In a Nov. 28 lecture at the U.S. Army War College, Mullen termed
"strategic" the Iranian decision to establish two navies. He suggested that
the navies could overcome any of Iran's Gulf Arab neighbors.
"That's a big deal," Mullen said.
On Dec. 10, Mullen completed a visit to Israel in which Iran was said to
have been the leading issue, Middle East Newsline reported. Mullen met Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi in what the chairman said was meant to highlight U.S. support for
the Jewish state.
U.S. Central Command chief Adm. William Fallon said Iran has used its
navies to destabilize the Gulf. Fallon cited Iran's weapons supply to
insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as the capture of British sailors
in the Gulf in March 2007.
"Their behavior has really been a problem, and to the extent that it
destabilizes the region, which it does, then it becomes a problem for us,"
Fallon said. "Everything they've done publicly has been a problem."
Officials said the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, which
asserted that Teheran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, has not
prompted any revision in U.S. military thinking. They said Iran was still
regarded as the leading threat in the Gulf region.
"We take the [NIE] on board as we look at the country of Iran," Lt. Gen.
John Sattler, the Joint Staff's director of strategic plans and policy,
said. "The Iranians have said officially they would not support nefarious
activities — movements of weapons and materials into Iraq and Afghanistan."