. . .
Dialogue and building partnerships across the greater Middle East is the U.S. strategy in the region, Mullen said, citing Iran as a particular challenge in the region. The United States and international community should engage in dialogue with Tehran, the chairman said.

"On the security side, I am very concerned with [Iran's] development of nuclear weapons, their funding and sponsoring of terrorism and focusing that support of Hezbollah and Hamas, and being a destabilizing influence in the region," he said.

The chairman said he believes Iranian possession of nuclear weapons would spur an arms race in the greater Middle East, just as India acquiring nuclear weapons spurred an arms race on the subcontinent. If Iran develops a deliverable nuclear weapon - and the country is building longer-range missiles - then neighboring countries would feel the need to develop their own nuclear arsenals, he explained.

"I don't see a lot of space between where Iran is headed and then potentially what might happen," the admiral said. "There is a great deal that depends on the dialogue and engagement, and I think we ought to do that with all options remaining on the table, including, certainly, the military options."

. . .