Iran Poses ‘Formidable’ Threat in Persian Gulf, Joint Chiefs Nominee Says
Iran Poses ‘Formidable’ Threat in Persian Gulf, Joint Chiefs Nominee Says
(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s armed forces present the most “formidable conventional and unconventional” threat in the Persian Gulf as the U.S. tries to press the Islamic Republic to end its nuclear program, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Despite rising tensions, the U.S. “does not want war with Iran,” General Mark Milley said in written responses to lawmakers’ questions for his hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Milley, currently the army’s chief of staff, would replace General Joseph Dunford, who is set to retire in October. The responses were prepared before reports that the U.K. Navy intervened after Iranian vessels tried to block a BP Plc oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s primary military capabilities are missiles, unconventional forces and a “preeminent” naval force with small boats and naval mines that can complicate freedom of movement in a conflict, Milley said. It also has influence over a range of regional actors, he added.
“Proxies give Iran unconventional options for operations in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain and globally,” Milley said.
While Trump has said the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord and the reimposition of sanctions have forced Iran to modify its behavior, the general said under questioning that “their intensity of malign activity I think has increased since that event.”
The hearing came as tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil shipments from the Middle East, and the Iranian downing of an American drone have raised fears in recent weeks of another war in the region as the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program escalates. The U.S. has vowed to maintain its “maximum pressure” campaign until Tehran negotiates a new nuclear deal to replace the multinational agreement that Trump abandoned last year.
While Dunford’s departure is part of a normal rotation at the top of the Joint Chiefs, it comes amid turmoil in the Pentagon’s leadership. Acting Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew from consideration for the permanent job last month and was replaced on an acting basis by Army Secretary Mark Esper. The deputy secretary of defense job is also filled by an acting official, while the incoming chief of naval operations stepped down unexpectedly last weekend.
“Steady leadership at the highest echelons of our military is a necessity now more than ever,” Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the committee’s top Democrat, said at the hearing. “But I am concerned that the constant turnover of senior civilian leadership within the department has created uncertainty and disarray. ”
To contact the reporters on this story: Glen Carey in Washington at gcarey8@bloomberg.net;Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert
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