U.S. Admiral Warns Against Attacking Iran

July 3, 2008 6:23 a.m. EST

Washington (AHN) - Launching a military strike against Iran would open up a third front in the Middle East and be "extremely stressful" for U.S. forces, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday during a U.S. Defense Department press conference.

Mullen's comments came soon after the Iranian government dismissed any threat from Israel describing any attack on its nuclear facilities as "impossible." At the same time Iran announced it would comment on a package offered by six nations to abandon its uranium enrichment program.

Mullen said an attack in Iran, after Iraq and Afghanistan would be "extremely stressful, very challenging, with consequences that would be difficult to predict."

When asked to comment on reports that Israel could strike Iran this year, he replied, "This is a very unstable part of the world and I don't need it to be more unstable."

Mullen has long advocated diplomacy, sanctions and international pressure to persuade Iran from ending its nuclear program. His latest comments are seen by analysts that he has been fighting behind the scenes to ask Washington and Israel to carefully consider any military action against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Tensions have been mounting in the region after reports indicated that the latest major military war games carried out by Israel were a simulation of an aerial attack against Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently denied its nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons purely for civilian use.

Mullen said he believes the Iranian military has the capability to disrupt ship traffic off the strategic Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf. However Mullen would not comment on patrols by the U.S. Navy in the region.

"I believe [Iran is] still on a path to get nuclear weapons and I think that's something that needs to be deterred," said Mullen. "My position with regard to the Iranian regime hasn't changed. They remain a destabilizing factor in the region.

"But I'm convinced that the solution still lies in using other elements of national power to change Iranian behaviour, including diplomatic, financial and international pressure," Mullen concluded. Mullen supports dialog between Washington and Tehran.

Mullen's assessment was echoed by Mohammed El Baradei, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency. He said a military action against Iran would put the region on a "crash course" to building nuclear weapons and would turn the region "into a fireball."

El Baradei said Iran's existing nuclear program does not pose any "imminent risk" of proliferation.