Misc

Iran, and the effort to ensure it doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon, also will prove a challenge, Admiral Mullen noted. “When I speak of leaving all options on the table [for dealing with Iran], certainly it includes the potential for military options,” Mullen said. “But I’ve also been very vocal on the need for the diplomatic, the political, the international focus here, to generate enough intensity and motivation on the part of the leadership of Iran not to consummate this threat.” Iran’s success in creating a nuclear weapon would prove destabilizing for the region, possibly creating a regional nuclear weapons race, Mullen said.