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21:22 GMT
WASHINGTON, April 18 (KUNA) -- US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael
Mullen on Sunday said diplomacy was the best way forward for now in dealing
with the Iranian nuclear issue, citing "unintended consequences" that would
result from military action against Iran.
"There are those that say, 'Come on, Mullen, get over that,'" Admiral
Mullen said during a forum at Columbia University in New York. "They (the
Iranians) are going to get it (a nuclear weapon). Let us deal with it.'"
But "dealing with it has unintended consequences that I do not think we
have all thought through," he said.
Mullen said his worry about Iran achieving a nuclear weapons capability is
that other states in the region will seek to do the same.
"... There are options which exist" for dealing militarily with the Iran
nuclear threat, the admiral said, but he urged alternatives.
"The diplomatic, the engagement piece, the sanctions piece, all those
things, from my perspective, need to be addressed to possibly have Iran change
its mind about where it is headed," he said. (end)
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