Iran is top threat to U.S., military official says

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Iran is the biggest threat  to the United States in the Middle East, surpassing al Qaeda,  which is down but not out, a senior U.S. military official said  today.
“The biggest threat to the United States and to our  interests and to our friends, I might add, has come into focus  and it’s Iran,” said the official, who spoke on condition of  anonymity. Speaking at a forum in Washington, the official said  he did not believe Iran wanted to provoke a conflict, however,  and added he did not know if the Islamic state had decided to  build a nuclear weapon.
Next week, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the  United Nations nuclear watchdog, is expected to release a  report that includes evidence of Iranian nuclear research which  makes little sense if not weapons related, Western diplomats  said.