US President Barack Obama with Dempsey
Photo: AFP
Dempsey: Israeli strike won't achieve objectives
Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey says Israeli military action in Iran would be 'destabilizing' but admits Washington yet to convince Jerusalem on this view
The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army General Martin Dempsey said Saturday that an Israeli strike
on Iran
"wouldn’t achieve its long-term objectives" and would be "destabilizing."
Warning: Iran, Hezbollah planning more attacks
In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Dempsey said that taking military action against the Islamic Republic would not be not "prudent."
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The US general claimed that the economic sanctions imposed on Iran together with international pressure are beginning to have an effect. “We are of the opinion that Iran is a rational actor. We also know, or we believe we know, that the Iranian regime has not decided to make a nuclear weapon."
Addressing the possibility of the US arming the Syrian opposition, Dempsey said "I think intervening in Syria would be very difficult." He explained that international actors like Turkey, Russia and Iran all have an interest in Syria.
Earlier on Saturday British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Iran is clearly trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and if it succeeds it will set off a dangerous round of nuclear proliferation across the Middle East.
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