Dr. Colin Kahl, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East at the Pentagon up until December, told Army Radio on Thursday that he felt the diplomatic and economic pressure being exerted on Iran was beginning to take effect. The Georgetown University associate professor, who in his Pentagon capacity worked alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his predecessor Robert Gates on the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb, among other things, was responding to Irans announcement that it will renew negotiations with the West. He explained that the fact that the Iranians were ready to negotiate was a step forward, as this is something they had not agreed to for over a year. He said that Iranian leaders had indicated that sanctions were taking a dramatic toll on Irans economy, but added that he didnt expect a breakthrough in the immediate future. He did, however, voice hope that some of the more pressing issues, the ones creating stress within Israel, can be resolved. Kahl surmised that Israel would not attack Iran this spring, assessing that the attack, should it be carried out, would come in the summer or subsequent fall, after the European oil sanctions, to go into effect in July, had been given the necessary time to bear fruit. Officials in Washington have maintained in recent months that as long as the leadership in Tehran doesnt explicitly decide to develop nuclear weapons, the world has enough time to respond to every possible eventuality. On this, Kahl told Army Radio that the worlds intelligence community and the International Atomic Energy Agency would undoubtedly know about any Iranian attempt to build a bomb, because they would have to enrich uranium to 90 percent and take additional steps that would alert the international community to their actions. Kahl expressed his faith in U.S. President Barack Obamas vow to take military action against Iran, should it become necessary, in order to prevent the development of nuclear weapons. The former deputy assistant secretary of defense explained that Obama had demonstrated in the past that he was not afraid to use force in efforts to protect American interests. Kahl added that he believed that the U.S. would be more effective in attacking Irans nuclear facilities than Israel, because Israels inferior capabilities would dictate an attack at an earlier stage while the U.S. could, if it wanted to, attack Iran effectively at a much more advanced stage. He used the term zone of immunity meaning the point in Irans nuclear development after which Israel could not stop the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear weapon saying that it was not a concern for the U.S.
