Ex-national security adviser: No apologies to Israel over Iran’s nuke program

“It’s not something that I think you would want to do,” he said. “We’d like to see proliferation go the other way. We don’t want more nuclear-weapons capable countries, and in Iran’s case, it’s particularly problematic because they traditionally export terror.”

Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is designed only for peaceful purposes, despite reports by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency that it has engaged in activities indicative of the production of atomic weapons.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran an existential threat because of the Islamic republic’s call for the destruction of the Jewish state and its support of the Islamist militant groups Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which have frequently attacked Israel.

Mr. Netanyahu, who often invokes the Holocaust to accentuate the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, has stressed that time is running out to stop Iran with military force - particularly for Israel, whose lesser air-force capabilities give it a narrower window of opportunity than the United States.

Mr. Obama, who has unsuccessfully sought assurances from Mr. Netanyahu that he will refrain from attacking Iran before November’s elections, said last month that he believes an “opportunity still remains for diplomacy, backed by pressure, to succeed.”

Despite the problems of a nuclear-armed Iran, Gen. Jones said the U.S. needs to be ready for one.

“We should always be preparing for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

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