Former United States Secretary of State John Kerry has revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought American backing for military action against Iran under four successive presidents, but only Donald Trump gave the green light. Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kerry stated bluntly: “Obama said no. Bush said no. President Biden said no. I mean, I was part of those conversations.” The claim, if accurate, would mean that successive Republican and Democratic administrations — George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden — each judged that a strike on Tehran was neither necessary nor wise, before Trump upended that consensus shortly before his own term ended.

Kerry framed the rejection as a matter of principle, arguing that past American leaders refused to go to war because diplomatic avenues had not been exhausted. The veteran of the Vietnam War drew explicit parallels between a potential conflict with Iran and the disastrous engagements in Southeast Asia and Iraq, warning that the public should never be misled about the costs of military action. His remarks carry particular weight given his role in the Obama administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran, which produced the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — a deal Netanyahu vociferously opposed.

Viewed from Washington, Kerry’s account reinforces the view that the Israeli prime minister has long pursued a strategy of drawing the United States into a direct confrontation with Iran. Analysts in London note that the revelation underscores a fundamental divergence in strategic thinking: where previous occupants of the White House prioritised non-proliferation diplomacy and regional stability, Trump appears to have been willing to accede to Netanyahu’s maximalist position. In Tel Aviv, the claim has been met with official silence, but it feeds into a longstanding domestic narrative that Israel cannot rely on American restraint when its own security is at stake.

From Tehran’s perspective, Kerry’s intervention confirms suspicions that the Trump administration was prepared to wage war by proxy at the behest of an ally. Iranian officials have consistently portrayed any Israeli-American military planning as evidence of aggressive intent, and this revelation will strengthen the hand of hardliners who argue that only a nuclear deterrent can guarantee the Islamic Republic’s survival. The timing is critical: with negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme stalled and regional tensions still high, the disclosure that a former American president authorised what three others refused threatens to poison any future diplomatic openings.

Looking ahead, the broader implication is that the United States abandoned a policy of relative restraint that had held for two decades. Kerry’s warning — that war should be a last resort, not a first instinct — echoes the caution that has been absent from much of the recent debate over Iran. As analysts in European capitals point out, the decision to approve a military plan that three presidents had rejected does not merely alter the immediate tactical picture; it erodes the credibility of American diplomacy across the Middle East. Whether the current administration can rebuild that trust, or whether Tehran will now view any overture as a prelude to conflict, remains the open question.