"There is certainly a history, in other countries, of fairly autocratic regimes almost creating incidents that inflame nationalist sentiment. So that could be among the many different, second, third, or even fourth order effects (of a strike)," he added.
Petraeus also rectified his earlier remarks in which he had claimed that the US is beefing up missile defense installations of its Persian Gulf allies as part of sharpening of US messaging about the diplomatic stalemate with Iran.
Of the defensive capabilities he had previously described being deployed in the Persian Gulf, he emphasized that they had been built up over years -- "not something sparked by events in Iran in recent months," Reuters reported.
"This has been built up over years of inflammatory Iranian rhetoric, alarming Iranian activities and Iranian provision of arms, money, training, explosives and direction in some cases to a variety of different extremist elements," Petraeus said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon raised on Wednesday the possibility of using force to stop Iran from developing “nuclear weapons”, something Tehran vehemently denies it is seeking.
"Iran's plan will probably be stopped by a regime change or, if there is no other choice, by a recourse to force to deprive Iran of its nuclear arms production capabilities," Yaalon said. "It is important to continue to make clear to the extremist regime in Iran that all options remain on the table and that ignoring the demands of the international community will probably end in bitter tears for Iran," he added. Yaalon also called on the international community to impose even harsher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
Also on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Iran to "unilaterally release" three hikers and other Americans in Iranian custody. "We believe they are being unjustly detained and should be released without further delay," Clinton told reporters, adding Iran "should unilaterally release" the Americans.
"There are no negotiations taking place," Clinton said.
The remarks were made although President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had earlier indicated that talks with Washington about exchanging prisoners were possible.
The three American citizens - Shane Michael Bauer, Joshua Felix Fattal, and Sarah Emily Shourd - were arrested on July 31 after illegally entering Iran from Iraq's Kurdistan region. They were later charged with espionage by Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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