CIA director Leon Panetta on Wednesday said that Jerusalem knew it needed to coordinate its strategy on Iran with other nations and was aware of the fact that launching an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would mean "big trouble."
Acknowledging that he had recently traveled to Israel in order to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and warn him against striking Iran, the CIA chief told Global Viewpoint that he "felt assured" Israel would not break ranks with Washington's strategy.
"Yes," he said, "the Israelis are obviously concerned about Iran and focused on it. But [Netanyahu] understands that if Israel goes it alone, it will mean big trouble. He knows that for the sake of Israeli security, they have to work together with others."
Panetta said that the threat posed by Iran "has our full attention," asserting that despite the Obama administration's strategic decision to engage Teheran diplomatically, "no one is naïve about the challenges."
Panetta reiterated a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which assessed that Iran had halted its active nuclear weaponization program in 2003, but warned that, "at a minimum" the Islamic republic was "keeping open the option to develop deliverable nuclear weapons" and "continues to develop uranium enrichment technology and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles."
But beyond the immediate Iranian threat, the CIA chief cautioned, "there is also a real risk that if Iran goes nuclear, other countries in the region will be tempted to follow suit.
"The last thing we need in the Middle East is a nuclear arms race," he said.
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