Toning Down the Rhetoric on Iran
According to Swoop:
Tensions continue to grow over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and covert agenda in Iraq. While the drumbeat of the Administration’s rhetoric has risen and fallen, Tehran’s non-acceptance of the latest P5+1 incentives plan and tougher EU financial sanctions have increased the confrontation’s temperature. As we have previously indicated, the current crisis is made particularly vexing for US policy makers due to Israel’s unilateral efforts at saber-rattling. Not only is this seen as provoking a harder line in Tehran, it has undermined the Administration’s tenuous control over escalation. The White House remains adamant that it hopes to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program though diplomatic and economic means. As a result, last week’s visit to Tel Aviv by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen has been dominated by efforts to talk down international confrontation. Nonetheless in Washington, suspicions regarding the Administration’s intent with regard to Iran have deepened following a New Yorker article alleging a $400 million covert operations campaign to destabilize Iran. While our sources indicate that significant ‘black’ operations are ongoing across the region, they are for the most part acting in support of US objectives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon continues to hint at the role of Iran in supporting violence against US troops. However, the statements of senior commanders underscore our view that the Administration has backed away, at the moment, from exercising the military option.
Irancove @ July 5, 2008