate with Zarif or carry official U.S. government messages, there is value in having a dialogue.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
4/ I wish President Trump would see that value too. Because our current policy of blind, non-strategic escalation is just making Iran more powerful and menacing, and making America weaker and less secure.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 18, 2020
In his post on Medium, Murphy wrote,”I don’t know whether my visit with Zarif will make a difference. I’m not the President or the Secretary of State — I’m just a rank and file U.S. Senator. I cannot conduct diplomacy on behalf of the whole of the U.S. government, and I don’t pretend to be in a position to do so.
He continues, “But if Trump isn’t going to talk to Iran, then someone should. And Congress is a co-equal branch of government, responsible along with the Executive for setting foreign policy. A lack of dialogue leaves nations guessing about their enemy’s intentions, and guessing wrong can lead to catastrophic mistakes.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed yesterday’s report in the Federalist that Democratic Senators met with Zarif earlier today, telling reporters he hoped they were “reinforcing America’s foreign policy…”
“I have seen that piece about some senators meeting with Foreign Minister Zarif. This guy is designated by the United States of America,” he said. “He’s the foreign minister for a country that shot down a commercial airliner and has yet to turn over the black boxes. This is the foreign minister of a country that killed an American on December 27. And it’s the foreign minister of a country who is the largest world sponsor of terror and the world’s largest sponsor of anti-Semitism,” Pompeo said. “If they met, I don’t know what they said. I hope they were reinforcing America’s foreign policy and not their own.”
