Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had proposed a war with Iran to previous US presidents, all of whom declined, said former secretary of state John Kerry in an interview with MS NOW on Friday.
According to Kerry, Netanyahu had presented presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden with plans to attack Iran, all of whom refused, before he received an affirmative response from current US President Donald Trump.
Kerry also cited an article from the New York Times, which was released on Tuesday, detailing Netanyahu's procedure for convincing Trump to strike Iran alongside Israel.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu made a basically four-point pitch, saying that they could kill the leadership, they could incite a change of regime etcetera, they would destroy the military etcetera. Well, they've obviously hurt the military enormously; they have probably sunk, I mean, most of the navy is gone, yeah, our guys are good," Kerry said. "But the fact is that there was no imminent threat."
Kerry: Trump ended Iran deal 'because president Obama did it'
Trump, Kerry argued, had agreed to strike Iran after persuasion from Netanyahu, and walked away from the prior agreement the US had with Iran "not for substantive reasons, but because president Obama did it."
"What we wound up with is a situation where they [Iran] now believe you can't trust the United States, because President Trump came along and pulled out of the agreement," Kerry insisted. He added that Trump had done so without making any effort to engage with Iran through diplomatic means, despite having the ability to do so and the time to bomb afterward if necessary.