Mullen: US very ready to attack Iran

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156078.html


In a direct threat against Iran, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen says Washington is “very ready” to launch an attack on Tehran.

"There are real threats to peace and stability here, and we've made no secrets of our concerns about Iran," Mullen said on Saturday.

"From my perspective I see Iran continuing on this path to develop nuclear weapons, and I believe that that development and achieving that goal would be very destabilizing to the region," Mullen said.

Amid a standoff over Iran's nuclear program, both Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear work may consist of a covert military agenda -- an allegation Iran has repeatedly denied.

The latest threat of military action was invoked by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who urged Washington to "destroy" the Islamic Republic through military action on November 6, 2010.

"Not to just neutralize their nuclear program, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard, in other words neuter that regime," Graham said.

Mullen himself had also claimed in the past that he was ready to start a war if he was convinced it would keep Iran from making a "bomb."

This is while Iran says its nuclear program is completely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has, in its many reports, also verified the non-diversion of nuclear material toward military objectives.

In August, Iran complained to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly about US military threats over the country's nuclear program and based on "totally false" grounds, vowing a response to any such strikes.

Mullen, however, added that he supports the policy of imposing sanctions against Iran to pressure it into stopping its nuclear program, while continuing talks.

Iran and the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany -- wrapped up two days of multifaceted talks in Geneva, Switzerland on December 7.

The comprehensive talks were held between Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1, after the West expressed willingness to return to the negotiating table.

Both sides have agreed to hold the next round of talks in Turkish city of Istanbul in late January.

Mullen once again stressed that an attack on Iran's known nuclear facilities would have "unintended consequences," adding however that "all options have been on the table and remain on the table."

Iranian officials have warned that any act of aggression by the US and Israel against Iran's nuclear facilities would be firmly responded to and could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East.