After Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told lawmakers that the US would never allow Iran to have a “fielded” nuclear weapon, Israel reportedly lodged protests and sought “clarifications” from the White House, fearing that his language indicated a shift in US policy.
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According to Axios, Israeli officials issued the warning after General Milley testified before Congress last week and stated that Washington “remains committed as a matter of policy that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon.” According to the outlet, officials believe his remarks could imply that the US “would tolerate Tehran having a nuclear weapons program” as long as no bombs were “fielded” on a missile or other delivery system.
According to several unnamed sources, the concerns came from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Defense, the Foreign Ministry, and the Mossad intelligence service, with Milley’s testimony “alarming Israeli defense and intelligence officials to the point of protest.”
Tehran has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issuing religious edicts condemning the atomic bomb and other weapons of mass destruction. Despite this, US officials and their Israeli counterparts have continued to accuse Iran of pursuing a nuclear arsenal.
Israeli officials pressed the top general to “clarify or retract his remarks,” and just days later, at another House hearing, Milley made a similar statement about Iran, but without the word “fielded.”
“We asked the Biden administration to fix it, and they did,” according to a senior Israeli official.
However, a Joint Chiefs spokesman, Joseph Holstead, later stated that US policy toward Iran “remains the same,” adding that Milley’s previous language did not indicate any change and was simply “military vernacular.”
