WASHINGTON, Aug 12: Several retired American generals and admirals have asked the US Congress to pass the Iranian nuclear deal, arguing that this is the most effective means currently available to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
In an open letter to the Congress, more than three dozen retired generals and admirals warned that Iran would acquire a nuclear weapon in less than a year if this deal fell through.
“There is no better option to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon. Military action would be less effective than the deal, assuming it is fully implemented,” the letter said.
“If the Iranians cheat, our advanced technology, intelligence and the inspections will reveal it, and US military options remain on the table. And if the deal is rejected by America, the Iranians could have a nuclear weapon within a year. The choice is that stark,” the officials said.
They said that if at some point it becomes necessary to consider military action against Iran, gathering sufficient international support for such an effort would only be possible if “we have first given the diplomatic path a chance. We must exhaust diplomatic options before moving to military ones.”
The letter came as Secretary of State John Kerry made another passionate plea in favour of the Iranian nuclear deal.
In his appearance in New York, Kerry warned that the US dollar could cease being the reserve currency if the deal fails and the US has to sanction countries like China.
“That is a recipe, very quickly, my friends, businesspeople here, for the American dollar to cease to be the reserve currency of the world, which is already bubbling out there, and if the US were to behave that way, not only would we have lost them with respect to the sanctions, but we will lose their support if we have to use military action,” Kerry said. (PTI)
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