Neocons Have Shaped Washington’s Iran War Plans
As the US attacks Iran, Donald Trump is following a blueprint laid out by a long-standing force in US foreign policy: the neocons who backed the Iraq War more than 20 years ago.
The US war on Iran follows a road map drafted by a revived neocon network of Iraq War defense hawks, Israel lobby allies, and dark money groups. (Sasan / Middle East Images via AFP via Getty Images)
As President Donald Trump continues to bombard Iran, he’s following a plan laid out in a “Project 2025”–like manifesto written by a long-standing force in US foreign policy: the neocons who backed the Iraq War more than twenty years ago.
It’s part of a dark money–backed network of neoconservatives and Israel lobbyists that has been working quietly over the past year to push the Trump administration to launch a military intervention in Iran, releasing memos and polls urging action.
In the first weeks of Trump’s presidency in January 2025, a think tank called the Vandenberg Coalition released a white paper outlining a new agenda for US foreign policy. Called “Deals of the Century: Solving the Middle East,” the document was a “neocon manifesto” for a second Trump presidency, advocating for the United States to provide even more arms to Israel and take a “radically different” stance on Iran. It was a hawkish road map designed to influence a president who had ostensibly embraced isolationist messaging in his campaign.
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