Former US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned of increased risk of war with Iran after President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, saying regional leaders had privately pressed the White House to take military action.
By withdrawing from the historic accord, Trump has “made it more likely that there will be conflict in the region because there are people there who would love to have the United States of America bomb Iran,” Kerry told the Council on Foreign Relations on Friday.
Kerry, a former senator and presidential candidate, played a key role in negotiations between Iran, the US and other world powers that led to the signing of the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Under the accord, Iran undertook to limit its nuclear activities in return for removal of sanctions.
Kerry said that Saudi Arabia’s late king Abdullah and Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak had both told…