CIA Director William Burns warned Monday about the possibility of tensions in the Middle East spreading to the region as, he said, the US intelligence community assessed that the leaders of Iran and Israel do not want “total conflict.”
“[W]we face a real risk of escalation in the region,” Burns said during a limited question-and-answer session at the annual Cipher Brief threat conference in Sea Island, Georgia. it would be respond to Iran’s missile attacks last week, but warned that “misjudgment” could still lead to an unintended rise.
“The Middle East is a place where complicated things are happening all the time,” Burns said.
A combination of strong intelligence sharing between the US and Israel, and the “hardening” of the combined air defense, allowed to be defeated with a major missile attack from Iran on Oct. 1, Burns said. The attack revealed some “limitations” in Tehran’s military capabilities, but he said “that doesn’t mean those capabilities aren’t still strong and something that not only Israel, but also the United States, needs to take very seriously.”
Former diplomat –who played an important role in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal that put constraints on Iran’s uranium enrichment program—he said his organization had yet to see any signs that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had decided to speed up his country’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
“[W]”I see no evidence today that the Supreme Leader has reversed the decision he made at the end of 2003 to stop the weapons program,” said Burns. He admitted, however, that Iran was “very close” to creating the organization. the number of one-armed bombs, which have a downtime now of “a week or so.”
Speaking a year after Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israelwhich has killed more than 1,200 Israelis and taken more than 250 hostages, Burns – who has spent a year leading diplomatic talks with allies in Qatar, Egypt and Israel – expressed hope that a deal could still be reached to end the shooting and protect the economy. the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
“We came close a few times, but it was very difficult,” he said. Talks on Gaza have stalled in recent weeks as, US officials say, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had stopped responding to revised proposals.
“[W]The cap at stake in Gaza is shaped by political will,” Burns emphasized. “In the end, it’s not just parentheses in documents or creative formulas when trying to negotiate with a hostage and a cease-fire agreement. It’s about leaders having to see that enough is enough, that’s rarely on the menu, especially in the Middle East.”
“And then you have to go and make some tough decisions and some setbacks to find long-term stability,” he said.
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