John Kerry, former U.S. Secretary of State, referenced reports in an interview with Christiane Amanpour, a CNN reporter, that claim President Donald Trump intends to resume military attacks against Iran after the midterm elections in the U.S. Kerry believes that such actions would not only be detrimental to Iran but would also push the country further away from the negotiating table.
Worrying Predictions
Kerry stated in this interview: "The situation is so unpredictable that anything could happen. In my opinion, starting the post-election period with a military strike would be a very big mistake." He emphasized that this action would not encourage Iranians to negotiate and, on the contrary, would drive them further away from that path.
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He also criticized Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement and raised the question of why Trump did not pursue negotiations aimed at improving this agreement before resorting to military action. Kerry said: "If Trump really wanted change and to achieve a better agreement, why did he not put any plan or proposal on the table?"
Negative Impacts on Negotiations
Kerry added that Trump's military campaign has weakened Washington's negotiating position rather than increasing its leverage over Iran. He pointed out that the U.S. President has put himself in a very unfavorable position for negotiations. However, he believes that reaching an agreement similar to the 2015 nuclear deal is still possible.
According to Kerry, Washington can still "return to conditions very close to the previous agreement," but he warned that after the U.S. military campaign, obtaining further concessions from Tehran will be difficult. He said: "I don't think it will be easy to come and claim that you can obtain concessions beyond what was previously agreed upon after bombing Iran and creating all this chaos in the region."
The former U.S. Secretary of State also pointed out whether military action could eliminate Iran's nuclear capabilities in the long term: "You cannot bomb the knowledge of how to build a bomb. I urge the U.S. government to pursue negotiations through multiple diplomatic channels." He emphasized the importance of diplomacy and stated that this diplomacy should include several parallel paths that are carefully coordinated with each other.
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