US: Sanctions, diplomacy working against Iran

JERUSALEM (JWN and agencies)—The US has reiterated once again that it is committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and is prepared to do so by force, but that a military strike now would be “premature.”

These points were made by Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an interview with The National Journal on Thursday.

“I do think the path we’re on—the economic sanctions and the diplomatic pressure—does seem to me to be having an effect,” Dempsey said. “I just think that it’s premature to be deciding that the economic and diplomatic approach is inadequate.”

Dempsey repeated warnings he made last week on a visit to Israel that there would be dire consequences to a military strike against Iran.

“A conflict with Iran would be really destabilizing, and I’m not just talking from the security perspective,” he told the Journal. “It would be economically destabilizing.”

Dempsey acknowledged that there are differences in opinion between the US and Israel on how to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat.

“We have to acknowledge that they … see that threat differently than we do. It’s existential to them,” he said. “My intervention with them was not to try to persuade them to my thinking or allow them to persuade me to theirs, but rather to acknowledge the complexity and commit to seeking creative solutions, not simple solutions,” he said.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported Thursday that new Israeli intelligence estimates cast doubt on predictions of disaster following a strike on Iran. The paper said that these estimates, combined with academic studies, have led to the conclusion that Iran’s threats of retaliation against an attack on its nuclear facilities are largely a bluff.

The Times reported that senior Israeli security officials have taken this view and, accordingly, Israel is willing to give the latest round of sanctions time to take effect. However, as President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address this week, Israel also feels that a military strike remains a very real option.