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Defense Secretary Gates today, via Reuters: "The United States is not planning for a war with Iran and instead is trying to stop them from contributing to the violence in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday. 'The President has made clear, the Secretary of State has made clear, I've made clear ... we are not planning for a war with Iran,' he told reporters."
More from Agence-France Press:
... Gates acknowledged that this deployment, coupled with newly aggressive efforts to crack down on alleged Iranian networks funneling weapons used against US forces in Iraq, had fueled speculation of a coming US-Iran war.
"But really the purpose of that (deployment) is simply to underscore to our friends, as well as to our potential adversaries in the region, that the United States has considered the Persian Gulf and that whole area and stability in that area to be a vital American national interest," he said.
"And that has been the case for decades, under many, many presidents. And we simply want to reinforce to our friends in particular that they can count on us having a presence and being strong in their area in protecting our interests and in protecting theirs," the defense chief told reporters.
Gates drew a distinction between US efforts "in Iraq" to crack down on any Iranian backing for groups behind attacks on US as well as Iraqi troops or civilians, and the pressure on Iran to freeze sensitive nuclear work.
"We are doing the latter strictly through the diplomatic process. It seems to be showing some progress, at least the diplomatic process is working," the defense secretary said.