Mullen: Clock now running on White House dialogue with Iran

Dec. 20, 2009  Associated Press 

The top US military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, said on Sunday that he is not assuming that Iran's brief seizure of an Iraqi oil well is part of an orchestrated plan in Teheran.

Mullen also said he was worried about "the clock now running" on the Obama administration's efforts at trying to keep the lines of communication open with Iran.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said Sunday while flying from Germany to the US that "signals are very clearly in the air" about more international penalties against Iran over its nuclear program.