US warns against military attack on Iran

US Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warns that any military attack on Iran will be “very, very destabilizing” and will have unintended consequences for the Middle East.

On Thursday, Admiral Mullen accused Tehran of being “on a path that has strategic intent to develop nuclear weapons and have been for some time.”

Iran, however, has repeatedly denied such charges, saying its nuclear program is peaceful in nature and within the frameworks of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“I think that outcome is potentially a very, very destabilizing outcome … on the other hand, when asked about striking Iran, specifically, that also has a very, very destabilizing outcome,” Adm. Mullen told a gathering at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Adm. Mullen said he worried about “unintended consequences” of either scenario, adding “that part of the world could become much more unstable, which is a dangerous global outcome.”

“One of the things that I think is so important is that we continue internationally, diplomatically, politically — not just ‘we’ the United States but the international community, continue to focus on this to prevent those two outcomes,” Reuters quoted Mullen as saying.