‘It’s shocking’: Former US secretary of state slams Trump handling of Iran war

• Joe Biden and Barack Obama previously rejected similar strike proposals by Netanyahu to push US toward Iran conflict, says Kerry

Former US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that President Donald Trump’s handling of the war with Iran could trigger wider global and economic consequences, while questioning the fragile ceasefire in place.

Kerry, also a former senator who helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, questioned the current two-week ceasefire, calling it “remarkably loosey-goosey,” in a Thursday interview on GBH’s Boston Public Radio.

He warned of broader consequences, saying, “It’s shocking, honestly,” and added: “I think it proves more serious and more dangerous as we go on, because the Strait of Hormuz (is) in the control of Iran, which they were not before (the war) started.

“And the threat to global economies of next steps which extend this war is just shuddering to think about, and may be a larger, more complicated economic impact than we’ve ever dealt with.”

Referring to the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil passage, Kerry noted uncertainty over the ceasefire’s implementation, as oil tanker traffic reportedly remains limited since the truce began.

Netanyahu said to have pushed US toward Iran escalation

Kerry also argued that Trump was influenced into starting the conflict, saying: “In this case, you have a war that is essentially fulfilling the long-held dream of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do as much damage to Iran as he is permitted to.”

He said Trump was steered toward military action by Netanyahu, who, according to Kerry, had previously urged similar strikes on Iran to Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama when they were in office—both of whom rejected the proposals and declined to escalate.

Following Hillary Clinton, Kerry served as secretary of state under Obama, from 2013 to 2017.

“When you go to war, you go to war hopefully with the support of your people,” Kerry said.

“And you have a defined threat, you have a clarity as to why you need to go to war. And equally importantly, I think we’ve learned through the years, you have allies. You have people supporting you because your cause is just—it’s right.”

Kerry also reiterated his view that Iran did not pose an imminent threat before the conflict, crediting in part the 2015 nuclear deal for limiting its capabilities.

“No, there was not an imminent threat,” he said. “An imminent threat would have been something that (they could do) in one or two days, three days, a week, whatever. Maybe you can say a month. But Iran did not have the capacity ... There isn’t a notion possible to conjure up by which they could have made a nuclear weapon at this point in time.”

Kerry helped negotiate the widely praised nuclear deal, which Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from in 2017, a step some analysts say helped pave the way to this year’s war. Some point to Trump’s conditions for ending the war as being similar to the 2015 deal.

Kerry further warned of what he called a “strategic gap” in US leadership and diplomacy, questioning Washington’s ability to manage negotiations and warning that global perceptions of American rhetoric are weakening efforts toward peace.