Without nuclear deal with Iran, war is not alternative: Gates

Former US secretary of defense Robert Gates says a military confrontation with Iran is not an alternative should nuclear negotiations with the country over its nuclear program fail.

“I don’t think the alternative is war. One alternative is a better deal,” he said in an interview with CBS News aired on Sunday.

“I think that you go back to the sanctions. I think you reinforce the sanctions and you basically say here are the additional things we need for this agreement to work and to be worthwhile,” he added.

The remarks were made after some American officials threatened Tehran with military strikes while nuclear talks are underway.

Last month, Republican Senator Tom Cotton suggested that the United States could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in “several days.”

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton also claimed that Israel has speeded up its decision to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities following Russia’s move to sell S-300 missile system to Tehran.

The US and its negotiating partners reached a framework nuclear agreement with Iran in Switzerland on April 2.

Tehran and the P5+1 group – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – are currently working to draw up a final accord by the end of June.

On Sunday, a senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said military threats against Iran would endanger the ongoing nuclear negotiations.

“If the talks are to go ahead on track, they should be balanced and [held] in an atmosphere of interaction,” Ali Akbar Velayati said.

He added that American officials should stop issuing threats against Iran and do not seek to achieve their objectives through “political hypocrisy.”

The Iranian official noted that Washington’s deeds are in contradiction to its words, saying, “If the threats are added to these contradictions, one of its outcomes would be that they endanger the talks.”

Earlier this month, Ayatollah Khamenei condemned the “shameless” military threats against the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei said Iranians have proved that they can strongly protect the country and stand against the aggressors “like a tight fist,” praising the “integrity” of the Iranian nation in the face of threats.

Press TV

M.W