Defense Secretary Carter: Military Option Still Available After Iran Nuke Deal

While en route to Israel to assuage concerns about the recently-struck Iran nuclear deal, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told reporters that the deal does not remove the military option as a potential strategy for the U.S. to remove Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

“One of the reasons why this deal is a good one is that it does nothing to prevent the military option,” should the annihilationist regime abandon the agreement, Carter said.

“This is a good deal,” he continued. “It removes a critical element of danger, threat and uncertainty from the region.”

Carter said he recognizes that he is likely “not going to change anybody’s mind in Israel” about the agreement with Iran, which frequently calls for the Jewish State’s complete destruction.

In speaking about the alliance between the United States and Israel, Carter said on Monday: “Israel is the bedrock of American strategy in the Middle East. Yes, the region is complicated and troubled; but we know what our interests are and principal among them for the United States is our friendship and alliance with Israel.”

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that simply boosting aid to Israel is a troublesome way to showcase a supposed ‘good deal’ with Tehran.

“I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, if this is supposed to make Israel and our Arab neighbors safer, why should we be compensated with anything?” Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC.

Netanyahu continued to criticize the deal into Monday, saying at a Likud Party meeting that the Iran deal makes the Middle East even less safe and advances the prospects for a major war in the region. The Israeli Prime Minister warned that Iran would release its new-found cash windfall (an estimated $100-$150 billion dollars) and arm its terror proxy organizations in Lebanon, Gaza, and elsewhere.

Sec. Def. Carter will be in Israel until Tuesday. From there, he will travel to Saudi Arabia, and then complete his Middle East trip in Jordan thereafter.