US might attack Iran if required: Mullen

London, August 2, (ANI): Unites States' Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has admitted that the country will not hesitate to attack Iran if required to prevent the latter from acquiring nuclear weapons.

According to The Guardian, the US approach to the threat of Iran developing the bomb, in line with that of the UK and France, has been to apply increasing pressure on Tehran through sanctions in the hope that it will bend to international will and suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

"I hope we don't get to that, but it's an important option and it's one that's well understood," Mullen said.

However, he raised his worry by saying that he would be "extremely concerned" about the prospect of a military engagement.

"Striking Iran could have unintended consequences that are difficult to predict in what is an incredibly unstable part of the world," he added.

The UN imposed toughest round of sanctions on Iran in June, targeting Iranian banks and export businesses. The move was followed by an even sterner set of restrictions from the EU, including a block on oil and gas investment in the country.

Later, Tehran responded by saying that it was ready to talk again about a possible deal in which it would swap its uranium for already enriched material that could be used in a civilian energy programme but would not be capable of conversion into a nuclear weapon.

The Iranian regime has always denied that it has any intentions to produce a bomb. (ANI)