Mattis calls plan to attack Iran’s nuclear sites ‘fiction’
▶ US defence chief says bombing is not on the agenda ‘right now’
US Secretary of Defence James Mattis on Friday dismissed an Australian report claiming that the government is prepared to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities as early as next month.
And Mr Mattis repeated that there are “no policy changes” with Russia after the Helsinki summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted government sources who “believe the United States is prepared to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, perhaps as early as next month, and that Australia is poised to help identify possible targets”.
Mr Mattis called the report a fiction and said bombing was not on the table.
“I have no idea where the Australian news people got that,” he said. “I am confident it is not something that is being considered right now.”
The report claimed that “Australian defence facilities would likely play a role in identifying targets in Iran, as would British intelligence agencies”.
It noted the omission of Canada and New Zealand, two smaller members of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing countries.
Mr Mattis’s comments followed a “principals meeting” on Iran at the White House on Thursday, chaired by National Security Adviser John Bolton and attended by senior cabinet members and military commanders.
Mr Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Gen Joseph Dunford, Joint Chief of Staff, were among those present. The focus was a strategy on Iran before the reimposition of US sanctions on August 6.
Another National Security Council meeting on “election security” was scheduled for Friday.
Asked about counter-measures to Russian interference, Mr Mattis said: “I am not at liberty to explain what we are doing in that regard. Just rest assured there are actions under way to protect our elections and to expose any external efforts to influence the American public.”
The Daily Beast website reported on Thursday that Russian hackers had tried and failed to infiltrate the computers of Missouri Democratic US Senator Claire McCaskill.
Meanwhile, US senior officials, including Mr Pompeo, Mr Mattis, and head of Central Command General Joseph Votel, have denied a shift in policy or the existence of defence agreements with Moscow after the Trump-Putin summit.
An official told The National last week that “nothing of substance has changed from what it was before the meeting”. He said that the policy direction for Washington remained the same the day after Helsinki.