The Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff says the clock is now running for Tehran to respond to a draft deal over the delivery of nuclear fuel to Iran.
Mike Mullen expressed concern over Iran's response to a seize-the-moment offer by the Obama administration, which requires the country to send most of its domestically-enriched uranium out of the country for further refinement.
The offer has been rejected by Iranian officials, who have put forth a counter-proposal suggesting that 400 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched uranium be taken to the Island of Kish for a simultaneous swap with an amount equivalent to 20 percent of the original batch
Iran needs the fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor that produces radioisotopes used in cancer treatment by over 200 hospitals in the country.
Mullen said while he supports the aforementioned offer, he would rather have plans for a military strike on Iran, whether by Israel or the United States, as a last resort.
"I grow increasingly concerned that the Iranians have been non-responsive. I've said for a long time we don't need another conflict in that part of the world," said the top US military officer.
"I'm not predicting that would happen, but I think they've got to get to a position where they are a constructive force and not a destabilizing force," he added
Meanwhile in Washington, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod warned that if Iran does not cooperate there will be inevitable consequences.
"I think that the world is united and is willing to take additional steps if the Iranians don't turn around," said Axelrod without clarifying on what he means of taking additional steps. "Plainly, there are going to be consequences if they don't turn around," he added.
Washington and a number of European countries say "they have suspicions" about Iran's nuclear plans, accusing the country of attempting to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran, which is a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) unlike some of its regional neighbors, has categorically dismissed the accusations, saying its plans aim to generate electricity for a growing population.
In a Friday press conference on the sidelines of UN Climate talks in Copenhagen, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that attempts to link nuclear technology to nuclear bombs is a pretext used by certain states that wish to dominate the world.
"If we consider nuclear technology as equal to nuclear bombs, we will be depriving human beings of its [technological] benefits," said Ahmadinejad, adding that those who tie the two concepts together are countries which both "own a nuclear bomb and use nuclear energy."
Source: Press TVAdvertisment
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