(JTA).The greatest danger posed by a nuclear Iran would be the increased likelihood of a Middle East nuclear war, Dennis Ross said.
"If Iran has nuclear weapons, the potential for nuclear war in the Middle East goes up dramatically," Ross, whojust retired as the White House's top Iran policy official, said during his first post-Obama administration address at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"You are not going to have a stable situation where anyone can feel that they are going to wait, If there is the slightest indication that Iran is changing its readiness, can Israel wait? ... The potential for miscalculation would be enormous."
Ross said President Obama was committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"The administration prides itself on a certain reality that it does what it says...when Obama says 'all options remain on the table,' it doesn't mean that force is his first choice, but it means that that's an option that he intends to exercise."
