Admitting that the section on secret Iran talks was removed from the US State Department press conference video
US State Department spokesman John Kirby has confirmed that in 2013, a State Department official intentionally cut several minutes from a video of a news conference about secret negotiations with Iran before posting it on YouTube and the department's website.
At a December 2, 2013 press conference, Fox News reporter James Rosen asked State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki about her denial of secret negotiations between Iran and the United States.
Jen Psaki responded: “James, there are times when diplomacy needs privacy to proceed. This is a good example of that.”
The Fox reporter's question was about the same negotiations that later took place formally between Iran and the P5+1 group to resolve concerns about Iran's nuclear program, leading to the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015.
But that question and answer was removed from the video that the State Department posted on its website and on YouTube, even though it was included in the official State Department transcript and even in a backup video of the press conference that was kept in the archives.
Fox News became aware of the issue last month and asked the State Department for an explanation.
John Kirby, the department's current spokesman, said on Wednesday that the removal of the section on Iran was at the request of a State Department official, but said he was unable to identify the official.
However, he called the action unacceptable.
“The deliberate removal of part of a video is inconsistent with the State Department’s commitment to transparency and public accountability,” Mr. Kirby said.
He said his investigation showed that on the same day, December 2, 2013, someone from the ministry's public relations department called a video editor and demanded that "that part of the news conference be cut."
The video editor says he doesn't remember the name of the person who made the request over the phone.
On February 6, 2013 – about 10 months before the aforementioned press conference – then-State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told Fox News correspondent James Rosen that no direct bilateral talks – outside of major international gatherings – would be held between American and Iranian officials.
On December 2nd of that year, James Rosen asked Ms. Psaki if Ms. Nuland had told the truth.
This was the part of the conversation between James Rosen and Jen Psaki that was deleted from the press conference video.
Jen Psaki, now the White House communications director, denied on Wednesday that she ordered the conversation removed from the video.
"I had no knowledge of that editing or cutting of any content from the news conference while I was working at the State Department, and I did not approve of it," he said.
John Kirby says he has ordered the full video of the press conference to be re-released in all outlets, replacing the edited video. He also said new rules will be written to prevent similar incidents.
Source: BBC
