U.S. admiral warns against war with Iran

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen said that a possible aggression against Iran would have been "extremely stressful" for the US troops.

BBC reported that during a news conference in the Pentagon Admiral Michael Mullen commented on a possibility of military action by the US and Israel in response to Iran's refusal to curtail its nuclear program.

He warned that opening up a third front - after Iraq and Afghanistan, where the US troops have been deployed for over five years now - "would have unpredictable and potentially dangerous consequences".

Mullen, who just returned from two days of consultations with Israeli military leaders, declined to discuss those consultations or Israeli intentions on how to rein in Iran's nuclear program.

ABC News reported two days ago that Israel is increasingly likely to attack Iranian nuclear facilities this year.

Western media point out that even though the US denies any information about preparation for a military strike against Iran, the very statement that the Admiral has made about negative consequences of the war shows that the US government has been actively discussing this option backstage, and Mullen is trying to convince the US and Israel to thoroughly evaluate the consequences of the attack before starting to consider this option.

"But I'm convinced that the solution still lies in using other elements of national power to change Iranian behavior, including diplomatic, financial and international pressure," Adm. Mullen said.

"This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don't need it to be more unstable," he added.

At the same time Mullen mentioned that his attitude towards the Iranian regime has not changed. According to him, Iran remains the destabilizing factor in the region.

The top US military officer maintained that Iran is 'still on a path to obtain nuclear weapons', adding that it 'needs to be deterred.'

Meanwhile Iran has been actively preparing for war. Even though Tehran has been constantly claiming that the US and Israel would never go for an aggression, Iranians have been increasing their military capabilities and apparently preparing for the worst case scenario.

Information agencies have reported that Iran has started a serial production of light tanks Tosan for rapid response units. This report came from FNA news agency referring to a statement made by Colonel Nasser Arab-Beigi, one of the commanders of land troops of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The production of the tank, developed on the national basis, has been launched by Tehran as part of the implementation of the strategy to independently provide the equipment needs of Armed Forces.

Nasser Arab-Beigi also said that the situation unfolding around Iran requires serious strengthening of the country's defense potential by adopting modern-day combat systems.

According to the information that has been available, a light tank Tosan weighs no more than 25 tons and is equipped with a 90mm caliber gun and modified system of fire-control. The tank is capable of traveling long distances on its own, while special tank carriers are used for this purpose.

Earlier Iranian experts also developed a heavy tank Zulfiqar on the basis of Russian T-72. The tank is equipped with a 1,000 horsepower engine and can accelerate to 70 kilometers an hour. The tank's arsenal includes a 125 mm cannon and 7.62mm and 12.7 mm machineguns.

It was also reported that according to Israeli intelligence, Iran has aimed its missiles at the Dimona nuclear facilities in Israel (the Negev Desert).