"I think the unintended consequence of a strike against Iran right now would be incredibly serious, as well as the unintended consequences of their achieving a weapon," Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"That's why this engagement, dialogue is so important," he said in an interview on ABC television, referring to President Barack Obama's aim to engage Iran diplomatically.

Mullen said the United States would approach Iran "with all options on the table."

"So that would leave a pretty narrow space in which to achieve a successful dialogue and a succesful outcome, which from my perspective means they don't end up with nuclear weapons," he said.

Mullen said he did not believe Iran's claims that it is developing its nuclear capabilities for peaceful purposes, but he said the aim of diplomacy would be "to really bring out whether that is how the senior leaders feels."

"Certainly from what I've seen in recent years, Iran is on a path to develop nuclear weapons," he said.

"Most of us believe that it is one to three years (away from acquiring nuclear weapons), depending on assumptions about where they are right now. But they are moving closer clearly and they continue to do that," he said.

"And if you believe that is their strategic intent, as I do and certainly as my Israeli counterpart does, that's the principal concern," he said.

Israel's military intelligence chief asserted in March that Iran will have the capacity to build a nuclear bomb within a year, but was not rushing to produce one.

Obama told reporters after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington May 19 that he expected to know by the end of the year whether the Iranian leadership were make "a good faith effort to resolve differences."

"We are not going to have talks forever," Obama said.

Mullen was asked in Sunday's interview whether it was possible to take out Iran's nuclear program militarily at an acceptable cost.

"I won't speculate on what we can and can't do," he said.

"Again, I put that in the category of my very strong preference is to not be put in a position where we -- where someone -- where Iran is struck in terms of taking out its nuclear capability," he said.

earlier related report
Spy convicted in Germany for aiding Iran: report
An Iranian-Canadian businessman who had spied for Germany for more than a decade has been convicted of supporting Tehran's missile programme, according to a German press report to be published Monday.

News weekly Der Spiegel said the man, who was codenamed Sinbad and seen as an important source on the Iranian arms programme by Germany's intelligence service, the BND, was sentenced by Berlin's superior court of justice to three years in prison.

No one at the court could be reached for comment.

Der Spiegel said Sinbad had received more than one million euros (1.4 million dollars) over the years from the BND for his services but was at the same time selling high-tech equipment to a company believed to be helping Tehran produce Shahab missiles.

He was arrested last October. Der Spiegel said that German justice officials, the defendant and the BND agreed to wrap up the trial quickly and discreetly.

In return, Sinbad has been ordered to leave Germany and serve his sentence abroad.

Der Spiegel said German intelligence experts were still unsure if he had been working as a double agent and delivering information to Germany with the knowledge of the Iranian government.

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