"Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful for us," he said, referring to the prospect of a direct clash with Iran while fighting continues in Iraq and Afghanistan. "This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don't need it to be more unstable."
In his trip to Israel, Mullen met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, chief of the Israeli defense staff. Mullen declined to say whether an airstrike was broached in his meetings but acknowledged that the Iranian threat was discussed and said he agreed that Tehran was a destabilizing force in the region.
Mullen has expressed his concerns for several months about the risks posed to U.S. troops in Iraq by a strike on Iran, Defense Department officials said, but those warnings have been made mostly in private. Mullen declined to say whether he had delivered his assessment to the White House in recent days.
American military analysts familiar with Israel's thinking said the government there remained uncertain whether an attack on Iran made strategic sense and whether such a strike would prove a decisive blow against Tehran's nuclear program. The subject is controversial in Israel, and many Israelis strongly oppose a strike.
Despite Mullen's remarks, rhetoric surrounding a possible airstrike continued to escalate.
The head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard had warned last week that his government would impose controls on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz if the country was attacked. But U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Kevin J. Cosgriff said at a conference of regional naval leaders Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that the U.S. would not allow Iran to block the key waterway.
"We will not allow them to close the Strait of Hormuz. I can't say it any more clearly than that," Cosgriff said, according to Reuters.
Despite Iran's official public positions, the country's leadership fears both a possible military attack and heightened sanctions and isolation, many analysts say. In recent days, Iran has rolled out a diplomatic initiative meant to ease U.S. pressure by currying favor with other world powers.
Iran is considering a package of economic and political incentives being offered by Western diplomats to pave the way for wide-ranging talks if it halts its uranium enrichment program. Diplomats have also suggested a less formal "freeze-for-freeze" package, a six-week period of preliminary talks during which Iran would stop adding new uranium-enrichment capability while the West stops pushing for sanctions.
