On Thursday, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted the that the Iranian regime has links to al-Qaida and extremist groups in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding, “[Iran] is a regime that is a state sponsor of terrorism,” according to the American Forces Press Service.
On Friday, Paul Bremer, the top civil administrator in Iraq until transferring sovereignty back to the Iraqi interim government in 2004, said “America must not walk away from the still-limited success in Iraq.” He added, “Iraq lives in a dangerous neighbourhood” with threats coming mainly from the eastern border with Iran.
Bremer added, “A nuclear-armed Iran, which the American government rightly declares "unacceptable", would threaten Iraq, the entire region and broader American interests.”