US says it does not want war with Iran

After much gnawing of teeth and muscle-flexing, the US says that it doesn't want to go to war with Iran. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his side, told the press that "This is about deterrence not about war".

Washington: After much gnawing of teeth and muscle-flexing, the US says that it doesn't want to go to war with Iran. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his side, told the press that "This is about deterrence not about war".

"We have deterred attacks based on our reposturing of assets, deterred attacks against American forces. Our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation. We do not want the situation to escalate. This is about, deterrence not about war. We're not about going to war. This is about continuing to protect our interests in the Middle East and conducting the missions that there, we are there to perform", said Shanahan.

A few days ago Pompeo too talked about not going to war. However, like others Shanahan also mentioned "credible intelligence about threats to our interests in the Middle East and to American forces", without specifying what the threats are.

Iran accuses the US of escalating tensions in the region and rubbishes the 'credible intelligence' rhetoric in the same vein it warns that if the US goes to war with Iran it will make terrible mistakes.

Middle east watchers fear that in this heightened tension any accidental move on either side might flare up resulting in full scale war.

Yet in the past couple of days there have palpable signs that US has begun to show some retraints. President Trump said that Iran could make a call to him indicating that a talk may be possible. But Iran has summarily rejected that.

Analysts believe it is Saudi Arabia and Israel which are trying to get the US to act militarily against Iran. It appears that both the countries are to gain if the US attacks Iran more than the US does. Saudi Arabia is very fearful of Shia Iran's expanding influence in the region while Israel is mortally afraid of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Back in the US the democrats are very critical of Trump administration's hawkish stance though Republicans are generally supportive.