‘Global war beyond Persian Gulf’ likely if US hawks kill Iran deal: Analsyt

A “global war” beyond the Persian Gulf region would be likely should congressional hawks in the United States prevent a final nuclear agreement with Iran, an analyst says.

“It’s absolutely vital that the [Iran] deal does go through to the end because I think there is a very real chance it can be successful and also because if there is not an agreement, then we are on a definite slippery slope towards war,” Jeffrey Steinberg, a senior editor at Executive Intelligence Review, told Press TV on Wednesday.

“It would be a war that might start in the Persian Gulf, but very rapidly become a much bigger war and potentially even a global war in which nuclear weapons are used,” he added.

Steinberg made the comments one day after US Secretary of State John Kerry told members of Congress that an interim nuclear deal signed with Iran last month in Geneva “unequivocally” served US interests.

Appearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kerry warned lawmakers that the deal could unravel if they pass new sanctions against Tehran.

“We’re asking you to give our negotiators and our experts the time and space to negotiate,” Kerry said.

Some members of Congress have been skeptical of the six-month agreement because it allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium.

Steinberg said it was “irresponsible” of the lawmakers for their willingness to press forward with more sanctions legislation in such delicate times.

“The stakes in this are enormously high and you have a bunch of people in the Congress who are acting completely irresponsibly, who are completely missing the big picture and the danger of a larger war and this needs to be basically prevented from happening,” Steinberg said.

He expressed hope that the interim deal can lead to “a viable deal that is acceptable to everybody.”

“I think that the circumstances are right for that to be able to happen and anybody who tries to get in the way of that should be just run over and prevented from doing it, because the consequences of failing to make a deal when the opportunity is there at this point are very grave for mankind as a whole,” he concluded.