PressTV-US not on the road to war with Iran: Gen. Votel

The general overseeing the US military’s involvement in the Middle East has said the United States is not “on the road to war with Iran,” despite the fact that some Trump administration officials have stepped up rhetoric against Tehran.

“I don’t think we’re seeking to go to war with Iran, and I don’t think that’s what we’re focused on,” General Joseph Votel, who heads the US Central Command, told Pentagon reporters on Thursday.

Trump has been clear Tehran needs to “cease its destabilizing behavior and policy that spreads violence and human misery throughout the Middle East,” Votel said.

“The principle way that we are approaching that right now is through diplomatic and economic pressure. And I support that, I don’t see that necessarily as being on the road to war with Iran,” he added.

A warning by retired US General Wesley Clark that Iran has been a target of US intentions issued more than a decade ago appeared last month to be…

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