Secretary of State John Kerry said in April 2015 that Yemen’s Houthi rebels are funded by Iran just six days after the Obama administration agreed to a framework for the Iran nuclear deal, which it signed three months later.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired at a U.S. Navy destroyer multiple times this week, leading President Obama to order retaliatory strikes against coastal radar sites controlled by the Houthis.
Kerry told PBS about the concerns the U.S. had at the time about Iran, designated by the State Department as the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, in the months leading up to the signing of the nuclear accord.
"There are obviously supplies that have been coming from Iran. There are a number of flights every single week that have been flying in and we trace those flights and we know those," Kerry said. "We’re well aware of the support that Iran has been giving to Yemen. And Iran needs to recognize that the United States is not going to stand by while the region is destabilized, or while people engage, you know, in overt warfare across the lines, international boundaries and other countries."
At the time of his interview with PBS, Kerry was adamant that Iran had to disclose its past weaponization work on its nuclear program for a deal to go through. Just two months later, however, Kerry said he was satisfied that there was "no doubt" about Tehran’s military activities, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
In an April interview with PBS, Kerry said the United States would not accept Iran failing to disclose the military dimensions of its nuclear program, saying flatly, "It will be done. If there’s going to be a deal, it will be done."
Sure enough, during a press appearance June 16, Kerry told State Department reporters the United States already knew everything Iran had done.
"We have no doubt," he said. "We have absolute knowledge with respect to the certain military activities they were engaged in. What we’re concerned about is going forward."